5889469 Resolution 21-406, Interim Eligibility and Minimum Shelter Standards Congressional Review Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2016

A RESOLUTION

                                                        

21-406

 

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

 

February 16, 2016        

                                                                                                                                             

 

To declare the existence of an emergency, due to congressional review, with respect to the need to the amend the Homeless Services Reform Act of 2005 to authorize the Mayor to place a family that does not have a safe-housing alternative in a temporary interim eligibility placement pending a determination of eligibility for shelter and an assessment of the supportive services necessary to assist the family in obtaining sustainable permanent housing, to authorize the Mayor to provide shelter to a family in a private room meeting certain minimum standards and constructed for the purpose of closing the District of Columbia General Family Shelter, to add an expedited appeals process for a family that is denied eligibility for shelter following an interim eligibility placement, and to provide  that a family may continue in an interim eligibility placement pending the outcome of an appeal of a denial of eligibility for shelter. 

 

 

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution may be cited as the “Interim Eligibility and Minimum Shelter Standards Congressional Review Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2016”.

 

Sec. 2. (a)  On November 3, 2015, the Council passed the Interim Eligibility and Minimum Shelter Standards Emergency Amendment Act of 2015, effective November 30, 2015 (D.C. Act 21-217; 62 DCR 15648) (the “emergency legislation”) to codify the current practice of the Department of Human Services (“DHS”) of temporarily placing a family seeking shelter into shelter before making a final eligibility determination, to establish an appeals process for a family ultimately determined to be ineligible for shelter during an interim eligibility placement, and to authorize the Mayor to utilize private rooms rather than apartment-style units as shelter for families.

(b)  On December 1, 2015, the Council passed a permanent version of the emergency legislation, the Interim Eligibility and Minimum Shelter Standards Amendment Act of 2015, enacted on December 29, 2015 (D.C. Act 21-251; 63 DCR 257) (the “permanent legislation”).

            (c) The emergency legislation is set to expire on February 28, 2016; however, the permanent legislation is not projected to become law until March 15, 2016.  A congressional review emergency is necessary to ensure that the provisions of the emergency legislation continue in effect, without interruption, until the permanent legislation becomes law.

 

Sec. 3.  The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Interim Eligibility and Minimum Shelter Standards Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2016 be adopted after a single reading.

 

            Sec. 4.  This resolution shall take effect immediately.