Housing now costs more in D.C. than anywhere else in the United States, according to a report released this month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Beating out the usual leaders, San Francisco and New York City, the average price of housing-related costs in the District is $17,603 per year. Rising housing costs, compounded with D.C.’s rising homeless population, pose a dilemma that has baffled policymakers for decades. According to The Washington Post, as of last February, approximately 5,000 families in the District are homeless or on the verge of homelessness. Since October of last year, the number of families in emergency housing increased from 297 to 771, signaling an imminent increase in the homeless population.
In an effort to alleviate the pressure of housing costs on people in the lowest income bracket, the Obama administration introduced a Rapid Re-housing Program as part of the 2009 stimulus package. The program, which pays a percentage of families’ rent for a maximum of four months to alleviate populations in homeless shelters, was widely adopted in cities across the U.S. It aims to address the immediate problems of homelessness by providing families with housing subsidies for a guaranteed period of four months, and up to a year with extensions.
Rapid rehousing has been praised because it cuts costs for city governments. One study conducted this year by the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness suggests that providing housing subsidies to homeless people racks up only one-third of the cost necessary to house them in government-funded shelters. However, the program, which is intended to provide a leg up for low-income families, in many cases sets them up for failure. As of February 2014, the Department of Human Services determined that, of the 299 families that exited rapid rehousing in the District over the past 14 months, a mere 31 were subsequently reported as being able to pay their rent independent of government help. While it is possible that these other families found methods of supporting themselves, the majority remain unaccounted for. 11 were reported to have ultimately returned to a shelter. The city’s numbers illustrate a program that often prolongs, rather than breaks, the cycle of poverty.
The D.C. budget next year will allocate $20 million to rapid rehousing—twice as much as last year—but cut $6 million from homeless family services. Given the program’s questionable success rate in its current form and a District average unemployment rate of 7.4 percent, it is imperative that D.C. reform rapid rehousing to set low-income families up for success rather than simply shuffle them around in short-term housing solutions. Without proper social services and more reasonable time-frames for achieving financial security, D.C.’s rapid rehousing will only continue to disappoint the families it aims to serve.
