DC officials defend policies to treat homeless people as White House seeks different direction

Hours after President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that dramatically changes the way he wants states and cities to treat homelessness D C executives are defending their programs that assist the city s homeless population D C s new acting director of the Department of Human Services Rachel Pierre pointed to a year-over-year decline in overall homelessness in the city as one of several areas where the District is making substantial progress But now the White House is indicating it wants local governments to go in a much different direction We have a responsibility to track what s happening on the federal level and in the White House However I can tell you that the mayor has very much inevitably stated that she believes in that the best interest for our residents is to come inside So what we do is make sure that we have outreach to talk to our residents and help connect them to interventions that work for them Pierre mentioned Pierre advised WTOP that when D C did its annual headcount of the homeless population in January the number of unsheltered people was declining across all categories City leaders are declining to get into a point-by-point with the White House over the new policies it wants carried out instead insisting its long-term and short-term policies are working The mayor has been very committed in ensuring that homelessness is a top priority That s been evident in the past years and even with the District s financial situation she continues to invest in interventions that work Pierre mentioned We are leveraging and building on everything that the mayor has done to improve homelessness in the past years A few of those policies include targeting family and youth homelessness and providing more transitional and permanent housing That also includes renovating and opening the new -bed Aston Bridge Shelter near George Washington University and plans are underway to open another -bed similar facility later this year D C purchased the former GWU dorm in for million and made vital renovations and upgrades including a new HVAC system to turn it into a shelter The city declared in its January review that people were classified as not having a home and that were unsheltered and living on the streets Before leaving for Scotland on Friday President Trump announced the new executive order does take a different approach to the nation s homelessness issue but he insists his strategy is going to work Right outside we have selected tents and they re getting rid of them right now you can t do that especially in Washington D C I talk to the mayor about it all the time I disclosed you ve to go get rid of the tents Trump disclosed on the South Lawn on Thursday We can t have it When leaders come to see me to make a bargain deal for billions and billions and even trillions of dollars and they come in and there s tents outside of the White House we can t have that It doesn t sound nice On Thursday when the executive order was signed White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated in a report that Trump was committed to end homelessness across America By removing vagrant criminals from our streets and redirecting materials toward substance abuse programs the Trump Administration will ensure that Americans feel safe in their own communities and that individuals suffering from addiction or mental medical struggles are able to get the help they need she wrote The National Homeless Law Center a D C -based advocacy group for the homeless mentioned in a declaration it strongly condemns in the present day s executive order which deprives people of their basic rights and makes it harder to solve homelessness This executive order is rooted in outdated racist myths about homelessness and will undoubtedly make homelessness worse Source