Share Your Perspective: Testify to D.C. Council about Local Fair Housing Issues
By: Nick Adjami
February 13, 2024
Every year, the D.C. Council holds Performance Oversight Hearings for all city agencies, allowing District residents and organizations to provide feedback on how well the agencies are meeting the needs of our communities. The hearings are a good opportunity for people who have interacted with these agencies to share their experiences, positive or negative, so that D.C. Council can best perform its role of overseeing them.
Testimony can be submitted a number of ways. You can sign up to testify live in-person or via web-conference. You can also write or record testimony and submit it before the testimony deadline. If you plan to testify live at the hearing, you should check to see how much time you will be allowed to speak. If you cannot cover your full testimony in the time allowed, you can submit longer written or recorded testimony for the D.C. Council committee to consider.
Each year, the ERC testifies at performance oversight hearings for multiple agencies that are relevant to our work. Last year, the ERC submitted testimony for the performance oversight hearings for the D.C. Office of Human Rights, D.C. Housing Authority, and D.C. Office of the Attorney General. The schedule for those hearings, as well as for the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development and Department of Human Services, is below. The full calendar of hearings for all D.C. government agencies is available on the D.C. Council website.
February 15, 2024 – Dept. of Housing and Community Development
The D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) is tasked with producing and preserving affordable housing across the District, as well as revitalizing neighborhoods and spurring economic development. DHCD administers programs like the Homeowner Assistance Fund, Home Purchase Assistance Program, and Inclusionary Zoning Affordable Housing Program. Register to testify here. The ERC’s comments on DHCD’s recent draft CAPER will be available on our website.
February 21, 2024 – Office of Human Rights
The D.C. Office of Human Rights enforces local human rights laws, including the D.C. Human Rights Act. The agency is tasked with investigating individual complaints of discrimination, including housing discrimination. ERC clients who live in the District and filed a housing discrimination complaint likely did so through the D.C. Office of Human Rights. You can share your experience with that process live at the hearing or by submitting written or recorded testimony. Register to testify here. The ERC’s 2023 testimony is available on our blog.
February 22, 2024 – Housing Authority
The D.C. Housing Authority is tasked with providing affordable housing to low-income families in the District and administers programs like public housing and the Housing Choice Voucher Program. We encourage District residents who have interacted with the agency, including Housing Choice Voucher holders and public housing residents, to testify. Register here. The ERC’s 2023 testimony is available on our blog.
February 28, 2024 – Office of the Attorney General
The D.C. Office of the Attorney General (OAG) is the chief legal office for the District. It is tasked with enforcing the District’s laws, including the D.C. Human Rights Act, and protecting the interests of D.C. residents. The ERC has worked closely with the OAG, especially as part of our efforts to combat rampant source of income discrimination in the District. Register to testify here. The ERC’s 2023 testimony is available on our blog.
February 29, 2024 – Department of Human Services
The D.C. Department of Human Services administers programs including the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) and the Family Re-Housing Stabilization Program (FRSP) commonly known as Rapid Re-Housing. Register to testify here.
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The ERC is a civil rights organization that identifies and seeks to eliminate unlawful and unfair discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations in its home community of Greater Washington DC and nationwide. The ERC’s core strategy for identifying unlawful and unfair discrimination is civil rights testing. When the ERC identifies discrimination, it seeks to eliminate it through the use of testing data to educate the public and business community, support policy advocacy, conduct compliance testing and training, and, if necessary, take enforcement action. For more information, please visit www.equalrightscenter.org
