D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 10, r. 10-A516
The housing needs of the District's most vulnerable populations vary with each group. Some require housing with specific physical attributes, such as wheelchair ramps or bathrooms with grab bars. Some require housing with on-site support services, such as meal service or job counseling. Most simply need housing that is safe, secure, and affordable. Five specific groups are profiled below. 516.1
Seniors
In 2000, there were 70,000 District residents over 65, including 8,500 residents over 85. As the baby boom generation matures and as average lifespan increases, the population of seniors in the District is expected to increase dramatically. At the national level, the Census projects the number of senior citizens will increase by 104 percent between 2000 and 2030-almost four times the rate of the population at large. There will be a need for a broad range of senior living environments, serving residents across the income spectrum. This will be accompanied by a need for new programs, ranging from those that help seniors "age in place" through home retrofits to those that provide on-site nursing and health care in a congregate environment. As already noted, higher levels of assistance will be required to help senior homeowners on fixed incomes and to protect elderly renters from displacement. 516.2
Persons with Disabilities
A disproportionately large share of the region's disabled population resides in the District of Columbia. While the city is home to just 12 percent of the region's total population, it is home to 34 percent of its low income disabled adults. In 2000, the District was home to 82,600 disabled adults- amounting to over 20 percent of its working age population. Many of these adults are unable to work due to mental or physical handicaps, and a quarter of them earned incomes below the poverty line. The number of housing units specifically designed for persons with disabilities, particularly units in facilities with services to help cope with these disabilities, is far short of the actual need. 516.3
The Homeless
Homelessness in the District of Columbia is a significant problem and one that has become worse in the wake of the current housing boom. In January 2005, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments estimated that there were 11,419 homeless persons in the region, including 2,694 who were chronically homeless. More than half of the homeless population, and two-thirds of the chronically homeless population, lived in the District. Provisions to assist the homeless must include emergency shelter, transitional housing, and permanent housing, along with supportive services. On so many levels, the need for such facilities and services outpaces supply. The shortfall will get worse if nothing is done, with more District residents at risk of becoming homeless. 516.4
Ex-Offenders and Supervised Offenders
Each year, the prison system in the District of Columbia releases 9,400 people. Between 2,000 and 2,500 of these ex-offenders return to the District, usually without the means to pay for market rate housing and in some cases without the skills or means to find a decent job. Many return to neighborhoods of high crime and poverty, remain chronically unemployed, and find shelter in group homes or shared housing. Unstable housing and a lack of employment undermine an ex-offender's success and can perpetuate the cycle of poverty and violence in the District's poorest neighborhoods. 516.5
Persons with HIV/AIDS
In 2002 the rate of reported AIDS cases in the District was 162.4 per 100,000 compared to 14.8 per 100,000 for the United States. In fact, the District has the highest incidence of AIDS in the United States, with a rate nearly double that of New York or San Francisco. In 2003, about 8,900 persons with AIDS resided in the District. Many persons with AIDS require special housing suitable for long-term care, yet a recent District survey found that the local need was double the number of units available. 516.6
The number of housing units specifically designed for persons with disabilities, particularly units in facilities with services to help cope with these disabilities, is far short of the actual need.
Policy H-4.2.1: Short-Term and Emergency Housing Options
Ensure that adequate short-term housing options, including emergency shelter and transitional housing, exists for persons with special needs, including people living with HIV/AIDS, harm-reduction units for substance abusers, detoxification beds and residential treatment facilities, halfway houses and group homes for returning offenders, and assisted-living and end-of-life care for seniors. 516.7
Policy H-4.2.2: Housing Choice for Seniors
Provide a wide variety of affordable housing choices for the District's seniors, taking into account the income range and health-care needs of this population. Recognize the coming growth in the senior population so that the production and rehabilitation of publicly-assisted senior housing that meets universal design standards becomes a major governmental priority. Acknowledge and support the establishment of Senior Villages throughout the city that allow seniors to remain in their homes and age in-place.
Policy H-4.2.3: Neighborhood-Based Senior Housing
Encourage the production of multi-family senior housing in those neighborhoods characterized by large numbers of seniors living alone in single family homes. This will enable senior residents to remain in their neighborhoods and reduce their home maintenance costs and obligations. 516.9
Policy H-4.2.4: Barrier-Free Housing for the Disabled
Work toward a target of designing eight (8) percent of the new housing units added to the city's stock over the next 20 years specifically to meet the accessibility needs of persons with physical disabilities. These units should be spread evenly across affordability brackets. 516.10
Policy H-4.2.5: Ending Homelessness
Reduce the incidence of homelessness in the city through homeless prevention efforts, development of subsidized housing for the homeless, and actively coordinating mainstream social services for persons who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. 516.11
Policy H-4.2.6: Housing for Ex-Offenders and Supervised Offenders
Create adequate housing plans for people exiting jail or prison so that they do not become homeless, including the removal of barriers to reentering offenders living in public housing. Ensure that ex-offenders are not concentrated into assisted housing projects but can find housing throughout the city. 516.12
Multi-family senior housing in neighborhoods where many seniors are living alone in single family homes will enable seniors to remain in their neighborhoods and reduce home maintenance costs and obligations.
Policy H-4.2.7: Persons with Mental Illness
Support the production of housing for people with mental illness through capital and operating subsidies. Improve the availability and coordination of such housing with wrap-around mental health and other human services. Steps should be taken to prevent the eviction of mentally ill persons from publicly financed housing so long as they are following the rules of tenancy, and to ensure that each individual's housing is maintained if and when they need to be hospitalized. 516.13
Policy H-4.2.8: Neighborhood-Based Homeless Services
Encourage the provision of homeless services through neighborhood based supportive housing and single room occupancy (SRO) units, rather than through institution-like facilities and large-scale emergency shelters. The smaller service model can reduce the likelihood of adverse impacts to surrounding uses, improve community acceptance, and also support the reintegration of homeless individuals back into the community. 516.14
Action H-4.2.A: Incentives for Retrofits
Create financial incentives for landlords to retrofit units to make them accessible to persons with disabilities, and to include units that are accessible in new housing construction. 516.15
Action H-4.2.B: Incentives for Senior Housing
Explore incentives such as density bonuses, tax credits, and special financing to stimulate the development of assisted living and senior care facilities, particularly on sites well served by public transportation. 516.16
Action H-4.2.C: Homeless no More
Implement the recommendations outlined in "Homeless No More: A Strategy for Ending Homelessness in Washington, DC by 2014." Among the recommendations are the production of 2,000 permanent supportive housing units for the chronically homeless and 4,000 units of permanent housing for households who experience temporary homelessness or are at risk of becoming homeless. 516.17
Action H-4.2.D: Emergency Assistance
Revive and strengthen the emergency assistance program for rent, mortgage, and/or utility expenses for very low-income families to prevent homelessness. 516.18
The provisions of Title 10, Part A of the DCMR accessible through this web interface are codification of the District Elements of the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital. As such, they do not represent the organic provisions adopted by the Council of the District of Columbia. The official version of the District Elements only appears as a hard copy volume of Title 10, Part A published pursuant to section 9 a of the District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1994, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; D.C. Official Code § 1 -301.66)) . In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions accessible through this site and the provisions contained in the published version of Title 10, Part A, the provisions contained in the published version govern. A copy of the published District Elements is available www.planning.dc.gov.
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 10, r. 10-A516