Following weeks of debate and outrage over proposed cuts to homeless services in Mayor Muriel Bowser’s budget, advocates got some good news.
On May 21, Ward 3 Councilmember Matthew Frumin, who chairs the D.C. Council Human Services Committee, announced boosts to funding in the city’s Department of Human Services (DHS). Frumin’s committee faced a proposed $130 million cut in Bowser’s fiscal year 2027 budget, but found funding to increase capacity at non-congregate shelters, support domestic violence and youth services, and finance key homelessness services in the District. The budget goes to the full council this month.
“I can say with confidence that the committee budget we are voting on today represents our best work,” Frumin said at the committee’s May 21 hearing. “I am incredibly grateful to my colleagues for their spirit of collaboration and their care for our most vulnerable neighbors.”
While Bowser’s proposed budget included $25 million to construct a third non-congregate shelter, the process could take years. In response to concerns about capacity in the meantime, Frumin’s team put forward a plan to add beds at the Aston. The Aston, which had been capped at 100 beds due to a Good Neighbor Protocol working to improve the safety and success of the shelter, is expected to gain up to 90 beds under the budget’s $1.56 million boost.
In a May 27 council-wide budget meeting, councilmembers said it’s possible not all 190 beds would be filled, noting that the addition of beds in single-occupancy units can be harmful to those who need private units. The council hopes to ensure those who need a private unit continue to receive one.
In the meantime, DHS is looking for an appropriate site for the new non-congregate shelter, which is expected to house 100 residents and be completed in the coming years.
Frumin’s budget addressed repeated concerns about cuts to crucial services targeting victims of domestic violence and at-risk youth experiencing homelessness. His proposed budget would reinstate funding for youth service providers — particularly to extend transitional housing — totalling $1.5 million, as well as reverse the projected $500,000 cut to domestic violence services. Other programs highlighted by the public will also regain their funding, including day centers at Everyone Home D.C., Sasha Bruce Youthwork, and Friendship House’s AimHire program. The proposal also added one employee to the Interagency Council on Homelessness.
Another program cut facing backlash was Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which lost $11 million in funding for employment and cash assistance programs in Bowser’s proposed budget, and will see cuts to benefits over the next few years. After public testimony, Frumin and his team announced subtitles expanding eligibility for single residents in their second trimester of pregnancy, as well as broader eligibility for the domestic violence and disability-centered Program on Work, Employment, and Responsibility (POWER) subprogram.
TANF is still in need of $20.5 million to delay proposed changes to the program, which is set to leave many without benefits by next October.
Though other programs got a boost, housing vouchers still saw a cut in Frumin’s proposed budget, with DHS lacking the $27 million needed to continue funding all existing housing vouchers, including Permanent Supportive Housing. The gulf could result in hundreds of D.C. residents losing their housing. An additional 444 families will be pushed out of Rapid Rehousing, Councilmember and Committee on Housing Chair Robert White said at the May 27 meeting. White’s committee was only able to fund 26 housing vouchers for families leaving the program.
“The council should stand with thousands of families who lose their home or the ability to meet basic needs,” Frumin said to close his statement. “Under the Mayor’s budget, we must work to find a way to restore vouchers and TANF.”
Both TANF and vouchers will continue to be discussed as the council works to finalize Bowser’s budget. Funding sources such as a wealth tax, which would make room for additional funding for these programs, have been suggested, though not officially proposed.
In some good news for D.C. residents relying on vouchers, the housing committee reallocated money at the D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA) to resume covering security deposits for residents renting with vouchers. The proposed budget sits at $1.7 million, a significant increase.
White noted, however, that continued cuts to federal funding — particularly to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funds DCHA — may raise issues in the future, as programs supporting those at risk of homelessness fight to receive adequate funding.
“I am really concerned we’re going to have a very sobering conversation around public housing, probably in the fall,” White said. “They don’t at this moment know exactly how we’re going to navigate or absorb [the federal cuts].”
The council will vote on the fiscal year 2027 budget beginning June 9, with the final vote on June 23. Hearings being conducted in the meantime can be found on the D.C. Council’s website.
This article originally appeared in Street Sense’s June 3, 2026 edition.
