The D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) is failing to collect critical income data for participants in one of its key homelessness intervention programs, raising concerns about whether the program is meeting its goals, according to a new alert from the Office of the D.C. Auditor.
In the alert, released on Sept. 3, the auditor’s office reported DHS lacks income information for the vast majority of participants in its Rapid Rehousing for Individuals Program (RRH-I). The program is a short-term subsidy initiative designed to help people experiencing homelessness transition to permanent housing and access employment opportunities.
One way participants can afford housing after the subsidy ends is to increase their income. But the government lacked all or part of the required income data for 1,519 of the program’s 1,791 participants over the last three years, according to the alert.
“Only 272 participants’ records included income data both at entry and exit [from the program],” it read.
Based on these numbers, RRH-I staff did not record complete income data for 85% of participants. The missing information removes a key indicator for measuring the program’s success, according to an email release from the auditor’s office.
“Without data on a participant’s income, it is impossible to determine if that participant is eligible for the program or if the participant is likely to remain housed once the housing subsidy ends,” the email said.
This is not the first time the D.C. auditor has highlighted gaps in a Rapid Rehousing program. In August, another brief from the office found that 79% of families left the Family Rehousing Stabilization Program (FRSP), D.C.’s name for Rapid Rehousing for families, without increasing their income.
Documenting participants’ income before and after the program is especially important because one of the program’s goals is to is to raise earnings for its participants. RRH-I pairs individuals with case managers and service providers who help them identify and access employment opportunities, according to the DHS webpage for the program.
However, finding a source of reliable income is not easy, even when participants are housed. And if individuals earn too much from newfound employment, they can lose access to public benefit programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, illustrating the phenomenon experts refer to as the “benefits cliff”.
As part of the alert, RRH-I staff were questioned about the missing information. Staff explained there are often more pressing concerns while rehousing participants preventing them from gathering such data, and not all participants are focused on raising their income.
“For many clients, income growth is not a primary goal while in the program as they may instead be focused on addressing their mental health concerns, substance use concerns, or their medical needs,” the DHS accountability team wrote in an email conversation to the auditor’s office on June 27, according to the report.
The D.C. auditor provided two recommendations to DHS to improve its data collection: one, DHS should audit the providers who run the program to ensure they’re collecting and inputting income data, and two, DHS should require these providers to conduct exit interviews when participants leave the program. DHS agreed with these recommendations and pledged to improve data collection efforts moving forward.
“We continue to aspire to getting consistent document-verified income data for all clients (if they have income) as an additional piece of the client puzzle to determine how we most effectively support the client,” the DHS accountability team wrote, according to the report.
This article originally appeared in Street Sense’s Sept. 24, 2025 edition.
