Families Forward, Inc., the nonprofit that runs the D.C. General family shelter, has admitted in a letter to Mayor Adrian Fenty that it has fired employees for inappropriate contact with female residents.
The allegations first came to light yesterday when we reported the concerns of two female residents who alleged that they had been propositioned by [...]

P.H., a resident of the shelter at D.C. General, had raised enough complaints and gotten nowhere. So yesterday morning she decided to e-mail Mayor Adrian Fenty about the living conditions there. The letter spanned six long, single-spaced paragraphs. She spared no detail.
"I wanted my voice to be heard," P.H. tells City Desk. "I could not [...]

A newborn was found unconscious at the D.C. General family shelter on the morning of Feb. 9. The baby girl was rushed to Children's Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Beverly Fields, the spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, tells City Desk that the cause and manner of the child's death are still [...]

Willie Richbow Jr., 19, moved into D.C. General with his mother and his two sisters on Sept. 30. They could have been an easy case, a family that didn't need to log months in an activity room.
His family was not chronically homeless or saddled with drug and mental health issues. Richbow and his kin had [...]

In light of the overcrowded mess going on at D.C. General's emergency shelter for families, I thought I should call Robert Egger. As founder and president of DC Central Kitchen, Egger is unmatched as this city's most forward-thinking authority on homeless issues.
Years ago, Egger had approached city officials about moving away from sheltering homeless individuals [...]

D.C. General, the city's long-shuttered hospital of last resort, is one facility that's used to being overused. In its pre-gentrification heyday, its emergency room swelled with indigent residents in need of care.
Though it's no longer providing ER services, things have scarcely changed at D.C. General, which now serves as a shelter for homeless D.C. families. [...]

This is a bad sign. The weather is still pretty decent. But homeless shelters are at capacity or over capacity, according to recent census figures.  On October 27, there were no vacancies for homeless men, and shelters for homeless women were over capacity by two. There were zero vacancies listed for homeless families.
Yesterday, there were [...]

Apparently DHS Director Clarence Carter's confusing-as-hell letter to homeless advocates did little to settle the issue of just how much money will be cut from the homeless services budget. Homeless service providers will be holding a press conference at 11 a.m. on the steps of the Wilson Building to address the looming cuts and perhaps [...]

Today, DHS Director Clarence Carter sent out a statement to various homeless advocates and shelter providers. Earlier this week, Carter and Councilmember Tommy Wells sparred on just how much the homeless services budget would get cut. Many shelters are facing 30 percent cuts or worse—closing down.
I'm not sure Carter does himself any favors with this [...]

Is this any way to coordinate homeless services?
Late last week, word spread down to various District shelters and homeless service providers that their budgets were going to be taking a huge hit. On September 28, Catholic Charities and others were told to expect 30 percent cuts.The 30 percent cut was the average cut. Some agencies [...]

(Life) Lessons And Tests From A First-Year Teacher is confused about what to do when a student bites them: "Today i was bit by one of my students...it was sort of inevitable, but damn, hurt nonetheless. and with the classroom not being my own, with few structures in place, i'm not quite sure what [...]