Wendell Williams Dec

NEWS

Bikes used by officers of the Metropolitan Police Department parked outside a Panera Bread in Downtown D.C. PHOTO BY GORDON CHAFFIN

DC program sending 911 mental health calls to social workers to continue, expand from 2% of calls

BY ELLIOT WILLIAMS @ecwilliams30

This article was originally published on Nov. 12, 2021.

D.C. is extending a pilot program that calls on the Office of Unified Communications to dispatch less police and more social workers for 911 calls involving mental health emergencies. Bloomberg CityLab first reported news of the program’s extension.

During the first phase of the program, which Mayor Muriel Bowser announced in May, just over 2% of the behavioral health calls the OUC receives have been directed to the team responsible for the pilot, per CityLab. Cleo Subido, interim director of OUC, told the outlet the city is hiring more social workers for the next phases of the program and will possibly quadruple its capacity for behavioral health calls. In a third phase of the program, Subido says the goal is to have a third of all mental health calls get directed to this dedicated team.

OUC did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the expansion, but confirmed CityLab’s reporting in a tweet.

The program was pitched in the wake of George Floyd’s killing at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, after which the D.C. Council appointed a 20-person D.C. Police Reform Commission. The group called for social workers to respond to more 911 calls. Nearby Montgomery County, Maryland, has also started expanding its behavioral health response to emergency calls.

The intention is to reduce violent interactions between officers and civilians. Subido told The Washington Post in the spring that the city wanted to prevent escalating incidents into “something more of an event by sending a uniformed officer there if they are not needed.”

The program expands on Bowser’s Right Care, Right Now initiative, which sends registered nurses to some 911 calls. The newer pilot, however, required D.C.’s contracted dispatch technology provider, Hexagon, to update OUC’s response technology. A Hexagon manager told CityLab the expansion wouldn’t cost much, however, and that the program could potentially save D.C. money by allowing Metropolitan Police officers to continue their patrol without responding to mental health emergencies. “The sooner we can identify what a person needs — whether that

An October 2021 report from the is an ambulance, a doctor’s

Office of D.C. Auditor found D.C.’s appointment, or in Office of Unified Communications — this case, a visit from a behavioral which handles 911 calls — frequently health expert, the sooner we can help miscommunicates caller locations and them,” Bowser said response times are worse in D.C.’s with the launch of the pilot. “That’s lowest-income areas. what this is about: making sure we get Washingtonians the help they need when they call us.” An October 2021 report from the Office of D.C. Auditor found D.C.’s Office of Unified Communications — which handles 911 calls — frequently miscommunicates caller locations and response times are worse in D.C.’s lowestincome areas.

The pandemic utility shutoff moratorium expired in October. Here’s how to get utility assistance in DC

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHANHEE LEE / UNSPLASH.COM

BY WILL SHICK will@streetsensemedia.org

The week after Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration abruptly stopped accepting applications for the STAY D.C. rent and utility assistance program on Oct. 27, the D.C. Council passed a bill to help protect city residents facing utility cutoffs and evictions because of financial hardships during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tenant Safe Harbor Emergency Amendment Act of 2021, which is currently under mayoral review with a Dec. 13 deadline, comes as city lawmakers and other officials grow increasingly concerned about the welfare of residents who continue to face financial hardships and may have to reckon with paying off overdue utility bills this winter. Council members hope the reprieve will provide time for eligible D.C. residents to seek help through a variety of assistance programs.

If enacted, the Safe Harbor legislation will provide tenants with new protections to use for defense in eviction cases due to unpaid rent, and prevent utility companies from shutting off service for customers due to lack of payment under a range of qualifying scenarios. These include situations where customers might owe less than $600 or have entered into payment agreements with the company.

Residents participating in programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Need Families (TANF) would also be protected from disconnections under the bill.

The previous moratorium on utility cutoffs — which the D.C. Council put in place for the duration of the public health emergency declared by the mayor at the onset of the COVID19 pandemic — expired on Oct. 12. Two days later, Bowser announced that the District was on track to spend all of its federally allocated STAY D.C. funds and would soon stop accepting applications for the program. Both the Bowser administration and D.C. Council members are calling on the federal government to provide the District with more funds once they become available because other states have not distributed their original allocations.

Of the $34 million in requests for utility assistance received by STAY D.C., $9.6 million had been awarded as of Nov. 12, according to a report from the D.C. Department of Human Services. The average amounts provided to individual recipients were $529 for gas, $861 for electricity and $1,054 for water.

Whether the mayor approves the emergency legislation or not, there are a number of resources available for people seeking help to pay for their utilities and other expenses.

The DC Line and Street Sense Media contacted the Office of the People’s Counsel (https://www.opc-dc.gov), the Public Service Commission (https://dcpsc.org), and the Department of Energy and Environment (https://doee.dc.gov) to learn how people facing economic difficulties can obtain assistance in paying their utilities. The OPC is an independent agency that is responsible for advocating for the rights of consumers of gas, phone, and electricity services in the city while the PSC is responsible for regulating those industries. DOEE also administers various programs and services related to utility and energy use in the city.

I need help with my utilities, who should I call?

• You can always start with 311, the main point of access

for city services. If a person is seeking assistance with their utilities and does not know where to turn, they can always pick up the phone and dial 311, according to Maurice

Smith, the director of the Office of Consumer Services at the D.C. Public Service Commission. “Just in terms of facility, that might be the easiest, best route,” he said.

• Residents can also reach out directly to the Public Service

Commission at 202-626-5100 or the Office of the People’s

Counsel at 202-727-3071 and speak to someone directly about their individual case.

• D.C. also has a recently launched information portal called Front Door D.C. (https://www.frontdoor.dc.gov) where residents can learn more about programs they might qualify for that subsidize their utility expenses.

• Eligibility for different programs varies but is usually based on household size and maximum annual income. While these criteria are not used for all discount and subsidy programs, they are the basis for many, including discount programs for electricity, gas, and phone services. A chart on the PSC website lists the general income caps: $72,250 for a one-person household; $82,600 for two people; $92,900 for three people; $103,200 for four people; $113,550 for five people; $123,850 for six people; $134,200 or seven people; and $144,500 for eight people.

Household Size 1

2

3

4

5

6

Maximum Annual Income $72,250

$82,600

$92,900

$103,200

$113,550

$123,850

7 $134,200

What should I do if I can’t pay for all of my utilities in full?

• You can develop a payment plan. Kellie Didigu, the communications officer at the Public Service Commission, stressed the importance of being proactive to avoid experiencing utility shutoffs. “Instead of just waiting for these bills to accumulate, we really need people to make a plan, to do that research and find out what programs are available, and then make certain that you’re paying what you can so that you don’t get so far behind,” she said.

• The Office of the People’s Counsel echoed this sentiment.

Not only are there payment programs in place at utility providers such as Washington Gas and Pepco, but the Office of the People’s Counsel can help people who don’t qualify for those existing programs to negotiate payment plans.

What do I do if I need help with other expenses?

• Often, people seeking help with utilities are also facing other kinds of financial hardships, explained Aaron S. Ward, the director of the Consumer Services Division in the Office of the People’s Counsel. “We try to keep in mind that, although they’re calling about utilities, nine times out of 10, they have other financial issues that they have to attend to as well,” Ward said. While the Office of the People’s

Counsel does not operate the various utility relief programs, it is an information resource for residents seeking to learn more about them. Call takers there can also help coordinate payment plans with their utility providers.

• Together the Office of the People’s Counsel, the Public Service

Commission, the Department of Energy and Environment, and the D.C. Sustainable Energy Utility assembled a list of resources that can be found at here2helpdc.dc.gov. The

OPC has an additional page with contact information for various community partners that can also provide assistance to people needing help with utilities or other economic hardships. (https://tinyurl.com/opc-partners)

• DOEE administers a weatherization assistance program that fixes inoperable heating and cooling systems for qualifying residents. Residents can call 202-299-3316 for more information about the program.

What’s something I might qualify for but might not have heard of before?

• You might be paying more for utilities than you need

to. Depending on your income level, you may qualify for utility discount programs through Pepco, Washington Gas, and Verizon. There is also a program administered through DOEE called the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides assistance benefits between $250 and $1,800 for up to two payments per fiscal year, according to Kenley Farmer, the deputy director of DOEE’s Utility Affordability Administration.