ADVOCACY RESOURCE CENTER

We are requesting that the D.C. Council fully fund the D.C. Access to Justice Initiative so families like ours can get help from lawyers to obtain the services and supports we need to raise the children in our care and give them a brighter future.

We’re proud to share that the D.C. Council officially declared September 2025 as Kinship Care Month, thanks to a ceremonial resolution introduced by Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker, who chairs the Committee on Youth Affairs.

Ms. Fuller testified in support of the D.C. Access to Justice Initiative.

Ms. Spindel testified in support of the D.C. Access to Justice Initiative.

Ms. Spindel testified about the Department of Human Services FY 2026 Budget and the proposal for an Ombudsperson for Public Benefits.

Ms. McClellan called for more transparency in the subsidy formula and amounts.

DC KinCare Alliance seeks for DC agency decision-making to be transparent and subject to public accountability.

Ms. Taplin describes the “unacceptable incidence of errors when DHS processes applications and recertifications, caused by a combination of human error and technical glitches with DHS’ public benefits software.”  She recommends the establishment of an Independent Ombudsperson for Public Benefits.

Ms. Taplin testified about the social worker shortage at CFSA and how that is endangering children, as well as barriers to access the DC caregiver subsidies.

Ms. Taplin testified in support of the DC Access to Justice Initiative, which funds DC legal services organizations.

Effective November 1, 2024, pursuant to DHS Policy ESA-2025-02 (Cash), self-attestation will be accepted as proof of both the “living with” and “relationship” requirements for individuals applying for the District’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and Program on Work, Employment and Responsibility (POWER). DC KinCare Alliance advocacy resulted in this change.  

Effective October 1, 2024, the household income cap increased from 200% to 300% of the federal poverty line, and TANF and SNAP is no longer included in the calculation of income. This legislative change is the result of DC kinship caregivers’ advocacy on this issue.

Read the Ceremonial Resolution by clicking below.

Another successful outcome resulting from our advocacy to ensure more equitable and inclusive laws and policies for kinship caregivers.  Now caregivers can apply for the subsidy if they can show evidence of the caregiving relationship through a sworn statement, and no longer need a court custody order. DC KinCare Alliance identified this issue and advocated […]

The regulations were amended to remove the requirement that a grandparent must receive a TANF determination before they can apply for the Grandparent Caregiver Program; now only proof of applying for TANF is required.  Our grandparent caregivers identified this issue and worked with us to make this change happen!

DC KinCare Alliance signed onto a letter to the US House Committee on Ways and Means along with 227 other national, state, and local organizations to express support for the bipartisan Protecting America’s Children by Strengthening Families Act, which would invest critical new resources in Title IV-B and provide needed policy improvements.

“We are writing to ask you to halt the exits of families in rapid re-housing until the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA) can complete the housing voucher eligibility and lease-up process for the significant number of vouchers that are available now or by October 1. “

DC KinCare Alliance was pleased to work with Senator Casey’s and Young’s staff to provide recommendations to strengthen the Bill, and wholeheartedly supports the Bill.

Deputy Director Stephanie McClellan testified about the experiences DC KinCare Alliance clients have had using the District Direct online application system to submit public benefits applications and provided recommendations for improvement.

Ms. Spindel testified about the need to fully fund the DC Access to Justice Initiative, which funds legal services in DC.  She explained that funding the Initiative provides critical legal help to DC’s low-income residents, ensuring they receive the legal rights and financial assistance to which they are entitled.

Ms. Taplin discussed the importance of funding the Grandparent and Relative Caregiver Program Subsidies, reducing barriers to access, and ensuring the timely and efficient processing of subsidy applications.

Ms. McClellan testified regarding funding of the DC Office of the Ombudsperson for Children and the essential role if plays in ensuring the safety and well-being of DC children.

Ms. McClellan testified about the Office of Ombudsperson for Children’s FY 2023 Annual Report and concerning issues raised therein about CFSA’s practice of kinship diversion, also known as hidden foster care.

Ms. Taplin discussed new requirements for caregivers to apply for the DC Grandparent Caregiver Program and Close Relative Caregiver Program, which are not required by applicable law and result in significant barriers to access the program subsidies.

The regulations were issued pursuant to the terms of a settlement agreement between DC KinCare Alliance and the DC Housing Authority (DCHA). The regulations are effective as of their date of publication on January 5, 2024.

The current cap on household income penalizes caregivers who still live in poverty but make a little bit over 200% of FPL.  We need to provide a foundation for caregivers to help them stabilize the children in their care by increasing the eligibility cap to 300% of FPL.

This legislation would raise the household income cap for eligibility for the subsidies from 200% to 300% of the Federal Poverty Line.  Relatives who take in children they never expected to raise are still in poverty at 300% of FPL, and need help to provide safe and stable homes for these children.

To recognize the importance of kinship families in the District of Columbia and the many benefits kinship caregivers bestow on the children in their care as well as the many challenges they face when raising these children, and to declare the month of September 2023 as “Kinship Care Month” in the District of Columbia.

The DC Council acted to ensure relatives caring for children with disabilities are treated fairly by providing that SSI should not be included in the calculation of household income and should not be deducted from the subsidy amount received under the Grandparent and Close Relative Caregiver Programs.

The letter urges DC’s Tax Revision Commission to make racial equity the goal of all its recommendations to the Mayor and DC Council.

Ms. Spindel testifies about the need to fully fund the Access to Justice Initiative in DC’s FY 2024 Budget so that DC legal services organizations can continue to provide desperately needed legal services to those most in need in our community.

Ms. Spindel asks the DC Council to fully fund the Access to Justice (ATJ) Initiative so that DC legal services organizations can continue to serve those most in need in our community in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am asking you to please make sure to fund the ATJ Initiative so DC KinCare Alliance can continue to help DC residents like me.”

Ms. Keller testified regarding the DC Child and Family Services Agency’s FY 2024 Budget, and advocated for changes to the caregivers subsidies to increase income eligibility thresholds and eliminate unnecessary deductions from the rate.

Ms. McClellan advocates for refunding the Emergency Rental Assistance Program this year, as well as increased funding for next year.

The letter requests $50 million in emergency funding to the District’s primary eviction prevention tool, the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), and to provide deeper oversight of this critical program.

Thank you Mayor Bowser for recognizing the importance of this critical Office and funding it in your FY 2024 Budget!

Ms. Taplin testified that the DC State Superintendent of Schools that administers the DC child care subsidy program restricts access to caregivers who have a custody order, thereby excluding caregivers who are acting “in loco parentis” to children, as permitted by federal law.

Ms. McClellan testified about the importance of the Office and how it can be most successful in helping to ensure the safety and security of DC children and families.

Ms. McClellan testified about the DC caregivers subsidies and ways to make them more equitable.

Ms. Spindel testified about the CFSA kinship navigator program, kinship diversion (also known as hidden foster care), and child fatalities and near fatalities.

Ms. Taplin testified about MPD’s failure to investigate allegations of child abuse or neglect, and the fact that MPD does not have any guidance on how or why a determination is made not to investigate such an allegation, nor any requirement for a rationale to be provided for same.

DC KinCare Alliance testified about DC’s discriminatory and harmful practice of kinship diversion also known as hidden foster care.

DC KinCare Alliance, along with more than 550 national, state and community-based organizations, urge Congress to take this historic opportunity to address hunger and improve the nutrition, health, and well-being of our nation’s children.

In her testimony, Ms. Spindel raises concerns about DC’s failure to implement the safeguards of the School Safety Omnibus Amendment Act of 2018 to ensure sexual predators are not hired by DC public schools.

Staff Attorney Caylyn Keller addresses concerns regarding proposal to provide for expungements of substantiated allegations of child abuse in as few as three years.

Ms. Spindel testified regarding recommended improvements to the subsidy programs, including a timeframe for processing applications, advance notice of program termination, increasing the subsidy amounts, increasing the income limits for eligibility, as well as payment of the subsidy retroactive to the date of application.

In a huge win for DC’s children and families, DC now has an official Ombudsperson for Children!

Ms. Spindel discussed the critical need for the Office and how Ms. Cawthon has the expertise and skills to fulfill its important mission.

These recommendations provide a fix to the Title IV-B funding stream to require the Title IV-E agency to contract with a community partner trusted by the kinship caregiver community to provide kinship navigation services and to ensure responsiveness and accountability to the caregivers they are supposed to serve.

Ms. Cawthon currently serves as a Regional Program Manager for the Children’s Bureau, where she provides leadership and strategic direction to the Bureau out of the Atlanta Regional Office. She has a long track record of collaborative, values-driven child welfare leadership with the federal government and in Georgia and Tennessee.

A Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in Washington DC would include domestic workers in protections against employment discrimination and in DC’s local occupational health and safety law.

Our advocacy has worked for a third time.  First, we were able to expand the grandparent subsidy to include other relatives.  Then, we were able to eliminate the 6-month eligibility period.  And now, we have expanded the subsidy to include godparents, some relatives who live out-of-state, and relatives who also live with a disabled parent.

DC KinCare Alliance attorneys and a representative from the Community Board met with Senator Wyden’s staff to discuss concerns about the use of federal funds for kinship navigator services in DC.  See Community Board Position Statement regarding this issue.

The law that would reform the discriminatory and punitive practice under the “Clean Hands Law” of preventing District residents from getting or renewing their driver’s licenses.

Fin out if you are eligible and how to obtain the tax credit.

DC KinCare Alliance signs onto this Petition with more than 200 other signatories asking the DC Council to fund the Ombudsperson for Children.

The Letter asks the DC Council to stop Mayor Bowser from terminating DC residents from the rapid re-housing program for hitting an arbitrary time limit. This year, as many as 913 families are facing time limit terminations.

Among other things, Kincare highlights high barriers to access benefits for kinship caregivers, and the agency’s failure to reduce those barriers.

Mayor Bowser defunded the FY 2022 funding allocated to the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children, and did not include any funding for the Office in FY 2023.  Accordingly, we implore the DC Council to identify and reallocate funds to ensure this critical protection for DC children is retained.

Marla Spindel testified about the unnecessary and discriminatory barriers for non-parent caregivers to access the DC Child Care Subsidy for the children in their care.

Deputy Director Stephanie McClellan testified about the unnecessary and burdensome documentation requirements for relative caregivers to obtain TANF benefits, which create discriminatory barriers to access.

Deputy Director Stephanie McClellan testified on how the DC Housing Authority discriminates against relative caregivers who seek to add the children in their care to their public housing vouchers.

Marla Spindel testifies before the DC Council Human Services Committee on the the performance of the DC Child and Family Services Agency regarding: (1) processing time for the caregiver subsidies; (2) the independent Ombudsperson for Children; (3) kinship diversion; and (4) child fatalities and near fatalities.

Along with other advocates, DC KinCare Alliance requests that DC explicitly include in loco parentis as one of the legal relationships eligible for the DC Child Care Subsidy. Doing so is consistent with the overarching purposes of the program, as well as with existing federal and DC child care and school enrollment regulations.

Along with other DC advocates, DC KinCare Alliance urges the DC Housing Authority to remove barriers for non-parent caregivers to add children to their public housing lease or vouchers.  These barriers are not only burdensome and unnecessary, but also violate federal and DC law.

The DC KinCare Alliance Relative Caregiver Community Board submitted this Statement today requesting that the DC Council hold a vote of all Councilmembers on the appointment of the new CFSA Director, rather than letting his nomination be passively approved without a vote.

DC KinCare Alliance signed on to a letter to the Commissioner of the United States Children’s Bureau about the practice of hidden foster care, calling on the Biden Administration to frame the issue as a matter of racial and class justice.

As of November 19, 2021, employers will be required to provide paid leave to employees who need time off to receive vaccinations; to recover from related side effects; or to care for their children who are being vaccinated.

DC KinCare Alliance, along with 7 other child and family advocates, sent a letter to DC Council Chairman Mendelson, requesting that the Council expeditiously identify and appoint the first DC Ombudsperson for Children.

See the attached chart that provides the dates for the stepped approach to end of the moratorium.

The DC Council passed legislation that significantly expands the DC Paid Family and Medical Leave programs. These changes go into effect on October 1, 2021 – and could benefit you and your family!

Find out how you can get up to $3,600 for every child 5 and under, plus up to $3,000 for every child aged 6-17!

The letter asks President Biden and Members of Congress to secure our children’s futures by making the Child Tax Credit expansions permanent and fully inclusive.

It includes funding for the Office of Ombudsperson for Children and the Grandparent and Close Relative Caregiver Programs, as well as a tax on the wealthy to help pay for housing vouchers, subsidies for day-care worker and tax credits for low-income families.

This provides some guidance on how to reduce summer utility costs as well as the protections still in effect related to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Mr. Massey testified about how the DC Department of Human Services has failed to approve him for permanent supportive housing even though he qualifies and even though his current housing is in the middle of a neighborhood gang war.

Deputy Director McClellan testified before the DC Council Committee on Human Services about why an independent Office of Ombudsperson for Children should be funded by the DC government to ensure the safety of DC’s at-risk children.

Deputy Director McClellan testified before the DC Council Committee of the Whole about why an independent Office of Ombudsperson for Children should be funded by the DC government to ensure the safety of DC’s at-risk children.

When you speak with a “Financial Navigator”, you will be talking to a live person who will provide you guidance over the phone to help you manage financial issues, identify immediate action steps and make referrals to available programs all at no cost to you!

Mayor Bowser’s FY 2022 Budget will shape whether DC has a fair and equitable COVID-19 recovery.

DC KinCare Alliance signed on to the letter with more than 70 other organizations, to ensure racial and economic equity as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Find out more about the online portal and local and federal rental assistance programs.

Here is a list of programs that offer free tax prep help to DC households that make less than $57,000.

Stephanie testifies about the failures of the DC Child Fatality Review Committee to timely review child fatalities and report meaningful information to reduce fatalities in the future.  She also recommends that the law require the Committee to review cases of near child fatalities.

Mr. Massey, a relative caregiver of his younger siblings, testifies about gun violence in his neighborhood.

Ms. Holmes testifies about the Department of Employment Services failure to process and pay her Pandemic Unemployment Insurance Benefits.

Stephanie testifies on the significant barriers to access TANF benefits for kinship families.

Stephanie testifies about the DC Child and Family Services Agency’s illegal and discriminatory diversion practices and the increase in DC child maltreatment fatalities.

The DC Council voted to override the veto of this important piece of child welfare legislation.  Now we need to fund it!

DC Council voted unanimously in favor of this critical piece of legislation.  Why would the Mayor veto something so important for DC children and families?  We are hopeful the DC Council will override the Mayor’s veto at the next legislative meeting.

The DC Courts have launched a free app with quick links to court calendars, searchable case databases, Court of Appeals opinions, on line forms, Courts’ rules, and information for jurors, those without an attorney and those seeking admission to the DC bar. It also includes FAQs and location information for the courts.

Key Takeaways: Increased income eligibility; Increased rental assistance cap  average rental amount of $10,205; You may now apply more than once until you reach the assistance cap, within a twelve (12) month period during a public health emergency; Residents are now able to self-certify if they are unable to provide supporting documents.

Marla Spindel attended the December meeting to raise issues and make recommendations to the Committee to ensure accurate, timely, and useful information about child fatalities is presented in its annual public reports.  Recommendations included distinguishing infant and child fatalities by year, and fast tracking the review of fatal abuse fatalities.

For the past two years, DC KinCare Alliance and other child welfare advocates worked with Councilmember Nadeau to make this law a reality!  Through this legislation, we have forever changed child welfare in DC!  This Office will ensure the safety and security of DC’s most vulnerable children.

In response to our Petition, the DC Council unanimously voted in favor of the FOIA Tolling Emergency Amendment Act of 2020 (Bill 23-1017), which will repeal the COVID-related suspension on response times for DC government FOIA requests starting January 16, 2021.

We understand the Chair of the DC Council has introduced legislation to repeal the FOIA suspension at the December 1st DC Council Legislative Meeting.

Deputy Director McClellan testifies about how the never-ending waiting list for the Grandparent Caregiver Program Subsidy during the pandemic hurts DC grandparents and the children they raise, all while the Mayor intends to repurpose $2 million from the agency that administers the Program to the Metropolitan Police Department.

In her blog, she highlights a number of deficiencies with CFSA’s recently release 2019 internal child fatality report, including that CFSA has chosen to publish data on only 13 of 33 cases reviewed in 2019, greatly reducing the utility of the report.  

The DC Council failed to include increases in funding for the Grandparent Caregiver Program (GCP) or Close Relative Caregiver Program (CRCP), even though the GCP is already at capacity with a waiting list, and the CRCP is expected to hit capacity very soon. Read more for our message to the DC Council.

The DC Council approved a regressive 10% increase in the gasoline tax, while voting against a modest increase in the income tax for the wealthiest residents.  Read more for our message to the DC Council.

The Amendment allows parents or other legal caregivers of a child to designate a Standby Guardian to care for the child if the parent or other caregiver becomes too ill to do so because of a complications from a COVID-related illness. Click below for a copy of the DC KinCare Alliance COVID-19 Standby Guardianship packet.

The App is free and available through Google Play and Apple App Store.

Ms. Spindel specifically warns the DC Council about cuts to essential programs and services, including the DC Grandparent Caregiver Program and Prevention Services.

Find out how to sign up to use your SNAP EBT card to purchase groceries through Amazon. Available in English (p. 1) and Spanish (p. 2).

Among other things, the Budget proposes cuts to the Grandparent Caregiver Program Subsidy and Prevention Services at a time when investments should be made in those areas. Go here to to see the full Budget documents: https://mayor.dc.gov/page/fy2021-budget-dchope%E2%80%93-mayor-bowser%E2%80%99s-commitment-give-every-washingtonian-fair-shot

DC KinCare Alliance advocated for DC to remove the 6-month eligibility period for relatives to be able to apply for the Grandparent Caregiver Program, as well as the new Close Relative Caregiver Program. Today, that goal was realized as the 6-month eligibility period has been ELIMINATED for both programs!

The letter outlines some of the
most urgent concerns and recommends both legislative and administrative solutions.

The letter asks for clarification of DHS’ plan to transfer families out of family shelters during the public health emergency.

Relative caregivers and the children they raise are at especially high risk during this public health emergency. Urgent action is needed by the Mayor and Council to protect these families.

See the Mayor’s updated webpage:
https://coronavirus.dc.gov/dc-small-business-recovery-grants