Good morning.

I am Matt Freuman, Ward 3 Councilmember and Chairperson of the Committee on Human Services.

Today is September 30th, 2026.

We are meeting in room 123 of the John A.

Wilson Building and on the Zoom Virtual Platform.

The time is now 936 a.m.

Today we are conducting an oversight roundtable on the future of the Interagency Council on Homelessness known as the ICH.

The Homeless Services Reform Act of 2005, also known as the HSRA, establish the ICH to coordinate the district's interagency response to homelessness.

The HSRA requires the ICH to fulfill 12 specific responsibilities, among other things, the ICH must conduct an annual homeless services needs assessment, approve a winter plan to provide shelter during hypothermia season, and develop a strategic plan for every five years.

The ICH is located in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services and is chaired by the City Administrator.

A December 31, 2024

report from the District's Inspector General found the ICH has sometimes struggled to comply with the HSRA and its own bylaws.

The ICH, for example, did not develop work plans to support the strategic plan, establish implementation priorities aligned with the strategic plan, or provide annual updates to the mayor.

These challenges are likely due to a gap between the responsibilities placed on the ICH by the HSRA and the agency's resources.

Shortly after DMHHS allowed the ICH to hire for positions that had been frozen for years, the executive introduced a budget that eliminated every position except the director.

Although the council restored a deputy director position, broader questions remain about the ICH's future staffing and responsibilities.

Rather

than

imposing broad duties on an understaffed agency, the district must identify its priorities for the ICH and staff the agency accordingly.

The

upcoming mayoral transition and the ICH's recent adoption of a new strategic plan make now the ideal time to consider the future of the ICH.

Today we will be exploring which statutory duties are fundamental to the ICH's role and which should be revisited,

where the ICH should be located

within the district government, appropriate staffing and budget, how the ICH can achieve the goals in its new strategic plan.

I look forward to hearing from today's witnesses and am grateful to ICH Director Scylla for joining the conversation.

I would also like to thank Councilmember Henderson and the Committee on Health for their partnership in conducting oversight of the ICH.

During last budget season, they worked up with us to restore the agency's deputy director position and have thoughtfully engaged with us and the agency throughout this council period.

I think we are not joined by anybody online.

No.

Okay.

Before we hear from public witnesses, I would like to offer a note on logistics.

I ask that all witnesses limit their testimony to their allotted time.

The first representative to speak on behalf of an organization will have five minutes.

All other witnesses will have three minutes.

If you are here to testify in person when your name is called, please take a seat at the table in front of me.

Before you speak, please make sure to turn on the microphone in front of your seat.

Our first public witnesses are Jean-Michel Grod, Lynn Amano, Kelly Sweeney McShane, Rachel White.

Oh, there she is.

That's

it.

Yeah.

All

right, let's let everybody get settled.

And Mr.

Giraud, when you are ready.

Good morning, Chairman Fruman and members of the committee.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

I am Jean-Michel Giraud, the President and CEO of Friendship Place, which serves district residents experiencing or at risk of homelessness through housing, employment, outreach, health, and supportive services.

This hearing offers an opportunity to revisit the purpose of the district's interagency council on homelessness as we prepare for the arrival of a new administration.

ICH has accomplished a lot since its creation in the Homeless Services Reform Act of 2005 to provide cabinet level interagency leadership for planning, policy making, budgeting, and program development within the district's homeless services continuum of care.

The introduction of new person-centric service models, expanding system capacity, and the development of the homeward DC strategic plans are good examples of this.

And I want to say that I'm offering some comments today, and they are to be part of a solution that we have a very deserving director, Director Sierra at ICH doing great work for us.

However, ICH has not always been given the means to develop it to its full potential.

Underfunding and understaffing have limited its ability to meet its obligations, while its role has shifted from the early model in which service providers, impacted communities, and agency leaders work together to address homelessness.

In those early years, when I served on ICH, as we still do at Friendship Place, we looked for ways to say yes.

Too often the full council now operates as a city reporting meeting rather than a body of shared governance or more participatory format would foster greater independence and produce better results by actively engaging all stakeholders.

Budget management was stated in the original mandate of ICH, but has not been practiced.

Input from members in the development of the budget would be helpful.

The executive director should have a direct link to the mayor and the authority to bring agency heads to the table to solve issues and build the system.

This model has proven successful in other cities in the past.