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Q&A
Council Member Ayala inquires about shelter eviction policies and gross misconduct
1:16:12
·
3 min
Council Member Diana I. Ayala questions DHS Administrator Jocelyn Carter and DSS Commissioner Molly Wasow Park about shelter eviction policies, specifically focusing on what constitutes gross misconduct and how it's handled in different shelter settings. The officials explain the approach to addressing misconduct, emphasizing de-escalation and safety measures.
- Gross misconduct is defined as egregious acts that put others' health and safety at risk, such as violent acts or possession of firearms.
- DHS employs a case-by-case approach, using case conferences and de-escalation techniques before considering eviction.
- The policy is not being piloted in mental health shelters, indicating a differentiated approach based on shelter type.
Diana I. Ayala
1:16:12
Could you well at the preliminary budget hearing you testified that in order for a shelter resident to be evicted there will need to be several instances of gross misconduct.
1:16:21
Can you further explain what constitutes gross misconduct and what steps DHS takes to address more minor misconduct before pursuing eviction which I think we heard a little bit of but I would love to hear what the gross what you consider to be gross misconduct and how many instances is
Jocelyn Carter
1:16:36
Gross misconduct is a different you know levels of gross misconduct is something really egregious, right.
1:16:44
That's where we say gross misconduct.
1:16:46
It is not, you know, a typical fight.
1:16:49
It is something that we consider and it would be a case by case, but every day we have things that happen that we do conferences.
1:16:56
It's not nothing is everything is not we're gonna discontinue.
1:17:00
Really, the idea is let's do case conferences, let's course correct, let's make sure that we can help, you know, make a difference that keep us keep our clients in our shelter system.
1:17:13
But, it's supporting our clients to understand and the providers to understand how we do we de escalate situations before they get to a point that we're thinking that we need to just discontinue any
Diana I. Ayala
1:17:26
But it is your policy, so I mean do you have an example of what you would constitute gross misconduct?
1:17:31
Misconduct?
Jocelyn Carter
1:17:32
Off the top of my head what would I think about?
1:17:36
It is something that's a violent act.
1:17:44
It is something that is puts the the health and safety of other clients at risk.
1:17:53
It is something where we see firearms.
1:17:56
That's the type of when I think gross misconduct, that's what I'm thinking about.
Molly Wasow Park
1:18:01
And if I could chime in.
1:18:03
We track the number of serious incidents in our shelter system, and the number of serious violent incidents in the shelter system is going down, but we also know that this is a concern for clients, right?
1:18:15
People want and deserve to feel safe in the place where they are receiving emergency shelter.
1:18:22
And so we are looking at a broad spectrum of ways that we can improve and strengthen the safety of the shelter system, This is a part of that.
1:18:34
It is training for security guards, both DHS peace officers and contracted security guards.
1:18:43
Investing in the kind of trauma informed care and de escalation that Administrator Carter mentioned.
1:18:48
So across the board it is how do we make sure that somebody who is facing a moment of trauma who needs emergency shelter has a safe place to stay.
1:18:57
At the end of the day holding people who are not engaging with us accountable for their actions makes things safer for everybody.
1:19:05
But as Administrator Carter noted, there will be multiple instances and points of engagement so that nobody is going to be sanctioned on day one.
Diana I. Ayala
1:19:14
And would that look different in a regular shelter with general population than it would in a shelter that houses individuals with like serious mental health issues?
Molly Wasow Park
1:19:24
We are not piloting this in mental health shelters.
Diana I. Ayala
1:19:27
Okay.
1:19:27
Okay.
1:19:28
I appreciate that.
1:19:33
Okay.