MENTAL HEALTH & HOMELESS ADVOCACY
Policy Mission
Mental health is public health. We will treat homelessness as a housing and healthcare challenge, not a criminal one, and invest in the behavioral health infrastructure Ward 5 communities need and deserve.
Mental Health Policy Priorities
- Advocate for expanded DBH (Dept. of Behavioral Health) outreach and crisis services in Ward 5
- Support the establishment of a Ward 5 Community Mental Health Incubator offering walk-in counseling, peer support, and crisis stabilization
- Push for trauma-informed mental health training for Ward 5 MPD officers, school staff, and community workers
- Support increased school-based mental health counselor ratios in all Ward 5 DC Public Schools
- Fund after-school therapeutic programming in collaboration with DYRS for students and parents
- Create partnerships with HBCU and university psychology programs for training clinics serving Ward 5 youth
- Support expansion of DC’s Mental Health Crisis Response (non-police) alternative response programs in Ward 5
- Advocate for mobile crisis units deployable to Ward 5’s highest-need corridors, including Trinidad and Brentwood
- Create a Crisis Response Incubator in Ward 5, providing services for residents during inclement events
Homeless Advocacy Priorities
- Advocate for the siting of new permanent supportive housing (PSH) units in Ward 5 in line with the DC Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) plan
- Support evidence-based Housing First models that do not require treatment participation as a precondition for housing
- Partner with Pathways to Housing DC, SOME (So Others Might Eat), and other Ward 5-active providers
- Support year-round low-barrier shelter access and oppose shelter closure policies during non-hypothermia seasons
- Advocate for inspections of sites that house displaced residents with vouchers from District Funds
- Create a Ward 5 Employment Pipeline for individuals exiting homelessness linked to manufacturing, hospitality, and trades sectors
- Advocate for fair chance hiring ordinances to support formerly incarcerated Ward 5 residents
Service Need
Current Gap
Proposed Solution
Walk-in mental health counseling
No dedicated Ward 5 facility
Ward 5 Community Mental Health Hub
Youth school-based counselors
Understaffing in DCPS Ward 5 schools
Mandate increase in counselor-student ratio
Non-police crisis response
Limited coverage in Ward 5
Mobile crisis unit deployment expansion
Permanent supportive housing units
Waitlist backlog
New PSH units sited in Ward 5
Reentry employment pathways
Fragmented service delivery
Integrated employment pipeline program for skilled trades
Home Built. Home Driven ~ Carmichael 2026
DC Election Day is June 16, 2026
Together we the people achieve more than any single person could ever do alone.
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© 2026, Bernita Carmichael 2026. All Rights Reserved.
Paid for by Bernita Carmichael 2026, Marquita Day, Treasurer. A copy of our report is filed with the DC OCF, Washington, DC