Clearing Hurdles to Assistance

Legal Aid DC’s Public Benefits Law team steps in when DC residents hit roadblocks accessing critical benefits like food assistance, Social Security, unemployment, and more. Before contacting us, public benefits clients often spend weeks or longer trying to resolve issues on their own by reaching out to the relevant agencies, but they are often left with unhelpful answers — if any at all. Legal Aid DC staff advocate directly with agencies on behalf of clients to get their benefits corrected or restarted. And when needed, they appeal cases to the DC Office of Administrative Hearings, a Social Security administrative judge, or a local or federal court. 

Fighting for Health Coverage

In 2025, Legal Aid was part of a District-wide mobilization to fight for the DC Health Care Alliance program, which provides lifesaving health insurance for DC residents whose immigration status precludes them from enrolling in Medicaid. The Mayor proposed, and the DC Council voted to approve, a phase out of the program for adults over the next few years, which would leave more than 25,000 DC residents without health insurance. Thanks to advocates’ work, some cuts to the program were delayed, and the Alliance program was included on a contingency list of programs set to receive additional funding if the DC government’s revenue is higher than projected.  

A coalition of partners, including DC Jobs with Justice, Unite Here Local 25, Mary’s Center, Bread for the City, and many more, continue to advocate for the restoration of this program.  

In parallel with policy advocacy, the coalition jumped into action ahead of an October 1 deadline, when the first changes to Alliance limiting age and income eligibility went into effect. The coalition reached out to existing clients and organized a series of outreach events and legal clinics to inform people about the changes and enroll or recertify them. At the Shrine of the Sacred Heart church in Mount Pleasant, volunteers helped 230 people with their Alliance benefits.

For example, we identified a previous public benefits client whose Alliance coverage was set to expire on September 30. Her cancer, once in remission, had returned, and she had to stop working over the summer because of her illness. Legal Aid helped her submit a new application for the program, reporting her loss of income. Without this support, she may have lost medical coverage when she needed it most.

Legal Aid grew its Public Benefits team this year, preparing to meet residents’ growing need as we face new threats to SNAP and upcoming changes to Medicare and Medicaid that will create additional hurdles.