In the Media

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s administration said late Wednesday that it will use excess city revenue to temporarily increase food assistance benefits for residents in need, reversing course amid pressure from city lawmakers and an imminent threat of a lawsuit.

Mayor Muriel Bowser will give SNAP benefits additional funding, avoiding a showdown with the D.C. Council and a possible lawsuit.

After much back and forth, the Bowser administration acquiesced to D.C. Council members, advocates and constituents who demanded the temporary increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, as mandated in the FY 2024 budget.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's Office is now set to fund an increase in SNAP benefits, according to the director of the D.C. Department of Human Services and Legal Aid DC.

Coverage on NBC4 Washington of the relaunch of the Housing Right to Counsel Project.

More low-income tenants facing eviction in the District will soon arrive in court with something that has been shown to keep families in their homes and, in some cases, ensure they don’t lose access to government housing assistance: a lawyer. Beginning this month, a coalition of six nonprofits, 19 private law firms and the D.C. Access to Justice Commission will relaunch an initiative that, officials said, will guarantee more D.C. tenants who receive some kind of government housing subsidy access to a lawyer to represent them for free throughout eviction proceedings.

A group of six nonprofit legal service organizations and 19 law firms are reviving a pilot program that matches some tenants facing eviction with free legal assistance, reviving a pre-pandemic effort that helped dozens of families stay in their homes. Spearheaded by Legal Aid DC, participating groups will begin notifying eligible tenants about the program by the end of November. Program participants have pledged to provide counsel to one out of every six tenants who use a housing subsidy and are facing a publicly scheduled eviction proceeding in November and December.

Legal Aid Executive Director Vikram Swaruup was interviewed by Law360: "What's inspired my entire career trajectory is my personal experiences of witnessing discrimination, harassment and violence against the communities that I'm a part of."

Feature in Washington Lawyer Magazine about Legal Aid's new Executive Director, Vikram Swaruup