Press Releases

This morning, I spoke with Mayor Bowser to share my concerns and asked for the following: (1) more consistent and widespread asymptomatic testing, (2) changes to the notification system for informing DCPS school communities about positive cases, and (3) transparent metrics and reasoning that underpins the decision to transition schools and classrooms to situational virtual learning.

“We know the pandemic has exacerbated food inequities across the District and investing local dollars in SNAP is one way to combat this trend. We have an obligation to provide adequate resources for participants to purchase the healthy and necessary food options for their families,” said Councilmember Christina Henderson. “More than ten times as many Black District residents are relying on SNAP when compared to their white residents. This is an equity issue. It is time to give SNAP a raise.”

Paving the Way, which was awarded the contract through the Office of Contracting and Procurement’s (OCP) competitive procurement process, is a Free-Standing Mental Health Clinic located in Ward 8. Paving the Way also partners with DBH to deliver school-based behavioral health services.

The Texas Avenue dog park was funded as a first step in addressing the inequitable distribution of dog parks in the District, and I look forward to hearing about the progress made so far. Thank you in advance for providing responses by December 22, 2021.

That is why I write to request an update on the efforts of the Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC), which are supported by your office. While the MMRC was established in 2018 and fully constituted by 2020, it has yet to issue any publicly available reports to inform the prioritization of work to improve maternal health.

I ask that you work with DC Health to allocate a sufficient supply of rapid antigen test kits for DC students in Wards 5, 7, and 8 to acquire over the holiday break. There are three recreation centers and two libraries in Ward 5, three libraries in Ward 7, and two libraries and two recreation centers in Ward 8 designated as Test Yourself sites; I propose that you allow students and their families to show ID and pick up rapid test kits from these Test Yourself sites over the holiday break.