The office of Washington, D.C.'s attorney general said Mayor Muriel Bowser cannot withhold additional allocations of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and must follow the law to boost benefits starting in January.
Most of the people who were cleared from the square remain unhoused, the city said. And some have been evicted repeatedly from solo camp sites across D.C.
A homeless encampment occupying D.C.'s McPherson Square, originally slated to be cleared on April 12, will now be cleared by the National Park Service on Feb. 15 after a request from the D.C. Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services.
One year into a pilot program to reduce encampments by offering housing and services to residents, almost three-quarters of participants have moved into housing.