Every budget season, DC tells us what it values. This one was no different — and as always, we were in the room to make sure DC mothers — disproportionately Black mothers — and others entangled in the systems that punish rather than support them and their families weren’t left out of that reckoning. I want to start with priorities you may know little about — the cuts that slipped through without a word — and then give you the full picture of what we’re going to do about them.
Child and Family Services Agency Flex Funds
Here’s what happened. Flex Funds are the small, flexible dollars meant to stabilize families before a Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) case ever opens — covering rent, food, utilities, furniture, the kinds of needs that get labeled “neglect” in this city when a family is simply poor. In this budget, based on our best available intelligence — including CFSA’s own testimony before the Council in May — that fund appears to have been cut by nearly two-thirds, from $1.79 million down to about $600,000.[1] We are actively verifying the final enacted figure. It was one of the least visible cuts in an otherwise heavily scrutinized budget.
That silence is itself the story. I testified on this in May, and what I told the Council is still true: CFSA was already failing to spend the money it had. Over six years, more than $2.5 million allocated for food, housing, and childcare never reached a single family, sitting unspent inside an agency that investigates the very families it’s supposed to help.[2] Now the District has shrunk that pot even further, for an agency that hadn’t even spent what it already had. When a fund gets cut without debate, without scrutiny, without so much as a line in a budget recap, that’s not an accident. That’s what it looks like when families without political power get left out of a process that was never designed with them in mind.
This isn’t just a budget story. It’s the story of why MON has argued, in testimony and in our formal recommendations to the Council, that Flex Funds should not sit inside CFSA at all.[3] CFSA’s core mandate is to investigate and regulate families, not to support them — a punitive system some of us call family policing — and that mandate cannot coexist with the trust required for a mother to ask for help paying her electric bill without fearing it becomes evidence in a neglect case. Money meant to keep families together does not belong inside the agency with the power to separate them. We’ve called for this administration to move to agencies or community-based organizations whose job is family and economic stability, not investigation. That call is more urgent now, not less.
We’re not going to let this cut disappear into a budget line. We’ve launched a Flex Funds campaign as part of our Support, Not Separation work — because this is exactly the fight that campaign exists for: making sure poverty never becomes the reason a family loses each other. Watch for it, and for ways to add your voice to the fight for full, transparent, non-punitive funding for the families who need it most.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
The same dynamic shows up in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), just at a different scale. Of the three TANF cuts on the table, the Council delayed two by another year — the 60-month benefit reduction and the steep sanction increase.[4] I’m grateful for that. But it’s a delay, not a repeal: those cuts come right back next year unless we fight again. And the cost-of-living adjustment is still frozen regardless,[5] so even “protected” TANF benefits keep losing value every month prices rise. Protecting TANF and building guaranteed income are the same fight at different stages.
Strong Families, Strong Futures
That throughline extends to a program you may not have heard mentioned anywhere else this budget season: Strong Families, Strong Futures, the District’s only publicly-funded guaranteed income pilot, for new and expecting mothers. It went unfunded again this year — not a single mention in the Mayor’s proposed budget, the committee markups, or the final June 23 vote.[7] We’re not just asking for the old version back. Our coalition’s platform now calls for a new version of SFSF, open to mothers in all eight wards instead of just three, with a real evaluation built in from the start.[6]
Youth Financial Literacy Pilot Act
Here’s a small bright spot worth naming, because it shares the same DNA as everything above: Ward 5 Councilmember Parker’s sustained leadership on the Youth Financial Literacy Pilot Act helped bring a one-year pilot into this budget — putting $50 a week directly into the hands of certain middle and high schoolers, paired with financial literacy coursework.[8] His standalone bill hasn’t passed on its own yet, but his advocacy was enough to get the pilot added as a floor amendment to the Budget Support Act at first reading. It’s modest, it’s temporary, and it’s nowhere near guaranteed income — but it’s still proof that the idea of cash, given directly and trusted to the person who needs it, keeps finding its way into this city’s policy, even in a brutal budget year. The DC Child Tax Credit we won last fall is proof of the same thing at a bigger scale — it’s already in effect.[9] Our job now is to make it permanent, bring TANF the rest of the way there, and get guaranteed income for new mothers and now, maybe, for kids, back on the table for good.
Other programs.
The Council funded 569 housing vouchers — 379 to prevent the loss of existing vouchers, and 190 for families leaving rapid rehousing.[8] That the District had to fight to keep vouchers families already had is itself the indictment. Separately, the mothers in our network living in overcrowded units with open housing code violations are still waiting for a path out — a reminder that the voucher fight, however hard won, is not the whole story.[10]
Legal services came back. Access to Justice funding was restored to $31.8 million — the same level as last year — which means residents facing eviction or family court alone will have representation.[8][11]
Here’s the piece I most want you to understand about all of this: the money behind these restorations — roughly $420 million — came from reserves and one-time decoupling revenue, not sustainable new revenue.[12][8] Councilmember Nadeau’s 3% Wealth Proceeds Tax, which could have closed this gap for good, wasn’t part of this budget at all — she’s introducing it as standalone legislation for the fall revenue hearing Chairman Mendelson has promised.[13][12] So next year, FY28, we start over, from a deeper hole than this one. That hearing is where I’m putting our energy next, alongside the Flex Funds fight and the push for guaranteed income, because all of it comes down to the same question: does this city fund care, or does it fund control?
One more thing to watch: the Local Budget Act — the dollars — passed its final vote June 23. The Budget Support Act, which carries a lot of the real statutory detail, including that $50-a-week pilot, still has one more vote ahead before everything in this newsletter is fully locked in.[14] I’ll let you know the moment it’s final.
Poverty is not neglect. This budget proved, again, that when we organize, DC listens. Now we have to make sure it doesn’t take this much fighting every single year.
Save the Date: The DC Guaranteed Income Coalition will hold its first Planning Meeting of the summer on Thursday, July 23 at 1:00 PM on Zoom. This is where we set our marching orders for the fall revenue fight and the push for guaranteed income. Details to follow — watch your inbox.
Want to see what we’re calling for on guaranteed income and Strong Families, Strong Futures? Read our platform →
In Solidarity
Melody
Melody Webb
Founder and Executive Director
Mother’s Outreach Network / DC Guaranteed Income Coalition
Endnotes
[1] CFSA Director Tanya Torres Trice, testimony before the DC Council Committee on Youth Affairs, FY27 Budget Oversight Hearing, May 12, 2026, as cited in M. Webb, Testimony Before the DC City Council Committee on Youth Affairs Budget Oversight Hearing — Child and Family Services Agency, May 12, 2026, pp. 5–6. No change between the Mayor’s proposed level and the enacted budget: supported by the absence of any Flex Fund line item in the Committee on Youth Affairs’ FY27 Budget Recommendations Report (May 20, 2026) and the absence of any CFSA entry in the Council’s Operating Budget Changes Since First Reading document (dccouncilbudget.gov, June 21, 2026). [PENDING: This figure is based on our best available intelligence and is actively being verified with DC Council Budget Office staff. This endnote will be updated upon confirmation of the final enacted figure from Kaira Smith, Budget Analyst, Committee on Youth Affairs, kjsmith@dccouncil.gov.]
[2] M. Webb, Testimony Before the DC City Council Committee on Youth Affairs Budget Oversight Hearing — Child and Family Services Agency, May 12, 2026, “Agency Flex Fund Underspending” section and Appendix A.
[3] Ibid., “Recommendations” section, Recommendation 1: “Rather than continuing to expand CFSA-administered cash assistance programs, the administration of Flex dollars should be transferred to agencies or community-based organizations whose primary mandate is economic stability, housing stability, or poverty alleviation — not child welfare investigation.”
[4] DC Council, “Council Restores Funds and Fights Worst of Feared Cuts in Challenging Budget Year,” dccouncilbudget.gov, June 14, 2026 (updated June 18, 2026), https://dccouncil.gov/council-restores-funds-and-fights-worst-of-feared-cuts-in-challenging-budget-year/: confirms the enacted budget delays “the sanction and benefit stepdown regime proposed by the mayor for the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program” by one year. See also Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, “FY27 Budget Wrap,” brianneknadeau.com, June 25, 2026, https://brianneknadeau.com/fy27-budget-wrap/: “We successfully averted the Mayor’s proposed step-down in TANF benefits.”
[5] The TANF cost-of-living adjustment elimination was enacted by the DC Council in the FY26 budget (summer 2025) and not restored in FY27. Three primary sources confirm it remains frozen: (a) DC Fiscal Policy Institute, “TANF Time Limit and Increased Sanctions Will Worsen Inequality for DC Families,” May 14, 2026, https://dcfpi.org/all/cuts-to-tanf-and-increased-sanctions-will-worsen-inequality-for-dc-families/: “Mayor Bowser’s proposed FY27 budget maintains the October 2026 elimination of TANF’s COLA, which DC lawmakers approved last summer”; (b) Legal Aid DC, “DC Budget: Top Concerns for 2027,” April 17, 2026, https://www.legalaiddc.org/blogs/dc-budget-top-concerns-2027: “Starting in October 2026, all TANF benefits will remain stagnant — there will be no cost-of-living adjustment to benefits even as the actual cost of living in DC skyrockets”; (c) Legal Aid DC, “DC Budget: Council Must Come Together to Reverse Cuts,” May 2026, https://www.legalaiddc.org/blogs/dc-budget-2027-cuts-update: “Across all TANF recipients, benefit levels will remain stagnant with the cost-of-living adjustment paused for several years, despite rising prices.” The COLA restoration does not appear among the restorations listed in the DC Council’s own June 14 recap (note 4), confirming it was not addressed in the enacted budget.
[6] DC Guaranteed Income Coalition, 2026 Advocacy Platform (PDF, updated June 26, 2026), “Expand and improve upon a new version of Strong Families, Strong Futures,” https://dcgicoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Final-DCGI-Platform-Updated-6-26-26.pdf. See also DC GIC, “One Page Primer: Strong Families, Strong Futures,” dcgicoalition.org, June 16, 2025, https://dcgicoalition.org/one-page-primer-strong-families-strong-futures/.
[7] Confirmed by absence: no mention of SFSF in the Mayor’s FY27 budget materials (Mayor Bowser, “Mayor Bowser Presents FY27 Budget,” mayor.dc.gov, April 10, 2026, https://mayor.dc.gov/release/mayor-bowser-presents_fy27_budget-builds-more-decade-growth_and-creates_new-opportunities), the Committee on Youth Affairs FY27 Budget Recommendations Report (May 20, 2026), or the DC Council’s own June 14 recap of the enacted budget (note 4).
[8] DC Council, “Council Restores Funds and Fights Worst of Feared Cuts in Challenging Budget Year,” dccouncil.gov, June 14, 2026 (updated June 18, 2026), https://dccouncil.gov/council-restores-funds-and-fights-worst-of-feared-cuts-in-challenging-budget-year/. Primary source for: the $50/week youth pilot, the 569 housing vouchers (379 turnover + 190 rapid rehousing), the Access to Justice restoration, and the full list of enacted restorations. See also Chairman Mendelson’s budget recommendation statement, as reported by PoPville, June 2026, https://www.popville.com/2026/06/dc-council-chairman-mendelson-proposed-fy2027-budget-recommendations/: independently confirms the 569, 379, and 190 voucher figures verbatim. On the youth financial literacy pilot specifically: the underlying legislation is the Youth Financial Literacy Pilot Amendment Act of 2025 (B26-0405), introduced by Councilmember Zachary Parker on October 6, 2025 as part of his 16-bill C.A.R.E. for Youth Plan. Legislative status tracked at https://legiscan.com/DC/bill/B26-0405/2025. Full bill text available at https://zacharyparkerward5.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Combined-Youth-Financial-Literacy-Pilot-Amendment-Act-of-2025.pdf. As of publication, B26-0405 has not passed as standalone legislation (status: introduced, 25% progression). The pilot was instead incorporated into the FY27 Budget Support Act as a floor amendment and passed its first reading. [PENDING: The Budget Support Act’s second and final vote is still pending — date contested across sources (June 30, July 7, and July 14 have each been cited in different documents). Update this note and the body text reference upon passage.]
[9] DC Council, “Council Separates Elements of District Tax Code from the Federal, Funds Family Tax Savings and Child Tax Credit, Reinstates Temporary Juvenile Curfew,” dccouncil.gov, November 13, 2025, https://dccouncil.gov/council-separates-elements-of-district-tax-code-from-the-federal-to-fund-family-tax-savings-and-youth-tax-credit-reinstates-temporary-juvenile-curfew/: confirms creation of a DC Child Tax Credit of $1,000 per child (under age 18) for tax year 2026, targeting individual earners under $75,000 and couples under $90,000. See also DC Fiscal Policy Institute, “DC Tax Credits for Households with Low Incomes Will Reduce Child Poverty by One-Fifth,” March 19, 2026, https://dcfpi.org/all/dc-tax-credits-for-households-with-low-incomes-will-reduce-child-poverty-by-one-fifth/: expects nearly 78,000 DC children to benefit. Legal status note: the CTC was enacted via emergency legislation (Act 26-214, effective December 3, 2025) and temporary legislation (effective December 20, 2025, expiring September 25, 2026). Congress passed a disapproval resolution (signed February 18, 2026), but DC’s Attorney General determined it did not apply retroactively to the emergency version. Permanence beyond September 2026 requires further Council action.
[10] Anecdotal, drawn from MON’s direct organizational experience working with mothers in our network. Not a statistic from an external dataset.
[11] Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, “FY27 Budget Wrap,” brianneknadeau.com, June 25, 2026, https://brianneknadeau.com/fy27-budget-wrap/: “restore the Pay Equity Fund and Access to Justice.” Access to Justice Commission, https://dcaccesstojustice.org/access-public-funding/: confirms FY26 level was $31.785M and that the Mayor proposed cutting it 86% to $4.487M. Chairman Mendelson’s budget recommendation statement confirms restoration to $31.8M, the same as FY26.
[12] DC Council, “Council Restores Funds and Fights Worst of Feared Cuts in Challenging Budget Year” (note 4): details the two sources of funds — decoupling revenue ($270 million) and reserve draw-down — and Chairman Mendelson’s commitment to a fall revenue hearing. The $420 million figure is drawn from coalition-level analysis reported in NOTUS coverage of the FY27 DC budget process, June 2026. Flag: the $420M figure is not stated in the DC Council’s own recap and should be treated as a credible approximation rather than an official enacted figure.
[13] Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, “FY27 Budget Wrap,” brianneknadeau.com, June 25, 2026, https://brianneknadeau.com/fy27-budget-wrap/: Nadeau confirms she is proposing a Wealth Proceeds Tax to generate sustainable revenue, and that the Council restored safety net programs “with one-time funds” — meaning “next year we’ll have an even bigger hole to fill.”
[14] DC Council, “Council Restores Funds and Fights Worst of Feared Cuts in Challenging Budget Year” (note 4): “After the June 23 meeting, two more Legislative Meetings will be held prior to the Council’s summer recess. At one of these two meetings (either June 30 or July 14), the second vote on the Budget Support Act will be taken.” [PENDING: Date contested across sources — June 30, July 7, and July 14 have each been cited. Confirm with Council staff and update body text reference before publication.]