Protect DC Crisis Care: McClendon Center's FY27 Budget Response

McClendon Center Calls on DC Council to Protect Behavioral Health Safety Net and Preserve Community-Based Crisis Beds

For more than 45 years, McClendon Center has walked alongside Washington’s most vulnerable residents, economically-disadvantaged adults living with serious mental illness, navigating systems that too often fail them.

We have seen, time and again, what happens when the safety net tears: people end up in emergency rooms, in crisis, with nowhere else to turn.

Today, we are raising our voice in opposition to a proposal in the Mayor’s FY2027 budget that would eliminate District funding for community-based psychiatric crisis stabilization beds and drastically reduce local support for non-Medicaid eligible residents.

We stand firmly with our partners, Woodley House and So Others Might Eat (SOME), in calling on the DC Council to reject these cuts.

• Read McClendon Center President and CEO Sheandinita Dyson’s full testimony here

•Read Woodley House CEO Ann Chauvin’s full testimony here.

The Impact of Community-Based Crisis Beds

Community-based crisis beds offer a voluntary, residential, and therapeutic setting where individuals can stabilize without being admitted to a hospital. McClendon Center’s clinical staff refer clients to these beds regularly as a first-line crisis intervention.

The results of this coordinated care are measurable. Since implementing enhanced engagement with Woodley House crisis beds, we have observed significant reductions in readmission rates, including an 8% decrease in 2020, 4% in 2021, and a 12% decrease in 2022.

Transitioning “In-House” is Not a Substitute

The District frames the shift of crisis services to the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP) as a “consolidation.” In reality, transitioning these services “in-house” to DBH risks undermining the recovery-oriented model.

CPEP is structured for short-term emergency stabilization and often acts as a pathway to involuntary hospitalization. It cannot replicate the collaborative environment of a community residence. For our clients, this is the difference between healing in the community and being admitted to a hospital ward. Furthermore, moving these services to a high-overhead clinical environment is unlikely to result in meaningful cost savings for the District.

Protecting the “Bridge”: Local Funding for Community Support Services

Beyond crisis beds, we are deeply concerned by the reduction of local funding for Community Support Services. Historically, these dollars have served as a critical bridge for District residents who are not Medicaid-eligible due to administrative or eligibility-related barriers.

The stakes of losing this funding are high:

A Dangerous Gap in Care: Many of the District’s most vulnerable residents require behavioral health coordination, but fall outside traditional Medicaid criteria. Without local funding, they are left without a safety net.
Increased Risk of Crisis: Without these supports, individuals are at an increased risk of clinical deterioration, leading to higher-cost emergency interventions and hospitalizations.
System Disconnection: These services are responsible for identifying individuals in crisis, facilitating “warm handoffs” to stabilization beds.

McClendon Center urges the DC Council to maintain this benefit through the existing authorization process to ensure care remains targeted and accessible.

Weakening both simultaneously creates a dangerous gap in the continuum of care that will lead to increased emergency room utilization and greater long-term costs to the District. We must prioritize recovery and community-based support over institutionalization.