Department of Human Services | ARLnow.com

JUST IN: Arlington Human Services Director to Retire

Published March 16, 2015 at 1:35PM

Eisner will leave her post at the end of May, DHS spokesman Kurt Larrick confirmed. She is the latest high-level Arlington staffer to retire, following Police Chief Doug Scott’s announcement in January and County Manager Barbara Donnellan’s announcement last Friday.

Eisner has been with DHS for more than 30 years, joining the Arlington Employment Center in 1984 and working her way up to director in 2005. Although the timing is conspicuous after Donnellan’s announcement last week, a source tells ARLnow.com there’s “nothing sinister here” and that Eisner is just hoping to travel with her new husband.

News

Temporary Homeless Shelter Opens, Permanent Shelter Coming in Spring

By ARLnow.com

Published October 31, 2014 at 3:30PM

The EWS will be open for vulnerable residents every day from 4:00 p.m.-9:00 a.m., through March 31. Hours may be extended on especially cold days, which happened during last season’s cold snap. The temporary facility at 2049 15th Street N. accommodates up to 74 people and other nearby facilities can be used as overflow during severe weather.

Arlington County funds the EWS and it is operated by the nonprofit Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network (A-SPAN), under the supervision of the county’s Department of Human Services. It provides homeless residents with facilities for sleeping, eating, showering and doing laundry.

Events

Foster Parents Needed

By ARLnow.com

Published October 31, 2014 at 10:35AM | Updated October 31, 2014 at 11:00AM

There are currently about 90 children in Arlington in need of the temporary living arrangement foster families provide. These children are unable to live in their homes for a variety of reasons, such as abuse, neglect or severe family problems. Children may need to stay with a foster family for just a few days or months, or for years.

“We know that it takes a special set of skills to parent a child that’s not your own or has been abused or neglected,” said Alissa Green, Arlington County Resource Family Coordinator.

News

‘100 Homes Campaign’ Reaches Goal

By ARLnow.com

Published October 29, 2014 at 2:45PM | Updated October 29, 2014 at 3:12PM

The achievement will be celebrated tonight at the annual Community Meeting on Homelessness. The public is welcome to attend the event, which will be held at the National Rural Electrical Cooperative Association (NRECA) Conference Center (4301 Wilson Blvd) from 7:00-8:30 p.m. John Harvey, Virginia Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, will be the keynote speaker. He will talk about Virginia’s efforts to end veteran homelessness by the end of next year. Other speakers include County Board members and State Senator Barbara Favola.

County staff worked with nonprofit organizations to find housing for the people selected for 100 Homes. The following programs allowed for the housing:

News

Arlington DHS Could Move All Programs to Sequoia Plaza

By Ethan Rothstein

Published July 17, 2014 at 11:30AM | Updated July 17, 2014 at 12:04PM

The Arlington County Board will decide next Tuesday whether to approve leasing an additional 72,742 square feet in the three buildings at Sequoia Plaza — 3,469 square feet in Sequoia Plaza Building 1, 10,994 square feet in Building 2 and all 58,279 square feet of Building 3. The county’s lease for this space, in additional to a renewal of the current 144,740 square feet it occupies in Building 1, would run through June 2030.

The additional space will occupy DHS programs currently housed in five buildings around the county, including three within walking distance of Virginia Hospital Center. The buildings and programs are as follows:

News

Unaccompanied Minor Immigrants Pose Dilemma for Arlington

By Ethan Rothstein

Published July 9, 2014 at 3:30PM | Updated July 9, 2014 at 3:48PM

APS Walk and Bike to School Day 2013 (file photo)

While one Arlington official is calling the growth in this population a “crisis,” most say we’re not there yet. Nonetheless, the county is monitoring the situation and making preparations before such immigrants start to have an impact.

Last week, the Sun Gazette reported that School Board member Emma Violand-Sanchez and County Board member Walter Tejada met with representatives from the Guatemalan Consulate to discuss the trend of unaccompanied minor immigrants, and, after the meeting, Violand-Sanchez told the School Board it was a “crisis situation.”

Around Town

Inside Arlington’s Hoarding Response Team

By Ethan Rothstein

Published June 4, 2014 at 11:30AM | Updated June 4, 2014 at 3:56PM

Reginald Lawson, Arlington Department of Human Services’ supervisor of Adult Protective Services, oversees the department’s handling of hoarding cases, and he has a favorite story he likes to tell from his work.

“There was this person with some severe hoarding going on, and he had to be placed in a care facility,” Lawson said. “This person had such a great support network, they went through as a team and cleared out his place. There might have been one person who organized the clothes, another person went through the refrigerator. It may have taken a month, but the person was brought back to their home.”

Around Town

County Inspectors Shut Down Ballston Water Fountain

By Ethan Rothstein

Published January 13, 2014 at 9:35AM

Located next to Rustico restaurant in the Liberty Center development, the fountain is privately owned and operated by property owner the Shooshan Company, according to county officials.

It has been on for years and children have played in it during the summers, but the Shooshan Company voluntarily turned it off this past fall after county inspectors discovered it had never had a health and safety license.

News

Crime Report: Forged Documents

By ARLnow.com

Published May 8, 2013 at 3:00PM | Updated January 9, 2018 at 3:39PM

A Falls Church woman has been arrested and charged with obtaining more than $28,000 in public assistance from Arlington County thanks to forged documents, according police.

From this week’s Arlington County crime report:

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published December 17, 2012 at 8:45AM

Wreath Laying at Arlington Nat’l Cemetery — Some 20,000 volunteers placed more than 110,000 wreaths on graves at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday. It was the 21st annual wreath-laying event at the cemetery, and the largest number of wreaths ever delivered for the event. [Stars and Stripes, Wreaths Across America]

Donations for Secret Santa Due Tomorrow — Those who want to donate gift cards to the Arlington Department of Human Services’ “Secret Santa” program are asked to do so by tomorrow. The program provides a bit of holiday joy to children in foster care, people with disabilities, low income seniors and needy families. [Arlington County]

Around Town

Families to be Recognized at Adoption Day Ceremony

By Katie Pyzyk

Published November 16, 2012 at 3:45PM | Updated July 10, 2013 at 9:30PM

Nine families will gather at the Arlington County Courthouse tomorrow (November 17) in recognition of their adoptions being finalized this year. All of the children had previously been in foster care.

There are currently about 100 children in foster homes in Arlington, most of them having been removed from their birth parents due to unfit living conditions. Although the goal is to ultimately reunite the children with their birth families once situations improve, that is not always the best option for the safety of the children involved. The children who will not return to their birth families are then cleared for adoption.

News

Arlington Gets Praise In First Year Of ‘100 Homes’ Campaign

By Aaron Kraut

Published July 26, 2012 at 10:30AM

The claim is based on a benchmark set by the National Alliance to End Homelessness — cities or counties that moved 2.5 percent of their chronically ill homeless population into permanent housing each month made the list.

Arlington’s “100 Homes” campaign, a partnership with the nonprofit A-SPAN, put about 30 homeless people with life-threatening medical issues into permanent, federally-funded supported housing since starting up last October.