News4’s Mark Segraves spoke with Mayor Muriel Bowser about Laura Green Zeilinger’s tenure.
The woman who lead the effort to reduce homelessness in Washington, D.C., over the past decade is stepping down from her post.
Director of the D.C. Department of Human Services Laura Green Zeilinger said in an email to staff on Friday that she's stepping down at the end of the year.
Homelessness has dropped 27.5% in the District since she took the position in 2014, according to recent data from the city.
"Laura has just been a great member of our team, and I don't think you're going to find many human services directors that have a tenure as long or as impactful as hers," Mayor Muriel Bowser said.
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Zeilinger oversaw the closing of the troubled D.C. General shelter and the openings of family shelters in all eight wards of the city.
She has, however, faced criticism over the department's handling of homeless encampment evictions and a voucher program, which placed thousands of people experiencing homelessness in apartments.
During the height of COVID-19, Zeilinger was in charge of managing the pandemic's impact on the city's homeless community.
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"I think the entire transformation of our homeless services system, where we are able to better serve our residents who are having emergencies when it comes to housing. The work we did together, as promised, to close D.C. General and to open short-term family housing across all eight wards. We'll be proud of that forever," Bowser said.
Zeilinger started her career with the D.C. government under the Fenty administration before leaving to serve in former President Barack Obama's administration. She returned to work for the city as the head of DHS in 2014 after Bowser was first elected mayor.
"Listen, I'm just really grateful to Laura for her passion, for her brilliance and for her willingness to serve almost 10 years," Bowser said.
