DC Enacts Emergency Regs Over Shelter  08/21 06:08

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Washington, D.C., has enacted emergency regulations to 
stop the federal government's plan to house unaccompanied migrant children 
there.

   The Washington Post reports the regulations by Mayor Muriel E. Bowser's 
administration were adopted Friday and prohibit licensing facilities housing 
more than 15 residents. They also require the director of the city's child 
welfare agency to sign off on facilities housing between eight to 15 children. 
The rules expire in December.

   Maryland-based Dynamic Service Solution applied to open a temporary 200-bed 
District shelter. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded it a 
$20.5 million contract to operate the shelter for children ages 12 to 17.

   DHHS has defended the shelter and its treatment of unaccompanied minors, 
emphasizing that those children were apprehended alone, unlike migrant children 
separated from their families.


(KR)