Office of the Deputy City Administrator and
Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice
John A. Wilson Building | 1350 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 513 | Washington, DC 20004
April 27, 2020
Hugh Hurwitz
Assistant Director
U.S. Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Reentry Services Division
VIA EMAIL
Dear Assistant Director Hurwitz:
I write to you with great urgency on the imminent closing of the Hope Village Residential Reentry Center. In particular, we understand that the Bureau of Prisons plans to relocate approximately 30 individuals next week from Hope Village to a halfway house in Baltimore.
We do not believe there is any need for these individuals to depart their local community and be sent to another city. Instead, we strongly recommend these men remain in their hometown.
For weeks, District agencies and local non-profit organizations have been trying to support the men in your care transition back to their communities. We appreciate that the vast majority of Hope Village residents will be moved to home confinement. The District, however, remains willing to work with the Bureau of Prisons to provide housing in the city for the remaining men who will soon be sent to Baltimore. We have several housing options immediately available, including some that would be at no cost to the Bureau of Prisons. We ask that the Bureau of Prisons work with our agencies to keep these men in their home city, and work with us to return them home quickly if they are relocated to Baltimore.
We can immediately partner with your office to ensure these residents are assigned case managers through the Mayor’s Office of Returning Citizens Affairs and the READY Center, and that they get connected to available government and nonprofit services. I am available at any time to discuss this further with you.
Best regards,
Kevin Donahue
Deputy Mayor
cc: Hon. Eleanor Holmes Norton, U.S. House of Representatives
Hon. Charles Allen, Council of the District of Columbia
Jon Gustin, Administrator, Residential Reentry Management Branch, Bureau of Prisons
Nancy Ayers, Chief, Office of Public Affairs, Bureau of Prisons
