Residents of the Federal City Shelter soon may have access to qualified, paid case managers to assist with their search for permanent housing and employment. But it is unclear when and how that will happen.

All that is known is that the case management will not come from the Community for Creative Nonviolence (CCNV), the shelter’s largest provider that historically has supervised this service. CCNV’s application to manage the new system was recently rejected by the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness, which cited problems with CCNV’s performance.

Until now, residents have relied on unpaid case managers to provide individual planning for housing assistance, medical treatment, and training and employment services, as well as follow-up services once residents have left the shelter.

A request for applications to develop a paid case-management system at the Federal City Shelter was released last December by the Community Partnership, which coordinates resources to eliminate homelessness in Washington, D.C.

Recognizing the importance of securing qualified, paid case managers signals a crucial shift in the partnership’s approach to eliminating homelessness in Washington, because CCNV never provided paid case managers. But the $400,000 the Community Partnership proposes to fund the program is not sufficient to support its implementation, according to some service providers.

“This is another example of the nickel and dime approach that has defined the partnership’s efforts,” said Robert Egger, executive director of D.C. Central Kitchen, one of the six service providers at the shelter.

The partnership apparently agrees that the funding it originally proposed falls short. In an addendum to the original application request, the submission of two proposed budgets is sought: one based on the original $400,000 and one termed a “realistic” budget.

The shelter currently has 1,350 beds and six service providers, with the majority of the shelter being run by CCNV, Unity Health Care Inc., D.C. Central Kitchen, Clean and Sober Streets and JHP Inc. The Open Door Shelter for Women also manages beds and provides services in the shelter.

Under the current case-management system overseen by CCNV, most case managers are former residents who trade their services for apartment-style housing.

But that no longer will be the case, because the partnership rejected CCNV’s application to manage the new system in a letter hand-delivered on Friday, Feb. 10. The letter said the decision was based on CCNV’s poor working relationship with the shelter’s other providers, as well as negative letters from previous CCNV board members.

Liz Presley of CCNV disputed the criticism and said her organization is exploring a legal response to the partnership’s letter.

If another organization is awarded the contract, CCNV would remain in charge of the hypothermia program, but the winner of the application process would take over the new case- management system.

The Federal City Service Providers, comprising all of the service providers at the Federal City Shelter except for CCNV, have collectively agreed to send a letter to the partnership outlining their plans for an effective case-management system and detailing a budget necessary to implement the plans.

“If you want to do this, and do it the right way, then we'll jump into it,” said Egger. “But we're not interested in an experiment in mediocrity.”

Although the application deadline was Jan. 27, it still is unknown how many applications were submitted. Numerous calls and e-mails to the partnership seeking such information were not answered.