Council on Homelessness Fails to Meet Mandate Since Reestablishment

The codification of the Virgin Islands Council on Homelessness (VICH) into law is a critical step in working toward ending homelessness in the territory, said Dan Derima, chair of the Virgin Islands Continuum of Care on Homelessness. His comments come as lawmakers express concern that the council — first established under the Turnbull administration, revived via another executive order under Governor John deJongh, and reestablished by Governor Albert Bryan in 2019 — is far from meeting its mandate of ridding the territory of homelessness and poverty. But once the council moves from executive order status into actual law, its staying power will mean greater accountability and continuity, ensuring that the efforts to combat homelessness are sustained across different administrations and that agencies involved are more formally obligated to carry out their responsibilities, contended Mr. Derima. He made that assertion during this week’s meeting of the Senate Committee on Housing, Transp...