D.C. Residents Question Concentration of Group Residences

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- No place in the District has more group homes than Ward 4, and residents are asking why.
Covering a swath of Northwest and Northeast Washington from Petworth up to the northern tip of the city, Ward 4 contains nearly a quarter of the 338 group homes regulated by the city's social service agencies. Of the 113 group homes serving people with developmental disabilities, 47 of them, or more than 40 percent, are in Ward 4.
Community leaders say such homes, typically run by private providers under contract with the city, have become too concentrated, particularly in and around Takoma.
The community has "always had a tradition of tolerance," said Jackie Jones, president of the Takoma D.C. Neighborhood Association. "We believe in a diverse neighborhood in the broadest sense of the term, but there's a limit to what any neighborhood can take."