Read the latest Ward 5 news in the
Councilmember’s weekly newsletter:
Read the latest Ward 5 news in the Councilmember’s weekly newsletter:
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LATEST WARD 5 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
October 17, 2025
Dear Ward 5 neighbors,
Yesterday, the Committee on Youth Affairs held a public oversight roundtable on overcrowding conditions at the Youth Services Center (DC’s juvenile detention center, also known as YSC). This critical oversight is a continuation of our work seeking to improve outcomes for youth across the District. From last week’s introduction of the C.A.R.E. for Youth Plan, to Wednesday’s public hearing on chronic absenteeism and truancy, to yesterday’s roundtable on overcrowding at YSC—we’re responding to the plurality of challenges young people face and are taking a multi-faceted and comprehensive approach to youth wellness.
Overcrowding at YSC threatens the safety, dignity, and rehabilitation of the young people in the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services’ (DYRS) custody, as well as the staff that work there. This means the very goals DYRS is tasked with—individualized care, adequate supervision, and access to education, behavioral health services, and recreation—are compromised when capacity at the facility is exceeded.
LATEST WARD 5 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Juvenile Detention, Montana Triangle, and More...
October 17, 2025
Dear Ward 5 neighbors,
Yesterday, the Committee on Youth Affairs held a public oversight roundtable on overcrowding conditions at the Youth Services Center (DC’s juvenile detention center, also known as YSC). This critical oversight is a continuation of our work seeking to improve outcomes for youth across the District. From last week’s introduction of the C.A.R.E. for Youth Plan, to Wednesday’s public hearing on chronic absenteeism and truancy, to yesterday’s roundtable on overcrowding at YSC—we’re responding to the plurality of challenges young people face and are taking a multi-faceted and comprehensive approach to youth wellness.
Overcrowding at YSC threatens the safety, dignity, and rehabilitation of the young people in the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services’ (DYRS) custody, as well as the staff that work there. This means the very goals DYRS is tasked with—individualized care, adequate supervision, and access to education, behavioral health services, and recreation—are compromised when capacity at the facility is exceeded.
Progress Report: January 2023 - January 2025
Check out the latest Progress Report from Councilmember Parker! Our office has been hard at work alongside Ward 5 neighbors to build healthy communities through transformative policy, fighting for Ward 5, and making government accessible and transparent. View the full report and see more of what we achieved together here.
COUNCILMEMBER ZACHARY PARKER
Since taking office in January of 2023, Zachary has delivered for Ward 5 residents through responsive constituent services and significant budget wins. He has introduced dozens of transformative pieces of legislation, including bills to establish the District’s State Superintendent of Education’s School Support Office to improve low-performing schools, and the District Child Tax Credit which provides low-income and middle-class families fully refundable tax credits for children 17 years of age and younger.
LEGISLATION
Since taking office, Councilmember Parker has introduced more than 30 pieces of legislation, and co-introduced more than 150 additional bills. Learn about Councilmember Parker’s legislation, co-introductions, and committee assignments on the Legislation page.
COUNCILMEMBER ZACHARY PARKER
Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker is an educator and a public servant. He taught 7th-grade math in New Orleans, post-Katrina, with Teach For America, and spent nearly a decade supporting DC school administrators at Ward 5 schools like Dunbar High School and Mundo Verde PCS.
Zachary sees firsthand the human impact of a system that leaves our most vulnerable behind. He grew up watching his oldest brother struggle with a one-size-fits-all school system that did not have the resources to support him, and now sees the challenges he faces in life because of it.
And Zachary suffered alongside his middle brother through a long and exhaustive battle with a healthcare system that treated him more like a problem than a patient before he ultimately passed away at 36 from kidney failure. These shouldn’t be the experiences families have when interacting with our public institutions. Zachary has dedicated his life’s work to transforming the systems that failed his brothers and so many like them.
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Building a stronger, healthier Ward 5 every day.
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