Shelter for Homeless Families in DC

I saw the article in the Post about a family that city employee improperly (illegally) turned away from a homeless shelter on a night with a hypothermia alert in effect. This individual story is shocking, but here as always, the real focus should be on looking at the larger numbers (quoted below):

Last year, there were 3,326 applications for family shelter space in the
District, according to the Community Partnership for the Prevention of
Homelessness. The number of family shelter units, which by law are supposed to be apartment-style for the safety of children, declined from a high of 1,216 in 1991 to 110 this year, according to the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless.

On any given day, there are about 200 pending applications for
family shelter, French said. On nights that the city has declared a cold-weather alert, she said, there were a few times when there were only two or three vacancies for families out of 191 beds set aside.

From 1,216 units to 110? What the hell? Can the city really not come up with 100 more measly units?