By Forum Staff
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Tuesday awarded $40 million in funding to 21 recipients—including $2,143,829 to Catholic Charities Community Services, Archdiocese of NY—to help support housing stability and prevent evictions and homelessness through the Eviction Protection Grant Program, a first-of-its-kind federal program designed to expand the reach of legal services to tenants at risk of, or subject to, eviction.
According to HUD, millions of families face eviction each year, whether through formal court processes or through extra-legal evictions. Evicted tenants, especially children, face significant long-term consequences. Yet, most tenants do not have access to legal assistance that may help them reach more mutually beneficial resolutions with landlords or defend against illegal evictions. The Eviction Protection Grant Program aims to help fill this gap and to increase housing stability for tenants through:
- Prevention: helping tenants avert eviction and prevent eviction filings.
- Justice: helping tenants exercise and enforce their housing and civil rights and ensure the legal process during eviction is fair.
- Diversion: increasing tenant access to, and participation in, non-adversarial resolutions outside the court system.
- Relief: helping tenants avoid the harmful consequences of eviction and gain access to stabilizing resources.
In 2021, HUD launched the Eviction Protection Grant Program as part of HUD’s continued work and broader whole-of government approach to support families recovering from the public health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the end of the pandemic-era emergency rental assistance and most federal, state, and local eviction moratoria, eviction filings by landlords have rebounded and, in some places, exceed pre-pandemic levels.
“Evictions can be devastating to anyone’s life, but especially to families with children” said Alicka Ampry-Samuel, former City Council member and HUD regional administrator for New York and New Jersey. “This funding provides a ray of hope to New Yorkers facing eviction with mediation and access to a proper legal defense. Representation can also prevent filings or removal by protecting residents from illegal evictions and educating residents about their rights.”
With its initial $40 million in Fiscal Year 2021 and Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations, HUD funded a total of 21 EPGP grantees that provided no-cost legal assistance to prevent or divert eviction and mitigate the consequences of eviction across 19 states. Funding has helped meet the needs of households facing or at risk of eviction in target service areas by enabling grant recipients to scale up existing activities, expand the range of services offered, and strengthen partnerships with other organizations and service providers.
“Given the tremendous demand for these services and programs early grantee successes in reaching tenants most in need of eviction legal assistance services, HUD is excited to grow the reach of the program through these awards,” said Solomon Greene, HUD’s principal deputy assistant secretary for Policy Development and Research. “We are proud to partner with grantees across the country who are working tirelessly to expand access to legal assistance and ensure housing stability for those who need it most.”
