Policy Practicum: The Future of Eviction Prevention

Catalog description

Over the past 5 years, eviction prevention has become a hot topic for local policy in the US. Local coalitions of city governments, courts, and community groups have launched hundreds of pilots of laws, legal services, rent assistance, technology tools, mediation, navigators, and more in order to reduce the number of eviction lawsuits and mitigate their harmful consequences on families and communities. National groups like the American Bar Association, HUD, and the Treasury Department have issued guidance spotlighting promising interventions that could prevent evictions, reduce the number of forced moves, and improve housing stability. Five years into this work on eviction prevention, what do we know about what works? And how might policy-makers compare and assess these highly localized eviction prevention systems? This class will have students conduct interviews, workshops, and legal research to create a clearer vision of what the state of eviction prevention interventions are, and propose what the future agenda for eviction prevention should be over the next decade. In the course, students will learn how evictions happen, what the general court process is, and how this differs across jurisdictions. They will also familiarize themselves with the landscape of eviction prevention solutions that has developed, especially during the Covid pandemic and the increased federal funding for rental assistance and eviction prevention. Students will learn about local experiments launched in cities and states across the US, including new legislation (like a right to counsel in eviction hearings and just cause requirements for filing an eviction lawsuit), new court rules (like requiring mediation before a case could be filed or proceed to a hearing), new technology (like text message reminders and online dispute resolution), and new services (like case managers and housing…