Federal funding for tenant rep / right to counsel

Types of federal funds

• In 2020 and 2021, Congress created a number of new, temporary federal sources of funding that were tapped to expand tenant representation with an eye towards a right to counsel. A joint letter from HUD, Treasury, and the Attorney General’s Office urged the use of these funds to support a right to counsel.
• A number of federal funding sources existed before the pandemic and were used  (and continue to be used ) in various places.  These include:
  • HUD: Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), Fair Housing Initiative Program-Private Enforcement Initiative (FHIP), Continuum of Care (CoC), Emergency Solutions Grants Program (ESG), and Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP)
  • U.S. Department of Justice: Office for Victims of Crime, Office on Violence Against Women’s Legal Assistance for Victims
  • U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: Supportive Services for Veteran Families, Grant and Per Diem Program
• Congress has appropriated funding to HUD over the last four years for tenant representation, and HUD has created the Eviction Protection Grant Program to allocate those funds [check out our page on EPGP].
• A Title IV-E rule change provides federal matching funds for state expenditures related to foster care proceedings, which can include representation of parents and children for civil matters that help children stay out of foster care (such as eviction defense).

Resources for using federal funds

Resources created by the NCCRC:

• A summary of the pandemic-era federal funding sources and their parameters;
• A webinar reviewing the pandemic-era federal funding sources (check out the webinar recording and slide deck);
• An opinion piece in The Appeal that lays out the rationale for using federal funds for right to counsel;
• A 2-pager on using the pandemic-era funds;
• In 2022, the NCCRC and the National League of Cities hosted a virtual event called “Expanding Access to Legal Representation: Right to Counsel & Eviction Prevention,” which covered how cities can leverage available federal funding to expand tenant representation. (Recording).

Resources created by others:

• National Center for State Courts’ Tiny Chat, Federal Funding: Use It or Lose It
• Justice in Government Toolkit, Funding Legal Aid
• Office of Access to Justice, Department of Justice, Federal Funding Opportunities; webinar (slides and recording)
• American Bar Association, Legal Aid Funding Report
• The US Department of the Treasury (alongside HUD and the Attorney General’s Office) has urged jurisdictions to use this funding to support tenant RTC programs.

Examples of jurisdictions using pandemic-era federal funds

The rest of this page provides a non-exhaustive list of jurisdictions that have used the new federal funding sources (there is no central reporting for these funding allocations, so the NCCRC has gathered what information it can through its network).  For more details on some of the jurisdictions that have used federal funds in this way, check out Civil Legal Aid Funding in the Time of COVID-19 in the MIE Journal.

CARES Act funding

* = funding used for right to counsel

** = funding used for universal representation

Alaska ($200k ESG), Atlanta ($150k CDBG-CV), Baltimore ($2.5 million CDBG-CV), Bucks County PA ($50k CDBG-CV in 2020, $97,500 CDBG-CV in 2021), Chicago ($500k CRF, $500k CDBG), Cincinnati ($4k CDBG-CV); Chester County PA ($67,500 CDBG-CV); Clark County NV ($400k CRF), Cleveland ($700k CDBG-CV), Columbus OH ($250k CRF), Colorado ($350k CRF), Colorado Springs ($150k CDBG-CV), Delaware ($100k CDBG from New Castle County, $50k CDBG-CV from Sussex County, and $750k CDBG-CV/$250k ESG from Delaware State Housing Authority for 2021), Detroit ($2.2 million CDBG-CV), Dothan AL ($50k CDBG-CV), Illinois ($225k CDBG-CV, $170k supplemental OAA Title III-B funding), Kansas City ($120k CRF), Lawrence MA ($397k CDBG-CV), Los Angeles ($3 million CDBG-V), Massachusetts ($8.6 million CRF; part of Eviction Diversion Initiative), Michigan ($4 million CRF, $2.25 million ESG), Montana ($400k CRF), Montgomery County PA ($67,500 CDBG-CV), Nevada ($400k CRF), New Bedford MA ($95k CDBG-CV); New Jersey ($1.3 million CDBG-CV), New York State ($25 million CRF), Orange County NC ($42,950 CRF for 1/2 of atty salary) Pennsylvania ($8 million CRF for cases, outreach, necessary costs; some used for non-eviction cases), Pima County AZ ($2 million CRF), Phoenix ($850k CRF), Providence ($50k CDBG-CV), Rhode Island ($1.3 million CDBG-CV), Rochester New York** ($460k ESG), Salt Lake County ($865k CARES), San Mateo County ($1 million CDBG), Santa Ana CA ($250k ESG), Texas ($4.2 million CRF as part of Eviction Diversion Program through TX Supreme Court, $500k ESG), Toledo ($100k CDBG), Vermont ($550k CRF), Washington State ($800k CRF), Wilmington NC ($880k CDBG-CV), Worcester MA (up to $100k ESG). 

Also, we have a spreadsheet of details from some jurisdictions.

Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP 1 and 2)

* = funding used for right to counsel

** = funding used for universal representation

Chicago ($8 million over 3 years), Cincinnati ($500k), Cleveland ($1 million), Columbus OH ($600k), Cuyahoga County OH ($1 million for all suburbs outside Cleveland), Franklin County OH ($500k), Fresno ($750k), Indiana ($13.1 million), Indianapolis ($3.3 million), Kansas (fee-for-service model, but $2 million theoretically appropriated), Kansas City* ($1.8 million), Knoxville ($1.5 million), Lexington KY ($1.8 million), Long Beach CA ($900k), Los Angeles ($6-7 million), Louisville* ($500k), Madison ($700k), Maine ($412k) Michigan ($16 million over 2 years), Minneapolis ($1 million), Missouri ($1.079 million), New Hampshire ($250k), New Orleans* ($2 million), New York State ($25 million), North Carolina ($8 million), Oakland County MI ($2 million), Oklahoma City ($1 million), Rhode Island** ($500k), San Antonio ($2 million), San Diego ($15 million), Sonoma County CA ($1.4 million over 2 years), Tarrant County TX ($500k), Texas ($20 million), Virginia ($2.5 million), Wyoming ($1 million)

To see how much each jurisdiction has spent of its ERA funds, check out NLIHC’s ERA Spending Tracker.

Fiscal Recovery Fund (FRF)

We now have a compilation of FRF allocations along with relevant details.  The Treasury Department also has a fact sheet with examples of FRF funding going towards legal representation.

Notably, in Connecticut and New York City, these allocations are going towards a right to counsel, while in Milwaukee County it is being used for universal representation.

Other pots

Charlottesville ($360k ARPA over 3 years; specific pot unknown), New Jersey ($1.3 million CSBG), Toledo ($100k CDBG), Winston-Salem NC ($100k ARPA; specific pot unknown)