Judge says eviction diversion program off to promising start
LAWRENCE, Ind. (WISH) — A small claims court judge on Thursday said she hopes a pilot program on evictions can serve as a national model.
Lawrence Township’s small claims court in June became one of two courts in Indiana to take part in a nationwide eviction diversion pilot program run by the National Center for State Courts and funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation. Since then, Judge Kimberly Bacon said she has hired a court facilitator and a court navigator, both of whom specialize in helping people who are facing eviction connect with legal and rental assistance services.
Bacon also has extended the timetable for eviction filings. Instead of having to appear in court within seven days, renters have three weeks to work with services.
“It allows for a tenant to be able to pay and stay but also it allows for that landlord to not have to find a new tenant and start a new relationship over and over again every 30 days, so it’s beneficial to all parties,” she said.
Bacon said initial numbers are promising and there have been about 2,500 eviction filings in Lawrence Township this year. About half of them did not go before the court, which she said indicates those involved were able to reach some other resolution that did not involve eviction. She says changes in the way filings are processed mean numbers from prior years are not directly comparable.
“When people have that housing stability, then the statistics have borne out that people are less likely to be homeless, and that crime also goes down as well,” Bacon said, “and then we also see that children are able to maintain better education because they are going to school from a home.”
Once the program has run long enough to generate usable data, Bacon said she plans to turn it over to the NCSC as well as the Indiana Supreme Court, with the hopes of turning it into a model for other courts in Indiana and around the country to follow. She said studies have shown access to stable housing leads to lower rates of homelessness and crime. Children also perform better in school when they have a home to go to rather than living in a shelter.
The program runs through June of 2024. At that point, Bacon said she will have the option to apply for a two-year extension, which would mean a four-year pilot program in total.