NLADA Welcomes DOJ’s Advice to Chief Justices to Ensure Fair Process to Keep Families in Their Homes

NLADA Media Statement

For Immediate Release

NLADA Welcomes DOJ’s Advice to Chief Justices to Ensure Fair Process

to Keep Families in Their Homes

(Washington, DC) Jo-Ann Wallace, president & CEO of the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) issued the following statement in response to a letter sent today to Chief Justices and State Court Administrators around the country encouraging them to take steps to keep families in their homes:

“NLADA welcomes the Associate Attorney General’s letter urging Chief Justices and State Court Administrators to consider eviction diversion strategies that can help families avoid the disruption and damage that evictions cause. Together with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s decision to extend the eviction moratorium and the additional steps announced by the White House, this letter is an important tool in a package of federal resources to help our country and courts navigate this crisis.

“We hope judges and administrators will utilize this guidance to help ensure that families have access to effective avenues of relief and resolution, including civil legal aid and access to counsel, prior to the progression of an eviction, which can lead to the long-term detrimental effects cited by the Associate Attorney General.

“The housing crisis, exacerbated by the pandemic, disproportionally affects women and communities of color. More than 80 percent of people facing eviction are Black. We know that when families have access to counsel provided by civil legal aid attorneys, approximately 80 percent of families stay in their homes, and that rates of homelessness have had a direct correlation to coronavirus rates. These numbers represent men, women and children who are integral to communities across the country, and we are pleased by today’s actions to help families and communities struggling in our nation.”

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The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), founded in 1911, is America’s oldest and largest nonprofit association devoted to excellence in the delivery of legal services to those who cannot afford counsel. NLADA has pioneered access to justice at the national, state and local levels, playing a leadership role in the creation of public defender systems and other important institutions from The Sentencing Project to the Legal Services Corporation. A leader in the development of national standards for civil legal aid and public defense, NLADA also provides advocacy, training and technical assistance for equal justice advocates across the country.