February 3, 2025 • 11 mins
When families are evicted from their homes, it can cause some serious ripple effects for the kids involved, including disruption of their education. There's a new pilot program in Boston that hopes to work with families to prevent evictions before they're carried out, and keep kids in their classes where they can continue to grow and thrive. Danielle Johnson, Boston's Director of Housing Stability, joins the show this week to share details about the "Access to Counsel" program, and explain the impacts of eviction on families with school-aged children.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England
Weekend where each and every week we come together right
here we talk about all the topics important to you
and the place where you live. It is always good
to be with you, and it's good to be back
with you again this week. I'm Nicole Davis. Now, whatever
the reason when families are evicted from their homes, it
is really difficult for everyone involved. Experts though, say this
(00:29):
can be especially tough for kids who are in school.
See when they move into a shelter out of the
neighborhood or they have to go stay with family and friends,
that means they're taken out of school, and that could
have impacts not just on their education, but also their
mental health and really their overall well being. There's a
new pilot program in Boston that hopes to work with
families in need, prevent these evictions and keep kids in school.
(00:53):
Danielle Johnson is here, the director of Boston's Office of
Housing Stability. Danielle, I appreciate your time. I'd love to
start with a bit more information about the impact of
eviction on not just these kids, but the families too.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Sure, definitely, and that's actually one of the reasons this
program was started. Obviously, we understand the landscape of evictions
within the city of Boston. When a household is evicted,
that disrupts the education of the child. We're seeing a
lot of families being evicted for non payment of rent.
That's actually the main reason for evictions within the city.
(01:31):
And when that happens, obviously families have to transition. Sometimes
they transition into the EA system, Sometimes they have to
double up with friends and family. Sometimes they're unfortunately sleeping
in in their car. So as you can imagine, this
is very disruptive for anyone, let alone a child. And
we're seeing from the State's information, the shelter system being
(01:54):
very jam packed because there's a lot of people that
need that resource. So obviously, say the EA shelter system
is for households with minor children, and you may not
be placed in Boston. You may have to go elsewhere
outside of the city. So thinking about that dynamic as well,
and you know, how do you take a bus from
Stoneham all the way to Boston. So the landscape is
(02:19):
pretty bad, and that was one of the reasons why
Access to Council was created. Of what are some ways
that we can be impactful for families that are facing
an unfortunate situation. How can we mitigate that, How can
we limit the cost to shelters. So that's sort of
the landscape that the numbers speak for itself. It's a
(02:40):
lot of non payment of case, non payment of rent
cases and trying to figure out, well, where's the gap.
Obviously we'd love to give them financial assistance to sustain themselves,
but thinking about other measures that we can allow for
that would prevent evictions from happening.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, let's talk about that for a moment, because non
payment of rent obviously is a major factor. But you know,
what are some of the issues that are driving that
non payment of rent? I mean some people would say, oh,
people are lazy and they're just assuming that they can
just live scoff free. That's not the case. So tell
me a little bit about what families are facing right now.
We've got inflation, so on and so forth.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
What's going on right right? Yeah, you've hit it all. Inflation,
housing costs, families are larger, the cost of living, it's
more expensive, and there's you know, the job market sometimes
is great. Sometimes isn't that great? If you have a
child who has special needs that may require you to
stay home from work, and if you're hourly, or even
(03:38):
if you're not hourly, you may not have the time
to stay home. So you're ending up having to make
the difficult choice of do I stop working or do
I stay home and take care of my child. There's
a lot more single parents as well, so again thinking
about that that dynamic of what are the sacrifices that
I have to make to care for my child while
also understanding that I'm the so earner in the household,
(04:02):
So I think that plays a lot into it. And
then you know, just rent is extensive. There's no rent
control within the city of Boston or the Commonwealth as
we know it, so a lot of landlords are looking
at other landlords like, oh, this person's charging amount of
rents down the street, so I'm also going to do that,
(04:22):
and households just aren't able to sustain that, and think
a lot of them say yes, I'll pay that, and
then get into situations where they've lost their job, or
their income's changed, or their family's gotten larger, and they
just aren't able to sustaining the costs anymore, which ultimately
leads to them being involved in the eviction process.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yeah. I read somewhere that most families in America are
what like one or two missed paychecks away from being
in that exact situation from you know, most Americans don't
have a savings account because we're all living paycheck to
paycheck right now, So it happens more frequently than I
think people realize.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Right, exactly right, And I think that's again another reason
for this program. Understanding that not every tendency is sustainable,
but there are ways to keep families house for as
long as possible until they find something that is sustainable.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
So how is this program working to prevent these evictions
and help these families out?
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yeah, I think not, I think, but it's designed to
address systemic disparities and eviction deficts. It guarantees legal representation
for families with school aged children in communities most impacted
by eviction. It levels the playing field. We know that
over ninety percent of landlords are represented, while there's a
(05:40):
little less than seven percent of tenants who are represented
in housing court. So working with our community organizers and
community organizations, obviously working with Boston Public Schools, Legal services,
housing advocates to ensure that those who are in that
vulnerable situation, who you know, don't have the money to
(06:01):
afford their own attorney and have to look to lelate
attorneys to support that resource readily available.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
What is the reaction you've been getting so far? This
was announced a short time ago. What are you hearing
from people around Boston, from people around the state. And
will other cities take up a program length this? Do
you think?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah? I mean the reaction has been long awaited. It's
a resource that so many people benefit from. I think
a lot of people are in dire straits and are
finally saying like, oh, there's finally a resource for me
and my household one time, or if I'm in a
situation that that leads me to meeting an attorney. I
(06:40):
think one, you know, it's a little before the ink
was even dry, we received referrals. If we have this
household that is VPS, how do we get them connected
to an attorney? So it's one of those things where
people are just waiting like when when is this happening
so that we can start to make referrals. And then also,
you know, are the opposite Augus Stability has other services
(07:02):
that we provide related to eviction prevention and eviction defense,
So that has also opened the floodgates, so to speak.
And then we are working with our state partners making
sure that we're creating or or developing outcomes that match
what they are are looking to. Connecting with the Mass
(07:24):
Legal Aid Corporation, they just put out their plans for
access to Council, so really trying to it's a new program,
not just city level but statewide. There's other states that
have access to Council. So we've been my office has
been working with those other states in towns to say,
(07:46):
how are you developing this program? What are your thoughts?
So that's been it's been it's been a positive reaction,
but at the tell and it's been a sort of
sad reaction, right because so many people need this resource
and funds are limited to so really having to think
how do we help this many people with this limited
amount of funding and resource.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah, let's talk about that because I think people would
want to know about the numbers here. I mean, how
many households are you expected to be able to be
able to help this year? And how much money is
going towards this, who's funding this? You know, the money questions.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Yeah, of course, very important. So we're hoping to serve
at least one hundred and fifty households with this funding.
The money comes from city operating budget. We received three
hundred thousand dollars to operate the program, which is the
funding is going to GBLSS Riad A brust some legal
services because the point of the program school legal representation,
(08:41):
so we needed to work obviously with a legal aid
organization that could help low income families address their eviction issues.
And then it's a pilot program, so it's a new
program within the city. So we're hoping that through success
showing what has happened, what the benefits were, how many
(09:02):
people we weren't able to help because of the limited funding,
that'll make it a little more easier to advocate for.
This is why we need this amount of dollars as
opposed to the three hundred thousands. But this is definitely
a welcomed budget line items just because it's it's much needed.
As I mentioned earlier, the floodgate sort of opened to
(09:24):
people just waiting for this to happen in the person.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Well, if somebody is listening and they need this assistance
or they know a family that could really benefit from this,
How can they find out more and get that help?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Yeah, yeah, great question. They always can give give our
office a call, the Office of Houving Stability. But at
the families are connected to this particular resource by connecting
with their bpsles on. We do have a website up
on our Office of Poving Stability website that sort of
goes into the details of how to get heard and
(09:56):
what the eligibility requirements are. But usually household are very
connected with their BPS liaison. BPS liaisons that the first
to found to find out about a new baby, the
first to find about a lot of life issues that
are happening. So that liaison will connect with another local
nonprofit organization that deals with family homelessness, which is Family
(10:18):
Aid Boston through their Early Homelessness Intervention program, and from
their Family Aid makes the referral directly to Greater Boston
Legal Services to say we have this family. They've received
a notice to quit, which is the first sort of
document you receive when you're facing eviction, or they have
their first mediation and they need some help and guidance,
(10:39):
and from their Greater Boston Legal Services does the great
work that they do which is advising tenants to do
this step. They're the legal leads, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Okay, cool, all right, well Danielle, thanks for the information.
This is going to be super helpful for our listeners.
Really appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Of course, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Have a safe and healthy weekend, and please join us
again next week for another edition of the show. I'm
Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England
Weekend where each and every week we come together right
here we talk about all the topics important to you
and the place where you live. It is always good
to be with you, and it's good to be back
with you again this week. I'm Nicole Davis. Now, whatever
the reason when families are evicted from their homes, it
is really difficult for everyone involved. Experts though, say this
(00:29):
can be especially tough for kids who are in school.
See when they move into a shelter out of the
neighborhood or they have to go stay with family and friends,
that means they're taken out of school, and that could
have impacts not just on their education, but also their
mental health and really their overall well being. There's a
new pilot program in Boston that hopes to work with
families in need, prevent these evictions and keep kids in school.
(00:53):
Danielle Johnson is here, the director of Boston's Office of
Housing Stability. Danielle, I appreciate your time. I'd love to
start with a bit more information about the impact of
eviction on not just these kids, but the families too.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Sure, definitely, and that's actually one of the reasons this
program was started. Obviously, we understand the landscape of evictions
within the city of Boston. When a household is evicted,
that disrupts the education of the child. We're seeing a
lot of families being evicted for non payment of rent.
That's actually the main reason for evictions within the city.
(01:31):
And when that happens, obviously families have to transition. Sometimes
they transition into the EA system, Sometimes they have to
double up with friends and family. Sometimes they're unfortunately sleeping
in in their car. So as you can imagine, this
is very disruptive for anyone, let alone a child. And
we're seeing from the State's information, the shelter system being
(01:54):
very jam packed because there's a lot of people that
need that resource. So obviously, say the EA shelter system
is for households with minor children, and you may not
be placed in Boston. You may have to go elsewhere
outside of the city. So thinking about that dynamic as well,
and you know, how do you take a bus from
Stoneham all the way to Boston. So the landscape is
(02:19):
pretty bad, and that was one of the reasons why
Access to Council was created. Of what are some ways
that we can be impactful for families that are facing
an unfortunate situation. How can we mitigate that, How can
we limit the cost to shelters. So that's sort of
the landscape that the numbers speak for itself. It's a
(02:40):
lot of non payment of case, non payment of rent
cases and trying to figure out, well, where's the gap.
Obviously we'd love to give them financial assistance to sustain themselves,
but thinking about other measures that we can allow for
that would prevent evictions from happening.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, let's talk about that for a moment, because non
payment of rent obviously is a major factor. But you know,
what are some of the issues that are driving that
non payment of rent? I mean some people would say, oh,
people are lazy and they're just assuming that they can
just live scoff free. That's not the case. So tell
me a little bit about what families are facing right now.
We've got inflation, so on and so forth.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
What's going on right right? Yeah, you've hit it all. Inflation,
housing costs, families are larger, the cost of living, it's
more expensive, and there's you know, the job market sometimes
is great. Sometimes isn't that great? If you have a
child who has special needs that may require you to
stay home from work, and if you're hourly, or even
(03:38):
if you're not hourly, you may not have the time
to stay home. So you're ending up having to make
the difficult choice of do I stop working or do
I stay home and take care of my child. There's
a lot more single parents as well, so again thinking
about that that dynamic of what are the sacrifices that
I have to make to care for my child while
also understanding that I'm the so earner in the household,
(04:02):
So I think that plays a lot into it. And
then you know, just rent is extensive. There's no rent
control within the city of Boston or the Commonwealth as
we know it, so a lot of landlords are looking
at other landlords like, oh, this person's charging amount of
rents down the street, so I'm also going to do that,
(04:22):
and households just aren't able to sustain that, and think
a lot of them say yes, I'll pay that, and
then get into situations where they've lost their job, or
their income's changed, or their family's gotten larger, and they
just aren't able to sustaining the costs anymore, which ultimately
leads to them being involved in the eviction process.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yeah. I read somewhere that most families in America are
what like one or two missed paychecks away from being
in that exact situation from you know, most Americans don't
have a savings account because we're all living paycheck to
paycheck right now, So it happens more frequently than I
think people realize.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Right, exactly right, And I think that's again another reason
for this program. Understanding that not every tendency is sustainable,
but there are ways to keep families house for as
long as possible until they find something that is sustainable.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
So how is this program working to prevent these evictions
and help these families out?
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yeah, I think not, I think, but it's designed to
address systemic disparities and eviction deficts. It guarantees legal representation
for families with school aged children in communities most impacted
by eviction. It levels the playing field. We know that
over ninety percent of landlords are represented, while there's a
(05:40):
little less than seven percent of tenants who are represented
in housing court. So working with our community organizers and
community organizations, obviously working with Boston Public Schools, Legal services,
housing advocates to ensure that those who are in that
vulnerable situation, who you know, don't have the money to
(06:01):
afford their own attorney and have to look to lelate
attorneys to support that resource readily available.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
What is the reaction you've been getting so far? This
was announced a short time ago. What are you hearing
from people around Boston, from people around the state. And
will other cities take up a program length this? Do
you think?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah? I mean the reaction has been long awaited. It's
a resource that so many people benefit from. I think
a lot of people are in dire straits and are
finally saying like, oh, there's finally a resource for me
and my household one time, or if I'm in a
situation that that leads me to meeting an attorney. I
(06:40):
think one, you know, it's a little before the ink
was even dry, we received referrals. If we have this
household that is VPS, how do we get them connected
to an attorney? So it's one of those things where
people are just waiting like when when is this happening
so that we can start to make referrals. And then also,
you know, are the opposite Augus Stability has other services
(07:02):
that we provide related to eviction prevention and eviction defense,
So that has also opened the floodgates, so to speak.
And then we are working with our state partners making
sure that we're creating or or developing outcomes that match
what they are are looking to. Connecting with the Mass
(07:24):
Legal Aid Corporation, they just put out their plans for
access to Council, so really trying to it's a new program,
not just city level but statewide. There's other states that
have access to Council. So we've been my office has
been working with those other states in towns to say,
(07:46):
how are you developing this program? What are your thoughts?
So that's been it's been it's been a positive reaction,
but at the tell and it's been a sort of
sad reaction, right because so many people need this resource
and funds are limited to so really having to think
how do we help this many people with this limited
amount of funding and resource.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah, let's talk about that because I think people would
want to know about the numbers here. I mean, how
many households are you expected to be able to be
able to help this year? And how much money is
going towards this, who's funding this? You know, the money questions.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Yeah, of course, very important. So we're hoping to serve
at least one hundred and fifty households with this funding.
The money comes from city operating budget. We received three
hundred thousand dollars to operate the program, which is the
funding is going to GBLSS Riad A brust some legal
services because the point of the program school legal representation,
(08:41):
so we needed to work obviously with a legal aid
organization that could help low income families address their eviction issues.
And then it's a pilot program, so it's a new
program within the city. So we're hoping that through success
showing what has happened, what the benefits were, how many
(09:02):
people we weren't able to help because of the limited funding,
that'll make it a little more easier to advocate for.
This is why we need this amount of dollars as
opposed to the three hundred thousands. But this is definitely
a welcomed budget line items just because it's it's much needed.
As I mentioned earlier, the floodgate sort of opened to
(09:24):
people just waiting for this to happen in the person.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Well, if somebody is listening and they need this assistance
or they know a family that could really benefit from this,
How can they find out more and get that help?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Yeah, yeah, great question. They always can give give our
office a call, the Office of Houving Stability. But at
the families are connected to this particular resource by connecting
with their bpsles on. We do have a website up
on our Office of Poving Stability website that sort of
goes into the details of how to get heard and
(09:56):
what the eligibility requirements are. But usually household are very
connected with their BPS liaison. BPS liaisons that the first
to found to find out about a new baby, the
first to find about a lot of life issues that
are happening. So that liaison will connect with another local
nonprofit organization that deals with family homelessness, which is Family
(10:18):
Aid Boston through their Early Homelessness Intervention program, and from
their Family Aid makes the referral directly to Greater Boston
Legal Services to say we have this family. They've received
a notice to quit, which is the first sort of
document you receive when you're facing eviction, or they have
their first mediation and they need some help and guidance,
(10:39):
and from their Greater Boston Legal Services does the great
work that they do which is advising tenants to do
this step. They're the legal leads, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Okay, cool, all right, well Danielle, thanks for the information.
This is going to be super helpful for our listeners.
Really appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Of course, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Have a safe and healthy weekend, and please join us
again next week for another edition of the show. I'm
Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
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