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3 <br /> Life-Changing-Event Qualification <br /> The main change to the policy from a non-financial standpoint is the ability to qualify for EHA <br /> through an LCE. LCEs allowed some households to qualify for assistance before the eviction <br /> process, but limited the ability to provide financial assistance once a case reached court. <br /> The option to qualify through LCEs allowed 21 households to apply for assistance earlier than if <br /> they had to wait for a court case to be filed. While twelve (12) of those households avoided an <br /> eviction filing completely, nine (9) still had a court case filed against them as the eviction was <br /> initiated after the application was submitted, but before it was evaluated and approved by staff. A <br /> total of fifteen (15) households were approved for EHA assistance based solely on a court <br /> summons. <br /> There was not a significant difference in average processing time between applications with an <br /> LCE (24 days) as opposed to a court summons (22 days). The primary reasons for the gap were <br /> time spent waiting on responses from households and property owners and the quantity of <br /> applications. Applications that relied solely on an LCE required more follow-up questions and time <br /> from EHA staff as the documentation provided in the original application was often insufficient or <br /> unclear. <br /> Repeat Evictions for Eviction Diversion Program Clients <br /> Finally, the Board previously requested data on repeat evictions. The data presented in the table <br /> below covers the six-month timeframe from April 1, 2024 through September 30, 2024: <br /> Percenmtlff Total <br /> Total EDP Clients Served 280 <br /> Repeat Court Summons` + No EHA 30 10.7% <br /> Repeat Summons + Received EHA 19 6.8% <br /> Total Repeat Court Summons (With 49 17.5% <br /> and without EHA) <br /> *First eviction resolved, then a new eviction filed later <br /> Summary <br /> Initial data suggests that the addition of a qualifying Life Changing Event has allowed Emergency <br /> Housing Assistance funds to be used earlier and to prevent an eviction filing in over half of cases. <br /> At the same time, households which were not able to apply before eviction court were still able to <br /> receive assistance, representing a balance between the two types of applications. <br /> FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with receiving this program update. <br /> The EHA program has been reduced in scale from its $2,000,000 budget from FY 2023-24 <br /> (predominantly in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds) to a little less than $500,000 <br /> this year (about $150,000 in leftover ARPA funds, and the remainder locally funded). <br />