[District of Columbia, March 14, 2024] – The DC Bar Foundation announces the release of its Civil Legal Counsel Projects Program Annual Evaluation Report in collaboration with NPC Research. The latest report covers the period from October 2022 through September 2023.
The Civil Legal Counsel Projects Program (CLCPP) is a grant program established by the Council of the District of Columbia in July 2017. The DC Bar Foundation administers grants and made awards in 2023 to seven DC legal services organizations to provide legal assistance to DC residents with low incomes at risk of eviction or the loss of a housing subsidy or seeking to remedy housing conditions.
Report highlights include:
Cases closed, and residents served. The CLCPP partners closed nearly 3,500 cases during the current grant year. During the last three quarters, they closed more cases per quarter than during any prior quarter since data collection began. CLCPP partners served 2,963 tenants, impacting 6,117 household members. Of those tenants facing an active eviction lawsuit, 94% faced a landlord represented by an attorney, underscoring the importance of the CLCPP services.
The CLCPP partners provide legal services to tenants in households that are particularly vulnerable to risks of unstable housing – tenants with minors (36%), with a disability or chronic health condition (27%), and living in subsidized housing (35%). While the CLCPP partners served tenants citywide, almost half of the CLCPP clients in this reporting period lived in Wards 7 (18%) and 8 (31%). An additional 15% of CLCPP clients resided in Ward 5. Of clients with information available, 86% identified as Black or African American, and 65% identified as women. Women of color, who tend to experience eviction filings disproportionately, made up 53% of clients.
Favorable outcomes boost housing stability. Among eviction cases closed during the reporting period, 76% of tenants represented by a CLCPP attorney retained possession of their units. Notably, among the CLCPP clients for whom case outcomes were known, only 5% had a judgment entered against them, putting them at risk for an actual lockout. Some tenants remained in their homes because the landlord or the court dismissed the eviction case, while others could stay in their homes subject to terms laid out in a settlement agreement. Of the tenants who moved out of their homes, many did so of their own volition (e.g., some no longer wanted to live in the unit) or as part of a settlement agreement in which they received other favorable terms (e.g., reduced rental debt) in exchange for leaving.
Expanded services. CLCPP partners began providing legal services in housing conditions cases during the current grant year. Due to the expansion of the CLCPP statute and the introduction of the Children's Law Center (CLC) to the network, the CLCPP partners began providing services to tenants seeking legal help to remediate substandard housing conditions by requiring the landlord to make repairs.
In addition to providing direct legal services to tenants facing eviction, the CLCPP partners collaborated with community-based organizations to support broader eviction prevention efforts, launching the Eviction Prevention in the Community (EPIC) project to reach tenants earlier.
Easier access to services. Tenants continued to utilize the LTLAN to connect with CLCPP attorneys. While tenants can contact CLCPP attorneys in many ways, the primary avenue used in the past year was the Landlord Tenant Legal Assistance Network (LTLAN), a collaboratively run intake system established by CLCCP partners in 2020. Among the 2,963 tenants served by CLCPP partners during the current reporting period, 64% connected with services through the LTLAN.
You can read the full report at this link.
About the DC Bar Foundation: We are committed to transforming DC's legal aid network so all District residents have a fair and equal legal experience. Through our network approach, we actively bring together all invested stakeholders to identify and address the unmet civil legal needs of underserved DC residents, create solutions with a critical eye for racial justice and equity, and demonstrate meaningful impact.
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