City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: MAY 19, 2021
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration and Approval of Funding to Support Ongoing COVID-19 Eviction Prevention Response.
BODY
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ISSUE: Consideration and approval of an advance allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funding for Legal Services of Northern Virginia (LSNV) to hire a second housing justice attorney and data analyst position to support ongoing COVID-19 Eviction Prevention analysis and planning.
RECOMMENDATIONS: That City Council:
(1) Approve LSNV's request for funding to hire a second Housing Justice Attorney to provide individual representation for City residents facing eviction and increase the organization's capacity to address the City's eviction crisis;
(2) Authorize the creation of a Data Management Position to support the data collection and analysis needs of the Eviction Prevention Task Force; and
(3) Approve an ordinance allocation of $200,000 from the City's American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) federal funding to fund this request.
BACKGROUND: As articulated at a City Council work session on May 22, the Eviction Prevention Task Force (EPTF) is a collaborative effort that has been focused on responding to the eviction crisis throughout the COVID 19 public health emergency. Two key elements of the success of the work of the EPTF has been court outreach and legal support from Legal Services of Northern Virginia, as well as the use of data to understand the prevalence of eviction. The data has also made it possible to effectively pinpoint the efforts of intervention and enrollment in the rental assistance programs offered by the state and the City.
LSNV established a court outreach program that has assisted approximately 843 City residents between July 1, 2020 and April 30, 2021. LSNV also develop...
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