Akron municipal court housing navigators describe eviction-prevention work, warn grant ends in November

Tara Moseley Weems, court navigator for Akron Municipal Court, and Byron Finney, housing specialist for Akron Municipal Court, told the Akron City Council housing committee on an interim committee call that their court-based housing resource center helps tenants and landlords avoid evictions but faces funding and data challenges.

The pair said the navigator positions are grant funded through the National Center for State Courts and that “our funding will be ending in November of this year,” Moseley Weems said. They described a mix of tenant outreach, landlord engagement, on-site intake and search tools, mediation efforts and partnerships that aim to keep people housed or move them to available temporary and permanent options.

The presentation matters to Akron residents and policymakers because the navigators link people at imminent risk of eviction to housing inventories, emergency assistance programs and mediation at the courthouse, actions that directly affect evictions, homelessness intake and use of federal and local housing dollars.

Moseley Weems and Finney said the program distributes flyers and works with community partners such as United Way, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, and uses the online listing summitihousingsearch.org as a primary housing inventory. Finney described weekday courthouse outreach: when bailiffs conduct set-outs on Wednesdays the navigators travel with them to offer housing help to people who did not appear in court or who need immediate options. “We pass out summitihousingsearch.org … so that they can see what's available and they can reach out,” Finney said.

The navigators said they operate a resource center inside the courthouse where people can register for public housing, use a computer to apply to local housing authorities and be referred to rapid-rehousing and specialty programs. They described practical services developed at the center, including a job board that helped place at least one formerly evicted person in local work. They also said mediation on the day of hearings can resolve filings before they reach the final eviction step, and that magistrates can seal cases when parties pay, removing eviction records from tenants’ records.

Staff flagged data and systems limits. The navigators enter client and case data into a state website called Stout and into internal records, but said the systems do not always transfer information accurately. “We were able to go back to those [paper] forms, and we realized there were so many individuals' information that did not switch over,” Moseley Weems said. They said their IT team is working with Stout to reconcile records and that paper intake forms and an internal Excel sheet are being used as a backup while the transfer issues are resolved.

Committee members pressed for more and different data. Council members asked for a five‑year snapshot of intakes, numbers of tenants and landlords served, and—if permissible—address-level or geographic “heat map” detail that could show concentrations of filings and frequent landlords. Finney said magistrate staff can produce pre/post comparisons for a local policy change the committee discussed about two to two-and-a-half years ago and that those numbers had been used in a prior sprint to support tenants’ right-to-counsel planning.

On funding, the navigators said some assistance streams are paused. They noted Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds were “on a pause” and that a specific pool of Continuum of Care category-2 funds — intended for ages 18–24 rapid rehousing — is separate and carries eligibility rules. Finney said that category-2 funding amounts to about $1,600,000 and that those dollars are restricted to the younger age range; the navigators said they will continue to refer families and other households to broader rapid‑rehousing and United Way programs. They also said the local wait list for housing vouchers and assisted housing remains large.

The presenters identified two operational bottlenecks: finding housing for single adults with no dependents (who are harder to place into permanent housing) and limited mediation capacity for same-day dockets. They said the courts are considering adding a part-time mediator or facilitator for eviction dockets because the current mediator must also cover other civil matters.

The navigators listed upcoming outreach and services: a tentative job fair on June 11 with about 30–35 employers expected, landlord and tenant clinics, and a home-buying workshop run by a navigator’s nonprofit in partnership with local housing counseling groups. They also said they routinely speak at ward meetings and landlord conferences to promote alternatives to eviction.

The committee held one procedural vote at the start of the meeting: members voted to accept the minutes of the prior meeting. The motion passed with members present (Council members Fusco, McKittrick, Connor and Garrett) voting aye; Council member DeShazier was absent.

Finney and Moseley Weems said they will provide the committee with the requested statistics, including the Stout intake data, pre/post figures for the local policy mentioned during the meeting, and additional information about landlord frequency and concentrated filing areas. They asked that staff recipients for data include Council staff and city IT so the information can be mapped and analyzed.

Committee members and presenters agreed that funding stability beyond fiscal year 2025 is uncertain at the federal level but that the continuing resolution passed in March made community development block grant and HOME funds “stable” for 2025. The presenters reiterated that the navigators’ specific grant from the National Center for State Courts ends in November, and that sustaining the positions or services will require new funding decisions.

Votes at a glance: Accept minutes of the last meeting — motion to accept the minutes; second not specified; tally recorded as four ayes, zero nos; outcome: approved.

The housing committee adjourned and notified members that the full council will convene in regular session at 6:30 p.m.