CRHA reports early gains but rising demand in eviction diversion program

Commissioner meeting of the CRHA heard on Monday that the agency’s newly expanded eviction diversion program has produced early casework wins but faces persistent funding and service-capacity gaps that limit its scale. Kathleen, resident services director, told the board the agency received 11 referrals for nonpayment last month and expects referrals to roughly double by the end of the current month as staff begin referring families as soon as they fall “out of good standing.” She said the agency collected about $15,000 in one recent month and “stopped at least 2 to 3 evictions that had sheriff dates for lockouts” in recent weeks. The program, she said, aims to pair repayment agreements with individualized supports — for example referrals to the ROSS (Resident Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency) program and Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) — and to keep tenants on site while they complete services. “We’re building a protocol for how to…