Just Court ADR

This article is part of a series of perspectives on eviction mediation program development that is being supported by the American Arbitration Association-International Centre for Dispute Resolution Foundation. The AAA-ICDR’s grant is enabling RSI to expand our outreach to court ADR colleagues working in the fast-evolving eviction field, and we are tremendously grateful to the Foundation for their support.

Regular readers of RSI’s Just Court ADR blog will recall that RSI has been operating an eviction mediation program in Kane County, Illinois. This program launched in May 2021. We thought now would be a good time to check in on the outcomes to date, and talk a little bit about our experience running the program thus far.

Background

Kane County is in west suburban Chicago and is home to the second largest city in Illinois. The Kane County Eviction Mediation Program launched after about nine months of development. While the process to mobilize a new program usually takes upward of a year, the looming urgency of an eviction crisis called for an expedited rollout. Within that window, we developed all the court rules, procedures and forms which the program would need to operate. We also recruited a cadre of mediators, and provided them specialized eviction mediation training through our friends at the Center for Conflict Resolution.

Most critical to the development process, we also utilized this time to collaborate with the Circuit Court of Kane County and a number of partners about how this program would operate once it went live. From studying other successful models, we knew that a holistic approach which connected parties with rental assistance, legal aid, financial counseling and other support services would make a big difference. We convened regular meetings with the Court, legal aid entities, housing counselors and the plaintiffs’ bar to devise a program model that could offer parties access to these services efficiently prior to mediation.

To make this idea a reality, we knew it would take dedicated program staff who could handle intake, triage, scheduling mediations and troubleshooting unforeseen issues as they arose. As we have written about in our Guide to Program Success, programs without day-to-day oversight will be hard-pressed to be successful long-term. In considering the numbers below, recognize that these sort of outcomes are possible because we have been fortunate to have a full-time program coordinator – who is quite exceptional! – along with a support team, amounting to about another full-time staff person.

By the Numbers

The following data is accurate as of February 14, 2022.

• We’ve enrolled 270 households in the program. The vast majority of these, about 75%, came after Illinois lifted its moratorium on residential evictions at the beginning of October 2021. In the Kane County program, if the tenant wants to participate in mediation, the landlord is required to also participate. The eviction judge also has the authority to order cases into the mediation program.
• We’ve held about 160 mediation sessions in 130 unique cases. Not all cases will end up going through to mediation. Some parties will be able to access rental assistance or come to an alternative agreement in between the time they enroll in the program (usually at or following their first court appearance) and when mediation would be scheduled (typically about 3-4 weeks, in advance of the 30-day continuance that was offered to many parties by the judge). In other cases, some tenants unfortunately drop off and don’t return our attempts to contact them, at which point their case is closed in the program; a number of these tenants vacate the premises in hopes of avoiding judgment.
• The program has about a 2/3 agreement rate for cases it has mediated. We’ve helped almost 50 people remain in their homes; we’ve helped nearly 60 additional people reach agreement with their landlord to move out and move on without an eviction on their record. These outcomes highlight that keeping the tenant in the unit is not feasible in every situation, but there are other incentives for tenants to seek out agreement, such as bargaining for more time to find alternative housing, or mitigating some of the arrearages owed.
• We’ve been able to make at least 116 referrals to rental assistance, 116 to legal aid, and 120 to housing services (some households receive multiple referrals). As we envisioned, the program is acting as a central hub to provide parties access to support services. We are always looking out for ways to expand upon this, such as mental health and wellness services, resources for self-represented landlords and additional housing support, for which demand always seems to exceed supply.

Conclusion

These numbers are a snapshot of how the program is operating, and it is not meant for definitive conclusions to be drawn without more rigorous analysis. But we thought it would be of interest to many of you to share our experience running this program thus far and what we’ve been able to achieve. We will be sharing more data in the months to come, and if you haven’t seen our previously published report on the program’s survey data, we encourage you to check that out as well.

This article is part of a series of perspectives on eviction mediation program development that is being supported by the American Arbitration Association-International Centre for Dispute Resolution Foundation. The AAA-ICDR’s grant is enabling RSI to expand our outreach to court ADR colleagues working in the fast-evolving eviction field, and we are tremendously grateful to the Foundation for their support.

RSI began operating our first eviction mediation program in spring of 2021, based in Kane County, Illinois. Here, Program Coordinator Christina Wright answers questions posed by Executive Director Susan Yates about the program.

Susan Yates: Please tell us a little about who this program serves.

Christina Wright: We primarily serve very low-income renters, including section 8 and those with housing vouchers. Many are living on zero wages or social security. Family sizes vary from 1 to 5, and I rarely see families larger than 5. The families are both in large cities, like Elgin and Aurora, and in rural areas like Elburn. Kane County is a large jurisdiction that spans urban and rural populations. Those receiving services from our program are primarily white, Latino and black, and comprise all genders. English and Spanish are the primary languages spoken. Many participants have already utilized other community/government programs. Some receive these benefits, while others have been repeatedly denied, and have run out of good options.

SY: How does this program operate?

CW: The process begins when an eviction case is filed with the court. Once the case begins, parties are eligible to participate in the mediation program. Either the landlord or the tenant can initiate the process by contacting the program. Most first contacts are made during a court appearance. However, landlords are required to deliver a notice of the program to tenants during service, so some enrollments begin when a party reaches out prior to the first court appearance.

By initiating contact with the program, participants compel the other party to participate. The program coordinator is tasked with connecting the parties to coordinate a virtual mediation date. All mediations are currently being conducted via Zoom. Once a date is settled, the coordinator schedules a trained mediator to serve for that case. Mediators work in 4 hour shifts and may mediate 1-4 cases during that time. On average, mediations take about 50 minutes.

Mediations are confidential, so while the ultimate outcome is reported to the court, the details of the process remain private. There are many different potential outcomes to an eviction mediation, but the most common agreements involve move out dates and/or payment plans. Once an agreement is made, the mediator completes a court order that is submitted to and signed by the judge. This ends the mediation process and, typically, the court case. By coming to a mutual agreement in mediation, future court dates and eviction orders are prevented.

SY: Eviction mediation programs are often described as eviction diversion programs. What are the aspects of your programs, other than mediation?

CW: We work with the community to provide solutions to the more common problems we see related to eviction, such as financial need. Our partners help participants apply for financial relief programs that help with things such as rent and utilities in hopes of preventing evictions based on past due rent. Participants can consult with attorneys to meet their legal needs and housing counselors to help them find affordable housing.

SY: Tell us a little more about your partners in these programs. What do they do? How do parties get in touch with them?

CW: We have partnered with several other community organizations in an attempt to provide as many services as possible to those in need. Prairie State Legal Service offers free legal representation to those who qualify. The Aurora Financial Empowerment Center helps clients with a variety of consumer needs, as well as assisting applicants with financial aid applications. Consumer Credit Counseling Services and The Neighbor Project provide housing counseling services. We provide referrals to these organizations that let parties contact them directly.

SY: Who are your mediators? What kind of training do they have? What are their professional and/or personal backgrounds?

CW: Our mediators come from a diverse set of backgrounds. Many are attorneys and arbitrators, while others are counselors, teachers, executives and retired from many other careers. All of the mediators have completed a 30-hour (or longer) mediation certification, many through our partners at the Center for Conflict Resolution. They also have all been trained on the unique needs of eviction mediation. Some have also chosen to receive additional training in a variety of styles of conflict resolution. Our mediators reflect many different races and genders, speak multiple languages, and because of the virtual nature of the mediations, reside across the country (and some even internationally).