By Staff Reporter |

City of Phoenix leaders are looking for a funding pathway to cover the millions it will cost to continue to provide legal and other services to evictees. 

The city launched a pilot Eviction Legal Services (ELS) program in January 2025 using $1.2 million out of the interest accrued from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. Phoenix received nearly $400 million in ARPA funds as part of an economic stimulus package in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ELS program is scheduled to continue through June 2027. 

City leaders and staff discussed the proposal to continue the ELS program, or another iteration of evictee services, during the most recent Community Services and Education Subcommittee meeting last month. 

According to city staff, the ELS program handled 766 applications from January 2025 through March 2026. 436 of those applications were eligible for referral to an ELS provider. 292 eligible referrals, or 67%, were for legal representation to respond to an eviction filing. 

330 applications were considered ineligible: 260 failed to provide complete documentation and 70 were either not city residents or their cases were not eviction-related. 

Staff further reported that 25% of all closed cases ended with a negotiated settlement or agreement in which the landlord and tenant agreed with the outcome jointly. 140 cases with legal representation, or 48%, were classified as having reduced negative impacts of eviction on tenants. Examples of reduced negative impacts were evictees receiving 42 additional days to move out and paying $2,600 less on average for back rent.

City of Phoenix leaders are familiar with repurposing COVID-19 relief funds for housing assistance. Jacqueline Edwards, director of the Human Service Department (HSD), came on the job two years ago having successfully distributed $200 million in COVID-19 relief funds for rental assistance while with the Maricopa County Human Services Department. Edwards joined the city of Phoenix as its HSD director in 2024. 

The COVID-19 relief windfall is coming to an end, however. During the Community Services and Education Subcommittee meeting last month, Edwards disclosed that the city doesn’t have a dedicated funding source for continuation of ELS or a similar program. 

Vice Mayor Kesha Hodge Washington said subsidized housing was one of her key priorities, and urged Edwards to find funding for ELS. 

Edwards made that nonfunding disclosure as she proposed three new programs for additional eviction prevention and response:

Preferred Landlord program: the city would create a “verified landlord” list of city-recognized landlords committed to city-funded mediations rather than evictions. 

“Tenants would know up front that these landlords would seek mediation activities rather than simply filing an eviction,” said Edwards. 

Landlord Risk Mitigation Fund program: the city would assist households with a history of evictions by providing financial incentives for landlords to accept these higher-risk tenants, such as deposit assistance.

One-Stop Stabilization Appointment program: the city would meet with evictees within three days of their eviction to enroll them in public benefits and resources.

Washington said she approved of all three programs. 

“It is less costly and more effective to prevent homelessness than it is to respond to someone who’s already lost their housing,” said Washington. 

Beyond legal services for evictees, the city also began distributing $3 million for emergency financial assistance last month. 

The new Stability Assistance program gives “vulnerable Phoenix residents” up to $2,500. Noncitizens qualify since they have residency, as well as those who reside in a qualified census tract; have incomes no greater than 200% of the federal poverty line; or receive or have received funding from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or Medicaid. 

The funds may be used for “utilities, rent, transportation, or other basic expenses [for] other household needs” according to city meeting records, though Edwards revealed that staff don’t have strict requirements for how recipients may spend their thousands. Edwards said funds could be used to pay for other things, like continuing education or work credentials.

“[It’s] not for staff to say, ‘These are the steps that you have to do, but rather let that [decision making] be driven [by fund recipients] because households really do know what’s best for them and we’re there to walk right next to them and help them achieve those goals,” said Edwards.

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