Rent Relief Program: Ensuring Housing Stability During COVID-19

About the Program

Category: Risk and Emergency Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2022

The March 19, 2020, Stay-at-Home order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus left thousands of low-income Los Angeles County tenants with significant rental debt, threat of eviction, and general concern over their housing security. To ensure that tenants received rental assistance to remain housed and prevent an increase in homelessness, the Board of Supervisors awarded the Los Angeles County Development Authority (LACDA) $100 million of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES Act) funds. The sheer scope and volume of this task, as well as the urgent need to assist low-income County residents, required an innovative solution within 60 days. Having no rent relief administration experience, an unprecedented amount of funding to deploy, and a deadline to disburse all funds by December 30, 2020, the LACDA needed to launch a program that could be quickly implemented Countywide. To meet this great challenge, the LACDA leveraged external resources such as 211 LA, the County’s social services info and referral helpline, and partnered with 29 Community-Based Organizations (CBO) and cities that had deep connections in their communities. This successful collaboration of over 150 internal and external staff managed this large-scale Program and assisted 14,189 households with average assistance of $8,273.