Clark County has one of many few court-affiliated packages within the nation to help individuals all through the eviction course of. Regardless of document eviction filings endlessly, this system may die in 2026.
“I think it’ll be an increased burden on the court statewide (if the program ends),” mentioned Steven Morrison, govt director of Group Mediation Providers, which operates this system.
Group Mediation Providers and Clark County Superior Courtroom fashioned this system, known as Entry to Group Eviction Assist, in late 2023 after a wave of eviction filings hit Clark County. (Clark County’s Eviction Decision Pilot Program, a pandemic-era mediation service that saved 73 p.c of tenant-landlord disputes from going to courtroom, had simply sunsetted.)
In 2023 and 2024, Clark County had the best degree of eviction filings per capita out of any county in Washington.
Attorneys and the courtroom are nonetheless struggling to maintain up with the load, which is about one eviction submitting for each 242 individuals in Clark County, in response to Washington Administrative Workplace of the Courts information.
To sluggish the circulation, Clark County Superior Courtroom utilized for funding from the Nationwide Heart for State Courts for an eviction diversion program and obtained a $361,940 grant to type Entry to Group Eviction Assist, referred to as ACES. (Final 12 months, this system’s prices totaled about $117,000, in response to the courtroom.)
Root of the issue
Though certainly one of ACES’s objectives is eviction diversion, its primary objective is to resolve the basis reason for an eviction, mentioned Casey McDougall, this system’s solely case supervisor.
ACES directs individuals to free authorized companies and rental help, but it surely additionally refers individuals to psychological well being companies, housing assets, job and academic help, and battle decision.
Addressing underlying points could stop the eviction from occurring or preserve the cycle from persevering with, he mentioned.
“I hate seeing reoccurring cases coming back to court,” McDougall mentioned.
Various strategies to rental help are particularly essential as a result of rental help funds are working low in Clark County.
Clark County went from doling out about $30 million in each 2021 and 2022 to $6.8 million in 2024. The variety of households receiving help via county funds dropped almost nine-fold. The county will commit simply $2.8 million towards rental help over the following three years.
Even when rental help is accessible, it could actually typically be a “Band-Aid fix,” mentioned Morrison of Group Mediation Providers. Rental help will seemingly not stave off an eviction without end if a tenant is persistently struggling, he mentioned.
“It buys time, but it doesn’t work to alleviate the barriers that those individuals were suffering,” Morrison mentioned.
Some landlords in Clark County agree with the holistic philosophy and attain out to McDougall on behalf of tenants earlier than taking them to courtroom, McDougall mentioned.
Even when dropping housing appears unavoidable, McDougall will work to forestall tenants from turning into homeless by connecting them to housing assets. Typically, he hears from somebody solely after they’ve been evicted.
“There have been times where people reach out to us, and they’re living in their car,” he mentioned.
McDougall guides individuals via the eviction course of, which might be advanced and complicated, he mentioned. He additionally helps individuals plan methods to get to courtroom if they’ve a transportation barrier or a schedule battle.
That’s essential as a result of a tenant not displaying up for an eviction listening to nearly all the time ends in an computerized eviction, in response to attorneys.
“Being prepared — really, it’s so helpful because they get to see the entire process,” McDougall mentioned.
Funds working out
Though it doesn’t appear as if eviction filings will sluggish in Clark County, ACES could not exist in a 12 months and a half. That’s when the final obtainable funding from the Nationwide Heart for State Courts runs out for this system.
Clark County Superior Courtroom obtained $90,485 for ACES from Sept. 1, 2025, via Aug. 31, 2026. Nonetheless, about $30,000 of those funds can be used for the creation of self-help packets for landlords and tenants.
“This way, when the grant is fully expended, it will leave behind a tangible, lasting outcome for years to come,” mentioned Whitney Blighton, Clark County Superior Courtroom’s senior administration analyst.
Case Administration Providers has utilized for a number of grants to fund ACES itself, Morrison mentioned.
“But with our current political state, there’s a lot of freezes in awards and grant funding, and there’s a lot of hesitancy from funders to award programs because they don’t know if the money is going to be there,” Morrison mentioned.
Each Morrison and McDougall surmise that an finish to ACES would have a direct impact on eviction submitting ranges and the flexibility of individuals to navigate the eviction course of.
“I would suspect we’d see a lot of confusion, and that always scares me,” McDougall mentioned. “I feel like that would probably come back.”
