Governor Phil Murphy’s moratorium on residential evictions will end soon, and Passaic County’s commissioners are working hard to make sure the next COVID19 crisis isn’t a crisis of evictions and housing instability for families.

The County Commissioners have set aside at least $33 million from the 2020 CARES Act and President Joe Biden’s 2021 American Rescue Plan, as a fund to help renters who lost work due to the coronavirus pandemic. In most cases, the program can pay 100% of eligible tenants’ rent, covering the period from March 2020 to the present.

“We are trying to prevent the public health crisis of 2020-2021 from turning into a housing crisis in 2022,” said Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett, who meets weekly with the team of professionals that lead the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP).

“In addition to rental relief from March 2020 until today, eligible tenants can also receive ‘wrap around’ services including job placement, education, and help paying for utilities,” Bartlett explained. “This assistance is made available through Passaic County’s Human Services Department, Board of Social Services, the Passaic County Community College (PCCC), and other offices.”

Through September 2021, more than $3.4 million of rental assistance was paid to landlords, helping 514 families stay in their apartments.

“Both tenants and landlords are essential to our local economy,” said Passaic County Commissioner Cassandra “Sandi” Lazzara, who has helped develop Impact Passaic (www.impactpassaic.com) as a one-stop outreach location for county residents to research and apply for available services. “Through ERAP we will put money in landlords’ pockets while providing tenants and their families with housing stability while they get back on their feet.”

Either the landlord or the tenant can begin the application process online at www.impactpassaic.com, and receive help and ask questions by telephone at 862-657-5797 (9am-5pm M-F, with extended hours until 8pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays). Once both landlord and tenant have provided their information, the County evaluates tenants’ eligibility based upon income limits (see chart) and whether the tenants suffered a loss of job or work time due to the COVID19 pandemic.

The program’s rules are less restrictive than other similar programs. For example, rental assistance is available regardless of tenants’ immigration status or history of contact with the criminal justice system. Landlords are paid promptly, in exchange for promising not to lock-out their tenants for at least three months. Landlords are still free to apply for other assistance programs, like the State’s business grants, just not to receive more than 100% of the rent they’re owed.

ERAP is Impact Passaic’s first major project, recognizing housing security as essential to the quality of life of all Passaic County residents. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the fundamental need for affordable housing. The Passaic County Emergency Rental Assistance Program, in coordination with wrap-around services, will begin to address the County’s larger need for affordable housing and homelessness prevention.

The ‘ImpactPassaic.com’ web site is the first major initiative of the Passaic County Collective Impact Council. The Council consists of 40 governmental, non-profit, faith based and community members. It was established in the fall of 2020 to identify, develop and implement strategies and systemic solutions to identify the unmet needs of Passaic County residents.  The end goal is to provide individuals, families and communities with the knowledge, resources, and skills to successfully support themselves, their families and community members from birth to the end of life.

As it considers how best to help all Passaic County residents recover from the pandemic and build brighter futures, the Council’s most significant findings concern income disparities across the county and how they are reflected in symptoms of distress. More than 2,600 Passaic County residents took part in a Needs Assessment and four areas of unmet needs were identified as the most critical:

• Housing insecurity: a lack of affordable housing puts struggling families and individuals at risk of homelessness
• Poverty: income insecurity leads to food insecurity, difficulty accessing healthcare, and other basic challenges
• Drugs and mental health: especially the Opioid Crisis, and people who need but cannot access Behavioral Health support and treatment
• Communication about available resources

“A systemic approach to change includes both short term and long-term solutions,” County Commissioner Lazzara explained. “The Passaic County Collective Impact Council will take a holistic approach, including collaboration across all levels of government, partnerships with non-profit organizations and other community leaders like clergy, and involving individuals and families.”

“Like with Census 2020 and other projects, Impact Passaic’s outreach will be in many languages,” Passaic County Commissioner Assad Akhter added. “We recognize that major immigrant populations in Passaic County need to receive information in Spanish, Arabic, Bengali, Gujarati, and other languages, in order to access the services they are eligible to receive.”

By starting with housing insecurity, and providing $33 million to help tenants and landlords through ERAP, the County Commissioners hope to prevent a crisis of evictions and foreclosures so all Passaic County residents can recover and thrive in the years ahead.