"Where Will My Family Go?" The Financial, Housing, and Health Challenges of Families Facing Eviction
To better understand how eviction affects families with children, the Evicted in Oregon team conducted focus groups with 74 tenants from Baker, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, and Washington counties in Oregon. During focus group discussions, we asked participants whether they had children in the household at the time of eviction and how it impacted them. Parents’ reported that their children’s well-being was their main concern during the eviction process. They also described how eviction led to disruptions in their children’s education, health and medical treatments, and living arrangements.
Based on our findings, we provide a set of policy and program recommendations that could prevent eviction and support families facing eviction, including long-term rental assistance, expanding access to and awareness of existing resources, and tenant advocacy. Secure and stable housing environment is essential for healthy children's development; therefore, state and local agencies should continue to invest in programs that help people remain in their homes.
Targeted, Harassed, and Displaced: The Role of Discrimination in Oregon Evictions
While we know that there are clear racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in eviction filings, there is still much we do not know about discrimination in the eviction process. One concrete way to shed light on this understudied phenomenon is by talking directly with evicted tenants about their experiences as members of Fair Housing-protected identity groups and other marginalized populations. Drawing on focus groups with 101 Oregon tenants who have experienced an eviction since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, this report examines the role that discrimination plays in Oregon evictions. We find that many tenants are specifically targeted for eviction or experience prejudicial treatment during the eviction process because of their identity or background. This includes being treated unfairly based on their race, language, criminal record, gender, sexual orientation, or disabilities. Tenants faced harassment, threats, utility shut-offs, unaddressed habitability issues, and other forms of prejudicial treatment. Additionally, some tenants reported that they either did not challenge their eviction or did not report the discrimination they encountered because they did not expect to be treated fairly by the legal system.