7/22/2022

The city of Spokane has submitted its ideas on how to spend $24.3 million in state funds to create new housing options and pathways for the hundreds living in the Camp Hope homeless encampment at East Second Avenue and Ray Street.

The Department of Commerce funding is available through the Rights of Way initiative, a $144 million program for five counties aimed at relocating people out of state rights of way and into better living situations.

Camp Hope – which, reportedly home to more than 600 people, is regarded as the largest homeless encampment on any right of way in the state – is located on state Department of Transportation land next to Interstate 90. “We relied on previous collaborations and plans already in place to grow and build new partnerships that will move individuals from an inhumane outdoor environment into safe and healthy spaces,” Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward said in a statement. “Working together, we came up with a very solid, comprehensive plan in a very short amount of time.”

Spokane officials announced the city’s submission for the Commerce funding in a release Thursday that summarized some inclusions, but did not include the proposal itself.

Notable ideas in the full proposal, which was obtained by The Spokesman- Review, include the acquisition and rehabilitation of the Quality Inn on Sunset Boulevard, several provisions for the developing East Trent Avenue homeless shelter including 60 two-person pods, an RV park rental assistance program and increasing the number of beds at existing shelters.

The East Trent shelter is expected to open in August, according to the city’s release Thursday. The Spokane City Council will hear a presentation Monday from the city administration about a potential contract with the shelter’s operator, the Guardians Foundation, as well as a status report on the search for a services provider.

The city’s submission to the Department of Commerce is divided into three categories.

Category 1 items have full approval from all regional jurisdictions involved in creating the plan, according to the proposal. Category 2 items are supported by some, but not all, jurisdictions. Category 3 strategies either have only individual agency support and approval, or they are relatively new additions to the proposal still under review.

Strategies outlined as Category 1 items would cost an estimated $23.9 million to house 653 people, over 500 within the first 90 days of funding. That’s higher than the approximately 600 people reported in the latest count of Camp Hope residents, though short of the 823 unsheltered individuals identified in the latest point-in-time census of homeless individuals across Spokane County.

Adding in Category 2 items would create enough housing to clear that pointin- time number, driving the total state investment up to around $29.4 million to house 847 people. That’s $5.1 million more than what’s earmarked through the Department of Commerce funding.

Accomplishing the projects in all three categories would cost approximately $34.5 million to house 1,447 people, according to the plan.

Spokane City Council President Breean Beggs said part of the reason Spokane’s application proposes projects above and beyond the $24.3 million is to ensure the city receives the full amount.

Another reason was the challenge of finding consensus among the local leaders who put the plan together, he said.

“If Commerce doesn’t want to fund Trent, that’s several million dollars, and we don’t want to lose that money,” he said. “Commerce is going to pick and choose what they want, and they don’t probably care too much about whethersomething’s categorized as 1, 2 or 3.

“Many of us have been saying, for a few weeks now, we need a lot more than $24 million,” Beggs said.

City leaders and staff worked with Spokane County, Spokane Valley and the Spokane Housing Authority to draft the proposal in just a month.

Given the aggressive timeline, Woodward said the proposal is “a fluid plan.”

“It’s a monumental effort to get this done within the parameters that Commerce has filled out that we must meet with this plan as well, so that’s why a lot of things have come in last minute, because somebody will think of something and we haven’t had as much discussion,” she said. “At least Commerce has indicated a willingness to consider things.”

While generally supportive of the city’s proposal, county and Spokane Valley leaders have expressed concerns with the funding process, with some criticizing the state’s timeline and questioning the long-term sustainability of the proposed solutions.

Thursday was the deadline for submissions from the five counties in line for Rights of Way funding.

Here’s a breakdown of the city’s proposal:

Sunset Highway motel rehab

Earlier this month, the city submitted a spending plan for the initial approximately 30% in funds, proposing to use $7.5 million for assessments and case management of Camp Hope residents, purchasing and rehabilitating a Sunset Highway motel for affordable housing, and for transitional living pods at the Trent shelter.

As proposed, Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington would purchase and rehabilitate the Quality Inn motel on Sunset Boulevard for 88 units to house 100 to 120 people within 90 days of funding.

The plan proposes for Catholic Charities to use $6.5 million, as requested in the application for 30% initial funding, for acquisition, initial improvements and immediate housing.

An additional $7.3 million in state funds would be used for further improvements and conversion into permanent supportive housing on a rolling basis. The rehabilitation is estimated to cost $1.8 million of the $7.3 million.

Once converted to permanent supportive housing, operational costs are expected to “come down dramatically,” according to the proposal.

East Trent Avenue shelter

The $13.8 million allocated to the proposed Catholic Charities plan makes up more than half of the $23.9 million in solutions proposed under Category 1.

The city also requested $1 million toward funding to support physical improvements to the city’s developing East Trent Avenue homeless shelter, including 60 two-person “pods.”

The Trent shelter has been proposed to provide 150 to 250 beds with surge capacity in case of emergencies, such as excessive heat and smoke. Beggs equated the pods to the design used at the Way Out Shelter.

“It’s kind of like a dorm room. They are inside the warehouse, so they don’t have roofs over them,” he said. “It’d be functionally like a pallet shelter with two people, but it’s just cheaper because they don’t have to be weatherized and you don’t have to have separate power lines to it.”

With 120 beds provided by the pods, the city proposes to provide grouping another 120 shelter beds through “communal living pods” within the facility.

These living pods would, according to the city’s release, “group individuals with an established community into a couple dozen.” City spokesman Brian Coddington said the concept allows small communities that have formed at Camp Hope to potentially move into the shelter intact with the goal of transitioning to more individualized housing down the line.

A poll conducted by Jewels Helping Hands, the nonprofit that has overseen activities at Camp Hope, reported all of the residents at the encampment would use a pallet shelter or tiny home. Only 51 of 601, however, said they would use ashelter, depending on the operator.

“If you think about our weather, pallet homes are not really suitable for the outdoors in our weather, especially if there’s no heat or cooling options, there’s no running water,” Woodward said. “I think what’s important to the people that we’re hearing from is they want a front door and they want privacy. This is a state alternative to give them that privacy.”

The remainder of that $1 million is requested for for restroom, shower and Americans with Disabilities Act-related improvements as well as laundry, kitchen and office upgrades.

Other category 1 funding strategies related to the Trent shelter include $700,000 toward establishing ongoing services and case management as a “point of transition” from onsite assessments.

Rental assistance at RV campgrounds

The city is seeking $250,000 in state funds to set up an RV park rental assistance pilot program.

The program would provide rental assistance at RV campgrounds to the first 25 working RVs to pay a “declining percentage of space fees” over a oneyear period, according to the proposal. A small fund would be created to assist in emergency repairs using automotive school organizations.

Woodward, who has opposed previous drive-in options to address homelessness, said she would support the program since the parks could provide people living out of their RVs with appropriate infrastructure, such as power and sewer hookups.

“That way we’re not concentrating vehicles,” she said. “We are offering options for them, but scattered within existing sites and campgrounds.”

Other requests

Other Category 1 concepts include:

• $1.8 million to add permanent supporting housing units to Hope House, with 10 units within two months and another 15 within six months.

• Just under $1.9 million to expand Salvation Army Spokane’s Way Out Shelter to take on individuals referred through the Rights of Way initiative and house another 42 people through transitional housing.

• $261,000 for 20 additional beds at the Truth Ministries shelter in east Spokane.

• $120,000 to set up transportation services with the Spokane Transit Authority to loop three times per day between Camp Hope, shelters and services providers.

• $100,000 for family reunification services.

Concepts under categories 2 and 3 include:

• $2.4 million to support operations at the Trent shelter.

• Just under $2.3 million for pallet shelter villages totaling 75 units to house 125 residents as proposed by the Empire Health Foundation, which is willing to dedicate 3 acres of land owned by the foundation along Sunset Highway for the project.

• $5 million to cover the remaining cost needed for two affordable housing projects identified by Spokane County to create about 400 affordable housingunits.

‘Unrealistic’ timeline?

While other local jurisdictions took part in creating a plan, the city of Spokane has taken the lead with the proposal.

Spokane County commissioners sent the Department of Commerce a letter Tuesday acknowledging that the city of Spokane will take the lead on any funding awarded through the Rights of Way initiative.

In doing so, county commissioners also outlined their concerns with the proposal process and the developing plans to relocate people out of Camp Hope. Namely, commissioners wrote they believe the timeline for the Rights of Way funding is “unrealistic” given the state’s expectations and the breadth of the issue, according to the letter.

“Homelessness and the need for temporary, transitional, and permanent affordable housing units is an ongoing issue that the region has been grappling with for several years,” commissioners wrote, “so it is disheartening to see that the State seems to think this issue may be addressed in the span of less than one month.”

Beyond the timing, county commissioners also stated their concerns with enforcement and funding sustainability. With the latter, county commissioners said the city’s proposal would require an additional $14 million per year, at least, in operational costs.

County commissioners recommended for the Department of Commerce to contract directly with providers “to avoid creating additional fiscal responsibility for local jurisdictions.”

“Without firm, clear, and compassionate enforcement new people will move to the campsite as others move off the site and ultimately, we will not accomplish the designed outcomes of Commerce’s (notice of funding opportunity),” commissioners wrote.

Similarly, Spokane Valley Deputy City Manager Erik Lamb said during a recent Spokane Valley City Council meeting he believes the Department of Commerce did not give jurisdictions enough time to come up with an appropriate spending plan.

“You can’t expect to suddenly house 600 people within a matter of days,” Lamb said.

Spokesman-Review reporter Colin Tiernan contributed to this report. Greg Mason can be reached at (509) 459-5047 or gregm@spokesman.com.

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KREM

Catholic Charities looking to buy Quality Inn to relocate some campers living near I-90 and Freya,

The building could have space for 110 people if the Department of Commerce awards Spokane County leaders the funds to relocate campers.

SPOKANE, Wash. — Today marked the deadline for local leaders to submit a plan to remove some 600 people living at the homeless camp near I-90 and Freya.

If the proposal is approved, the county would receive nearly $25 million in state funds to relocate campers.

Spokane County leaders are telling the Department of Commerce they'll have a plan and several places to relocate homeless campers within 90 days if they are awarded the funds.

"They want us to come up with a plan that would meet their requirements to move people out of that encampment and into housing," Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward said.

Their proposal would add 650 additional beds, half of them in spaces classified as permanent housing. Right now, Catholic Charities is discussing the purchase of the Quality Inn on the Sunset Highway.

"It would be converted into apartments from the motel rooms that they are," Woodward said.

The building could have space for 110 people within 90 days of funding. Funds have also been earmarked for 60 tiny homes within the Trent shelter, providing a private space for an additional 120 people.

But, the first step of this large plan is assessing each person living in the field near the freeway.

"It's finding out what kind of services they need and directing them to those services," Woodward said. "Is that temporary housing? Is that shelter housing? Is that permanent housing? The assessment part of it is the very first step, that's going on right now."

"Acquiring the properties, getting the shelter open, purchasing the Quality Inn, those are all things that happen next," Woodward added.

"These are complex issues and things we've been discussing for years and we're just trying to put all the resources we can to secure this opportunity for our community because it's a huge opportunity and we want to make it work," Davis said.

These plans will only move forward if the Department of Commerce awards the county with these funds. That decision is expected to happen within the coming days.

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KHQ

City Submits Plan for Moving Camp Hope Residents

A large homeless camp has been set up on state Department of Transportation land along East Second Avenue in Spokane. Called “Camp Hope," the site has drawn 400 to 500 people. Spokane County has been offered $24.3 million by the state Department of Commerce to relocate people from the camp to shelters and other locations.

Photo courtesy of Sheldon Jackson

SPOKANE, Wash. - The City of Spokane has submitted a proposal to use state funds to move people living at Camp Hope near Interstate 90 and Freya St. into permanent housing.

The plan seeks more than $24 million on behalf of numerous community service providers to add more than 650 total indoor spaces for residents, with half being permanent.

The funds were authorized by the state Legislature specifically to move people living in Camp Hope into shelter with a preference for permanent housing.

Spokane and four other communities eligible to receive a total of $144 million in rights-of-way funding statewide were notified by the state Department of Commerce, which was designated to allocate the funding, that the plan must be submitted within 30 days to be eligible.

“We relied on previous collaborations and plans already in place to grow and build new partnerships that will move individuals from an inhumane outdoor environment into safe and healthy spaces,” Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward said. “Working together, we came up with a very solid, comprehensive plan in a very short amount of time.”

The full plan includes making temporary, transitional, and permanent housing options by:

Making additional improvements to the Trent shelter to build permanent showers, restrooms, laundry facilities, and smaller communal living pods
Enhancing assessment tools to know individuals by name and need, which is seen as the most critical precursor step to building trust and matching an individual with the best housing solution
Adding navigation, diversion, and family reunification resources
Establishing dedicated transportation for access to services and employment
Adding two more case workers to Community Court for service connectivity, which can be accessed without justice involvement, and one case manager for existing shelters
Purchasing and rehabilitating existing buildings for affordable housing alternatives, including up to 110 individuals in a former motel
Creating additional permanent housing, development assistance to create permanent affordable housing
Providing rental assistance for individuals and families with working RVs to use existing locations

“It was critically important that we direct as much resource as possible to permanent housing,” Woodward said. “Emergency shelters meet an immediate need, but the long-term solution is more permanent housing.”

The proposal includes additional ideas for further development beyond the $24.3 million allocated for Spokane should additional funding become available.

A deadline has not been established for reviewing and approving the plan, but the request for proposals from Commerce included an expectation of the camp being dismantled beginning in August.

“The Commerce funds give us a unique opportunity to provide our houseless residents with beds, doors for privacy and security, bathrooms with running water and comprehensive services that will support their transition into permanent housing,” Spokane City Council President Breean Beggs said.

The City Council is expected to consider the contract for the Trent shelter operator on Monday. It has already approved zoning and lease considerations for the shelter. Tenant improvements are already in progress and the shelter is expected to open in August.

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KXLY

Spokane submits proposal to re-home people living at Camp Hope

Posted: July 21, 2022 4:30 PM Updated: July 21, 2022 6:54 PM by Erin Robinson

SPOKANE, Wash. – The City of Spokane and regional partners have submitted a plan to use state funding to re-home people living at Camp Hope.

More than $24 million are on the line from the Department of Commerce. The plan seeks the money on behalf of numerous community service providers to add more than 650 indoor spaces. More than half of those would be permanent.

The funds were authorized by the state Legislature specifically to move people living on the Washington State Department of Transportation property at I-90 and Freya into a shelter with a preference for permanent housing.

The full proposal seeks funds to immediately house people indoors with onsite wrap-around services including temporary, transitional and permanent housing options by:

Making additional improvements to the Trent shelter to build permanent showers, restrooms, laundry facilities, and smaller communal living pods
Enhancing assessment tools to know individuals by name and need, which is seen as the most critical precursor step to building trust and matching an individual with the best housing solution
Adding navigation, diversion, and family reunification resources
Establishing dedicated transportation for access to services and employment
Adding two more case workers to Community Court for service connectivity, which can be accessed without justice involvement, and one case manager for existing shelters
Purchasing and rehabilitating existing buildings for affordable housing alternatives, including up to 110 individuals in a former motel
Creating additional permanent housing, development assistance to create permanent affordable housing
Providing rental assistance for individuals and families with working RVs to use existing locations

The proposal also includes additional ideas for further development beyond the $24.3 million allocated for Spokane should additional funding become available. The proposal also seeks additional funding for improvements based on the feedback of those living at Camp Hope. A suggested 60 pallet structures could accommodate up to 120 people and communal living pods would group people with an established community into a couple of dozen.

Both the city of Spokane Valley and the Spokane County Commissioners wrote letters in support of the city of Spokane’s plan to address the issue. However, they also noted concerns about the 30-day time limit to come up with a comprehensive plan. They say it’s difficult to make meaningful change in such a short timeframe. In addition, they’re worried about long-term funding of new services.

Regional leaders say while the initial $24 million payout may be beneficial, they’re concerned about a $14 million possible annual fee to maintain new housing and wraparound services.

“The City’s allocation of this funding is contingent on providing housing solutions that the residents of Camp Hope will actually use,” said Council Member Lori Kinnear. “These solutions will need to include offering safe RV parking, pallet shelter opportunities, and other tiered levels of low-barrier transitional shelter space in areas outside the downtown core and in many cases outside the City limits. Commerce wants to see their funding used for these kinds of innovative solutions because they work.”

“Our goal is to meet the campers where they are at in their individual journeys by providing services that help them take their next safe, healthy, and humane steps toward exiting homelessness,” Woodward said.

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The Center Square

Spokane council delays vote on ordinance to wrest power from mayor

Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward is shown with Council President Breean Beggs. The two officials are frequently at odds over how the city should be governed, with a new round in that dispute coming at Monday's council meeting.

Photos courtesy of City of Spokane

(The Center Square) – The Spokane City Council has delayed the vote on an ordinance wresting authority away from Mayor Nadine Woodward to decide where “essential” facilities should be located.

The new code proposed by Council President Breean Beggs and Councilor Betsy Wilkerson transfers authority for these decisions to the council. If approved, buildings put under the legislative body’s purview would include police precincts or offices, fire stations, utility facilities and community centers.

The strong-mayor form of government set up by the city charter gives Woodward, as chief executive officer, the authority to decide where to site departments that she manages.

The proposed ordinance that would effectively amend the charter was on Monday’s agenda for a vote. However, Beggs said further work needed to be done to tighten up language so it was tabled for a couple of weeks.

He said the Public Works Department wanted to make sure that requiring public input before a siting decision could be made did not set the stage for unintended legal challenges.

“Public Works wanted to make sure that requiring that public engagement process would not stop the final decision on where to locate the facility,” stated Beggs in a Thursday email to The Center Square.

“So, we are going to add some language to make it clear that the public has the right to engage in the discussion but not stop a particular facility, whether it is a police precinct or a water tower.”

The ordinance as proposed allows residents to file a lawsuit if they do not believe the local government followed the outlined process for making a decision.

If the new code is approved by the council majority, as Beggs expects, the administration could not recommend a site without first publishing alternate locations. In addition, at least one community meeting would be required, and written comments would need to be solicited from neighborhood councils.

The council’s Equity Subcommittee, an advisory board, also would review any proposals.

The ordinance lays out qualifying criteria for suitable police precinct locations. The site must be near the main street of a neighborhood district, within a documented cluster of criminal activities and within a commercial zone with high visibility of police patrols.

If approved, the ordinance goes into effect immediately as it has been proposed as an emergency measure. Quick action is deemed by Beggs and Wilkerson to be necessary for preservation of the public peace and safety, and support of city government.

They brought the ordinance forward after Woodward announced in May that she was moving the East Central Police Precinct into the former East Central Library. The move took place at the end of June.

Woodward said during her announcement about the move last spring that the 6,000 square foot building at Stone Street and Sixth Avenue East would be shared by officers and on-site behavioral health specialists. She also wanted to see the facility provide community meeting space.

The mayor’s plan has been supported by Freda Gandy, executive director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, and representatives from the East Central Neighborhood Council and East Spokane Business Association.

Woodward said her administration engaged in six months of community outreach prior to making the decision. She said residents and businesses wanted to see a more visible police presence during a time of high crime.

A ThoughtExchange survey drew more than 600 responses in favor of a new precinct and having officers more accessible.

Prior to the June 30 move, seven or eight officers had been based on the second floor of a former nunnery at Saint Ann Catholic Church.

Last week, the council majority approved a nonbinding resolution to establish a precinct somewhere along, or within two blocks of, East Sprague Avenue between the Hamilton Street overpass and Havana Street. The resolution requests opening that precinct no later than Jan. 1, 2023.

By a second 4-2 vote, the council approved a separate resolution last week to begin exploring lease options for a medical provider or other tenant for the old library. Councilor Zack Zappone was not present at the July 11 meeting where that vote took place.

Councilors Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart opposed both resolutions. They stated support for Woodward’s plans.

Voting in favor of shifting the precinct location again were Beggs, Wilkerson and Councilors Karen Stratton and Lori Kinnear.

Wilkerson questioned the results of the ThoughtExchange survey. She said anyone could have accessed it to render an opinion, even if they didn’t live in the city.

“We had all of this outside energy telling us what was best for East Central from all over the city,” she said. “We don’t know if those are truly the voices of East Central or not.”

Spokane police grappling with burnout, high overtime costs

Spokane City Hall Building sign entrance.

Shutterstock/cascade creatives

(The Center Square) – Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward said the number of police officers in the city per capita is far below the national average, creating a high burnout rate within the department.

She said 60 more officers are needed to put Spokane on par with other same-sized cities. As it is, she said there are 1.35 officers per 1,000 population instead of the 2.4 national average distributed by the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs.

Woodward intends to ask the city council for more money to beef up police ranks as a matter of public safety.

“Our officers are overworked, and it is getting more difficult to get them to volunteer for overtime to cover large community events,” she told The Center Square.

Even if the city council acts immediately to boost the number of patrol officers, Police Chief Craig Meidl said it takes more than a year to get an officer through the hiring and evaluation process, basic training and field education.

“This is not a problem that can be fixed overnight,” said Woodward.

SPD is budgeted for 356 commissioned officers, but only 306 of those officers are available to work at any given time. The remainder are either in training, injured or on other types of leave, says Julie Humphreys, SPD communications manager.

She said more officers are retiring or resigning to seek other work than the department is able to recruit at the moment, which exacerbates the problem.

Woodward cited a recent report on poor morale within the department that outlined problems facing officers when burnout occurs. In addition to responding to calls exhausted, their physical and mental health is more at risk.

The report submitted to city officials in June was compiled by a committee of officers and support staff led by Holt Widhalm, president of the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Meidl briefed the Public Safety & Community Health Committee, comprised of city councilors, about the situation earlier this month.

He said overtime was becoming increasingly mandatory because officers were no longer volunteering for extra hours as they once had.

“Our officers are fatigued,” he said.

As a result, Meidl said it was becoming common for officers on one shift to be held over for part of another shift to meet minimum staffing levels.

He said the city is now paying a significant amount of overtime for mandated overtime to cover staffing needs. There is also discretionary overtime for special event coverage.

On Wednesday, Humphreys provided data to The Center Square showing overtime costs back to 2018. She reported overtime for 2018 at about $3.5 million and hovering around that number in 2019 and 2020. In 2021, overtime rose slightly to around $3.75 million and is already at $2.3 million for the first six months of 2022.

Humphreys said overtime costs did not dip when regular activities, such as Hoopsfest, were shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic because protests took their place.

This year, she said community events have resumed, in addition to marches and protests, which is driving up overtime costs.

In addition to a lack of patrol officers, other areas of the department are understaffed as well, Meidl told PS&CH members.

“This is across our entire agency,” he said.

Councilor Michael Cathcart, who chairs PS&CH, asked Meidl at the July 11 meeting if the department’s staffing shortage could lead the police union to file a workplace safety complaint.

Meidl said that could happen, although the city had the required number of officers on each shift.

He said low staffing directly impacts the number of crimes that can be investigated. For example, he said only 25% of felonies involving property crimes were being given extra attention.

A large portion of the department is not assigned to patrol but to special units, such as investigations into domestic violence incidents.

Meidl said duty assignments would be shifting to meet patrol needs, which will leave fewer personnel to serve on those units.

He told PS&CH members that he would present more information on that plan in August.

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The Wall St Journal

‘Facing Eviction’ Review: When Help Is Less Than Helpful

‘Frontline’ looks at tenants and landlords across the U.S. struggling with the complex bureaucracy of eviction moratoriums in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis

July 21, 2022 5:55 pm ET

“Facing Eviction” examines the very immediate ramifications of the housing calamity caused by Covid-19 for seemingly secure people who lost their jobs and then their homes, despite a federal ban on evictions. But in a larger sense, the show, narrated by longtime “Frontline” voice Will Lyman, tells a story of a nation divided by a legal system and support network far too vulnerable to bureaucratic obfuscation, and political and moral caprice.

“Much of a tenant’s experience during the pandemic was completely dependent upon the ZIP Code that they lived in,” says Emily Benfer, then of the organization Eviction Lab and now a White House adviser. “Whether or not you stayed in that home depended almost entirely upon whether or not your landlord was going to comply with the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] moratorium, or a local moratorium, for that matter. What sheriff showed up at your door. And what judge you appeared before.”

And what state you lived in, though not always: Texas, we are told, had few tenant protections when the pandemic began and had judges inclined to rule the CDC eviction moratorium unconstitutional (as did the Supreme Court, ultimately). But even in tenant-friendly New Jersey, which imposed its own moratorium, ways were found to get around the Covid rules; the rente on whom the show focuses may not have been on the lease to her Newark, N.J., apartment, which subjects her not to an “eviction” in legal terms but an “ejectment.” That the people most in need of assistance were least able to access it—not just because the rules were obscure, but also because they couldn’t negotiate the paperwork or technology—is something with which most viewers can probably sympathize.

Produced with the nonprofit, nonpartisan Retro Report, which began following subjects of the show in winter 2020, “Facing Eviction” has no shortage of love for landlords, particular the “mom and pop” property owners for whom leasing space isn’t necessarily a big business. KaTina Whitfield, a Dallas County justice of the peace who is inclined to mediate landlord-tenant disputes, says she has landlords coming before her all the time who say, “I have one home that I’m renting out, I still have a mortgage, HOA fees, insurance, those type of things.”

“I always stress the financial assistance [available],” says Ms. Whitfield, “and I remind the tenant that this person is still paying those things. You have to remember that just because it’s hard on you that it’s just as hard on them.”

In California, where tenants enjoy many protections, landlord Sandra Stanleysays that in 30 years she only had to do three evictions. “We try to work with people and charge low rent so they can pay their rent. I’d rather somebody pay their rent than have an eviction. I hate doing evictions.” Since the pandemic, as becomes clear in the show, some tenants have taken advantage of the situation. “We have to take care of the properties regardless if we get paid or not,” Ms. Stanley points out. “We had AC repairs, we had a plumbing problem, all that money has to come out of my pocket. So I went into my retirement and got the money to pay the taxes.”

There’s not a lot of fat on “Facing Eviction” though there are some exhilarating, disturbing moments—watching a real-time eviction by Dallas County constables is even less pleasant than one might imagine. There’s a sense during the show’s profiles of imperiled tenants (and landlords too) that the elaborate and pricey government assistance programs are made purposely opaque; if people can’t access the money, the money needn’t be paid. But as the program also points out, sometimes the solution is cooperation between a tenant and a landlord, such as Teresa Trabucco of Riverside County, Calif., and her son, Liam.

“I don’t like to ask for help,” says Ms. Trabucco. “It wasn’t a good feeling.” But the management company behind her apartment worked with her and the government. (“I think they were rooting for me.”) Six weeks or so later, she heard back. “On a Sunday night, I got that email. Half-tired. And I’m reading it. And I just sat there. And I’m like, wha-, what? Like, this is not—I’m seeing too many numbers there. It covered all of my past due rent and three months advanced rent and my water and sewer and trash was paid. It just felt like a ton of bricks just came off of my shoulders.” It’s a moment of joy, in a program inclined to be sober, and sobering.