A group of six nonprofit legal service organizations and 19 law firms are reviving a pilot program that matches some tenants facing eviction with free legal assistance, reviving a pre-pandemic effort that helped dozens of families stay in their homes.

Spearheaded by LegalAid DC, participating groups will begin notifying eligible tenants about the program by the end of November. Program participants have pledged to provide counsel to one out of every six tenants who use a housing subsidy and are facing a publicly scheduled eviction proceeding in November and December.

“Everyone deserves access to safe, affordable housing, and no one should be forced to defend themselves in court without a lawyer present – especially when the effects of eviction are severe,” Vikram Swaruup, Executive Director of Legal Aid DC, said in a statement.

The program is a boon for tenants, only 15% of whom have historically enjoyed legal representation during eviction proceedings. About 95% of landlords, meanwhile, have a lawyer while pursuing an eviction case.

Lower-income renters who use housing subsidies are even more vulnerable during an eviction proceeding.

“If residents using subsidies are evicted, it becomes functionally impossible for them to access a subsidy again, forcing them into homelessness,” Nancy Drane, Executive Director of the D.C. Access to Justice Commission, which will help administer the program, said in a statement. “But this project will work to change that trajectory for many residents by providing free attorneys who can help tenants assert their rights and access the tools to stay in their homes.”

When the Housing Right to Counsel Project initially ran from 2016 to 2019, it provided 300 tenants facing eviction with lawyers. Those tenants were 16 times more likely to challenge their eviction filings and eight times less likely to face an eviction judgment, according to Legal Aid.

Other organizations involved include Bread for the City, Legal Counsel for the Elderly, Neighborhood Legal Services Program, Rising for Justice, and the DC Bar Pro Bono Center. Those groups will coordinate with 19 participating law firms to match recipients with a lawyer. Per Legal Aid, D.C.’s program is the only housing-focused right-to-counsel initiative in the country supported primarily by pro bono assistance from law firms.

The announcement comes as housing insecurity among D.C. residents grows. More than 44,000 residents spend at least half of their income on rent, while scheduled evictions increased by 250% between January 2022 and January 2023, according to data from the U.S. Marshals Service, which carries out evictions in D.C.