In the last few weeks, local and state governments scrambled to extend and reinstate eviction moratoriums following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reject the Centers for Disease Control’s national eviction ban which has provided housing security to millions of families during the pandemic. Yet, millions of families without the protection of locally or state enacted bans faced eviction at the onset of the new school year while billions of dollars in rental assistance sat undistributed. In Missouri alone, approximately $45.2 million of the $324 million received in federal assistance to help tenants who lost income due to the pandemic pay rent and utility bills has been distributed.

Certainly, the distribution of federal aid has picked up since late August. For example, St. Louis County has distributed $14.7 million of the $26.6 million received in federal assistance as of mid-September compared to $8 million earlier this month, and the City of St. Louis opened two in-person clinics to serve and assist residents seeking relief. However, the crisis is not averted with eviction moratoriums expiring on October 3 in both Missouri and Illinois.

Housing destabilization and displacing children and families must be avoided at all costs. We join our partners in demanding proactive local, state, and federal leadership in the face of yet another crisis exacerbated by the pandemic.