New Jersey was picked as one of 11 states for the Eviction Data Response Network (EDRN), a national program run by the Future of Land and Housing team at New America. It comes with $100,000, matched dollar for dollar by the state’s Office of Eviction Prevention, to improve New Jersey’s eviction data infrastructure between 2026 and 2028.
My role
I’m on the state team as Director of the DHCR Data Center (Division of Housing and Community Resources) at DCA, working alongside the Office of Eviction Prevention, homelessness prevention staff, Bridges Outreach, and Princeton’s Eviction Lab. My piece is the data side: improving the pipeline that pulls together court records and the household data caseworkers enter into the Homeless Management Information System, so the state can see who’s at risk and where.
Why it matters
Eviction is one of the earliest signs that someone is headed toward losing their home. Nearly one in four people (24%) entering New Jersey’s homeless system cite a hard eviction as a primary reason, according to the state. Without timely, complete data, it’s hard to see where evictions are climbing or to get help to families before they’re displaced. This funding goes toward closing those gaps.
It builds on housing work I’ve already been part of, including the NJ Eviction Guide.
About the Author
