Presenters:  Gale Schwartz, Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania; Megan Stanley, Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations; Rachel Garland, Community Legal Services; Elizabeth Rios, Michigan Advocacy Program, LSSCM

Communities across Pennsylvania are exploring third-party mediation programs as part of a broader eviction prevention strategies. Some of these programs elsewhere in the country have been very successful in preserving the tenancy, resolving habitability issues and repairing a strained landlord-tenant relationship.

This workshop will cover the elements of a successful diversion program in Lansing, Michigan; the steps that advocates took to create a mandatory pre-filing diversion program in Philadelphia; and initial results of a voluntary pre-filing diversion program in Allegheny County.