The City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County have picked up a statewide award for a coordinated eviction-prevention partnership that channels same-day legal help, rental assistance and real-time case coordination to tenants on the brink of losing their homes. The collaboration, led by the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Help Center alongside the city manager’s office, Council member Meeka Owens and local nonprofits, grew out of a late-2023 push to respond to climbing eviction filings and has since expanded its hours and reach. Local leaders have cast the recognition as proof that cross-agency systems can step in before displacement snowballs into homelessness and more expensive fallout for families and public systems. The nod from the Ohio City/County Management Association (OCMA) gives the project fresh visibility as it pursues steadier funding from public and philanthropic backers.
The City and the Clerk's Office were selected for OCMA's Intergovernmental Cooperation Award, according to CityBeat. CityBeat reports the partnership took shape in late 2023 and that the same-day legal representation program launched in September 2024. From September 2024 through September 2025, attorneys filed 890 appearances on behalf of more than 450 households, with positive outcomes for tenants in 93.7% of cases and dismissals in 88.8% of completed matters. Coverage credits Hamilton County Clerk Pavan Parikh, the Cincinnati City Manager’s Office and United Way of Greater Cincinnati as core collaborators in the coordinated intake and rent-assistance flow. The award citation also notes the program has grown from operating two days a week to four, expanding access across city and county court dockets.
How the help center and 211 coordinate
The model is deliberately simple: an attorney sits at a table outside the courthouse on hearing days, offering limited, same-day counsel to tenants as they walk in. United Way 211 serves as the centralized intake and rent-assistance hub, routing emergency payments and referrals to keep people housed. An independent evaluation prepared for the city by the advisory firm Stout found the city’s bundle of prevention services supported hundreds of households and that tenants who received legal help were far less likely to experience disruptive displacement. Program attorneys say that negotiating on the morning of a hearing frequently wins tenants more time to pay or secures a dismissal, keeping an eviction off a family’s record. The evaluation and related reporting were summarized by WVXU.
Different tallies, same trend
The exact numbers vary depending on who is counting and when. CityBeat lists 890 appearances and more than 450 households over a year-long span, while FOX19 reported roughly 473 appearances for about 200 clients as of May 2025 and highlighted a $100,000 grant that extended the pilot. Even with differing tallies, both media accounts and the Stout evaluation describe a high share of dismissals or negotiated outcomes when tenants are represented, which advocates argue cuts long-term displacement and related public costs. That pattern is the central case officials are making as they work to lock in funding and grow the service model, according to FOX19.
What comes next
Officials say their next goal is more durable public funding for rent assistance and legal services, and the Stout evaluation recommends investing more in early-intervention resources that can stop eviction filings before they start. The help center planned to expand same-day coverage beyond two days a week in early 2026, supported by private grants and city dollars, signaling a shift from short-term pilot to a more stable operating model. Backers say the OCMA award is already helping them make the pitch to local philanthropies and to other Ohio communities that are eyeing a similar countywide intake-and-counsel approach, according to WVXU.
