In the back rooms of Brooklyn Housing Court, a small crew of court navigators has been quietly untangling the bureaucratic knots that push some CityFHEPS voucher holders to the brink of eviction. By chasing down missing approvals, resubmitting recertifications and mediating between landlords and city agencies, advocates say the team has kept dozens of families from losing their homes.
As reported by amNewYork, the Brooklyn arm of the Eviction Diversion Initiative has already worked with roughly 300 tenants, often serving as a go-between for Housing Court and the city officials who oversee rental subsidies. The story highlights program staffers Rebekah Odidi, Luca Seixas Wedmore, Priscila Auffant and Viviana Gordon, and quotes Auffant saying EDI has "kind of been the fairy godmother in housing court." The piece also notes that the Center for Justice Innovation is moving to expand the initiative to the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Rochester and Syracuse.
Administrative errors drive eviction filings
Program data show that in Brooklyn, eviction cases tied to vouchers usually start not with a tenant simply failing to pay, but with an administrative glitch in a housing subsidy. An interim report by the Center for Justice Innovation found that more than 70 percent of referrals involved subsidy problems. With diversion help, 40 percent of cases were dismissed and 46 percent were resolved through settlement, while only about 6 percent ended in an eviction judgment. The report lays out the underlying data and outcomes.
Voucher numbers show the scale
The stakes are high because CityFHEPS, the city’s locally funded rental voucher, has exploded in size in recent years. As of November 2025, the New York City Comptroller counted about 65,092 households using CityFHEPS vouchers. A Department of Social Services spokesperson also told amNewYork that DSS is administering CityFHEPS on behalf of more than 150,000 New Yorkers, once individuals rather than households are counted. The Comptroller’s review tracks how quickly the program has grown and the impact on the city’s budget.
How court navigators step in
Navigators meet tenants both at intake and in the courtroom, helping them pull together paperwork, spot missed recertifications and coordinate with caseworkers or landlords to get payments moving again before a judge signs off on an eviction. "We find most people don’t know their rights to certain housing standards," Court Navigator Luca Seixas Wedmore said in an interview with the Center for Justice Innovation. Hands-on advocacy, Wedmore explained, can turn a nonpayment case into a repair claim or some other resolution that keeps tenants in their homes. The Center’s update outlines recent staffing changes and rollout plans.
Why advocates say the system needs fixing
For advocates, the navigators’ wins are a lifeline for tenants and a reminder that the system itself is strained. They point to understaffed DSS and HRA offices, data gaps and slow communication between agencies that leave voucher holders vulnerable to eviction filings sparked by paperwork problems. In an eviction report, the New York City Comptroller recommended increasing HRA and DSS capacity and speeding up CityFHEPS processing, arguing that fixing those bottlenecks would ease pressure on the courts and on legal services providers. The report lays out detailed staffing and policy suggestions.
For tenants facing an eviction filing right now, program staff and legal-aid groups advise asking court clerks about diversion intake and reaching out to Right to Counsel, Homebase or 311 for immediate help. With the Eviction Diversion Initiative set to grow beyond Brooklyn, similar court-based support may be available in more corners of the city and upstate in the months ahead.
