Facing Eviction

July 26, 2022
Has lesson plan

Since the summer of 2020, we’ve documented the impact of the pandemic on housing and evictions. We followed tenants, landlords, lawyers, judges, sheriffs and social workers across the U.S. who were affected.

To stave off a nationwide housing crisis during the coronavirus pandemic, Washington lawmakers passed a massive spending package and officials implemented new housing policies, including a nationwide ban on evictions. In cities across the nation, Retro Report and PBS Frontline captured this unprecedented period. Reporting from Texas, California, New Jersey and elsewhere, reporters examined this massive, years-long experiment in housing policy through the eyes of tenants, landlords, social workers and court officers who were on the frontlines.

A special thank you to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and Economic Hardship Reporting Project for supporting this project.

Related:

The Wall Street Journal ‘Facing Eviction’ Review: When Help Is Less Than Helpful: ‘Frontline’ looks at tenants and landlords across the U.S. struggling with the complex bureaucracy of eviction moratoriums in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis.

Morning Joe (MSNBC Live TV Interview) Interview with Facing Eviction Writer and Producer Bonnie Bertram

Washington Journal(C-SPAN National Television) Interview with Facing Eviction Writer and Producer Bonnie Bertram

The Cross Connection (MSNBC National TV) Interview with Retro Report Executive Producer Kyra Darnton

Forum (KQED San Francisco) Interview with Facing Eviction Writer and Producer Bonnie Bertram

In the Moment (South Dakota Public Broadcasting Radio) Interview with Facing Eviction Writer and Producer Bonnie Bertram

The Source(Texas Public Radio) Interview with Facing Eviction Writer and Producer Bonnie Bertram

Houston Matters (Houston Public Broadcasting) Interview with Facing Eviction Co-Producer Erik German

The Morning Show (KGO San Francisco Commercial Radio) Interview with Facing Eviction Writer and Producer Bonnie Bertram

Think (KERA Texas NPR) Interview with Facing Eviction Writer and Producer Bonnie Bertram

The Wall Street Journal What to Watch: The 18 Best New Movies and TV Shows From July

Daily Journal Facing Eviction mentioned in the Kankakee

TV Insider Facing Eviction mentioned in TV highlights

Star Tribune Facing Eviction highlighted

For teachers
  • Producer and Writer: Bonnie Bertram
  • Editor: Anne Checler
  • Co-Producers: Anne Checler
  • Co-Producers: Erik German
  • Associate Producer: Emily Orr
  • Field Producers: Daniel Casarez
  • Field Producers: Brian Palmer
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For Educators

Subjects
Topics
Criminal Justice Domestic Policy
Introduction

To stave off a nationwide housing crisis during the coronavirus pandemic, Washington lawmakers passed a massive spending package and officials implemented new housing policies, including a federal ban on evictions. As the eviction moratorium expired across the country, the larger debate over housing, and which policies would best help the tight market and the unhoused continued. What should be done about housing insecurity?

Lesson Plan 1: Facing Eviction
Facing Eviction
Facing Eviction
Facing Eviction Excerpts
Overview
▼

Students will learn about housing insecurity during the Covid-19 pandemic and how eviction outcomes often came down to what county, or even city, a tenant lived in.

Objectives
▼

Students will:

  • Examine various perspectives on the issue of housing insecurity.
  • Analyze multiple media sources, including film and news articles to discern public policy arguments.
  • Work collaboratively to discuss and categorize policy proposals and then advocate for a specific policy change.
Essential questions
▼
  • What should be done about housing insecurity?
  • How have factors like redlining and racial inequity or the coronavirus pandemic contributed to social vulnerability and housing insecurity?
  • What factors should governments consider when creating housing policy?
Additional resources
▼
Standards
▼

Common Core Standards:

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.5: Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.6: Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.9: Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.

C-3 Framework Standards for Social Studies:

  • D1.2.9-12. Explain points of agreement and disagreement experts have about interpretations and applications of disciplinary concepts and ideas associated with a compelling question.
  • D1.4.9-12. Explain how supporting questions contribute to an inquiry and how, through engaging source work, new compelling and supporting questions emerge. 
  • D1.5.9-12. Determine the kinds of sources that will be helpful in answering compelling and supporting questions, taking into consideration multiple points of view represented in the sources, the types of sources available, and the potential uses of the sources.
  • D2.Civ.5.9-12. Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.
  • D2.Civ.6.9-12. Critique relationships among governments, civil societies, and economic markets.
  • D2.Civ.13.9-12. Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and related consequences. 
  • D2.Geo.5.9-12. Evaluate how political and economic decisions throughout time have influenced cultural and environmental characteristics of various places and regions. 
  • D2.Geo.8.9-12. Evaluate the impact of economic activities and political decisions on spatial patterns within and among urban, suburban, and rural regions.
  • D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
  • D2.His.2.9-12.  Analyze change and continuity in historical eras.
  • D2.His.3.9-12.  Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context
  • D2.His.5.9-12. Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives.
  • D2.His.12.9-12. Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to pursue further inquiry and investigate additional sources.