The Russell Sage Foundation (RSF) has awarded UT’s Appalachian Justice Research Center (AJRC) a $74,800 grant to support its study of a legal aid program for tenants facing evictions in Knox County.
Amid rising rents and evictions, Knox County increased the availability of counsel at various stages of the eviction process in late 2023, through federal funding and a partnership with Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET). The AJRC at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is examining the effectiveness of that program, which is set to expire in May 2025.
The work at UT is led by principal investigator Stephanie Casey Pierce, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science; Associate Professor Solange Muñoz in the Department of Geography and Sustainability; and Law Professor Wendy A. Bach, co-director of the AJRC.
During the fall 2024 semester, Muñoz and 10 UT students in the AJRC lab course began preliminary research on the program, working closely with LAET and the community organization Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM).
“The lab has provided a good foundation for understanding the program within a more localized political, economic, and social context,” Muñoz said.