CDC’s Temporary Order Preventing Evictions Impacts Most of Oklahoma

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new temporary order preventing evictions in counties where COVID-19 cases are increasing.

This order impacts nearly every county in Oklahoma.

The CDC said this order applies to counties that are “experiencing substantial or high levels of community transmissions.”

According to the CDC, every county in the Oklahoma City metro has high levels of county transmissions, right now.

“The need is still there, you know. Oklahomans are still facing hard times and still struggling and we’re there to help that need,” said Shannon Carr, Community Cares Partners’ director of communications.

Levels are subject to change as data are updated daily, but Community Cares Partners said this does not impact them. Their efforts to provide housing assistance started at the beginning of the pandemic.

“When we first launched our applications in March, we would receive about 200 applications a day. We have since seen an increase to about 400 applications a day,” Carr said.

Community Cares Partners received $210 million in federal funding for emergency rental assistance regardless of the order. Now, they’re working to distribute these funds to counties in central and western Oklahoma.

“Right now, we have spent a little over $38 million to date for this year alone and we have helped almost 10,000 families,” Carr said.

The temporary order is set to expire October 3. Community Cares Partners encourages folks to apply for assistance. They said they can help a renter with up to 12 to 15 months of rent.