Qualitative Assessment of Estate Planning Services Ecosystem in Baltimore

The Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance – Jacob France Institute (BNIA) is working with the Maryland Volunteer Legal Service (MVLS) to evaluate the effectiveness of estate planning on both clients’ housing stability as well as a means for preventing housing distress in neighborhoods. BNIA will analyze data from MVLS, providing the opportunity to make more strategic decisions about where to target efforts and to be able to measure the success of the program. Specifically, BNIA will: 1) provide an overview of the ecosystem of estate planning for low-income homeowners in Baltimore that MVLS is operating within; 2) link addresses of MVLS clients with other datasets to identify the likelihood of other housing distress for individual homeowners including Vacant and Abandoned code violations, tax liens, and foreclosure filings; and 3) assist with strategic planning for program effectiveness.