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Prairie State Legal Services - "Making a Positive Difference" |
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| Kristen's Story Domestic Violence / Homelessness prevention |
| Faced with raising three small children on her own, Kristen came to Prairie State in hopes of preventing her eviction from public housing. The eviction action was the newest in a series of problems Kristen faced as she tried to provide security for herself and her children. |
| This was not the first time Prairie State staff helped Kristen. In October of the prior year, Kristen obtained an emergency order of protection against her husband in response to occurrences of domestic violence. However, she did not seek a plenary order since she was currently pregnant and wanted to give him a second chance. It did not work out as she hoped. More abuse followed in December and it continued into the Spring. Finally, she took action to break free of the violence and obtained both an emergency and plenary order of protection though Prairie State’s Domestic Violence Clinic at the Kane County Courthouse. Her husband went to jail for domestic battery, and she decided to seek a divorce. Now on the pro bono divorce waiting list, Kristen had an eviction matter pending. |
| The action against Kristen was based on her husband’s failure to report income and for unreported incidents of domestic violence. In her defense, Prairie State attorneys argued that since the client was a victim of domestic violence, it would be against the purpose of the Domestic Violence Act to evict her for that reason. We also argued that it is common for abusers to not allow their victims to have any information regarding their income. The client had always reported her income to the Housing Authority and since she had no knowledge of the income in question, holding her accountable for her husband’s deceptive action was unfair. The Housing Authority agreed to settle the case because we had an order of protection that prohibited the husband from entering the apartment. Kristen and her three children are now shielded from further abuse and have a safe place to live. |