Child Poverty Action Lab (CPAL)

'Rising property values and rents at properties not subsidized by government programs will make that gap worse, according to CPAL. The city could lose about 54,000 of unrestricted, affordable rental units over the next decade. These options typically house families making 50% or less of the area median income, which is up to $48,700 for a family of four... “Most likely, these families are sacrificing things like preventative healthcare, nutritious food, and educational experiences in order to keep a roof over their heads,” said Ashley Flores, CPAL’s Chief of Housing. When families spend a disproportionate share of income on housing, they are economically vulnerable and at greater risk for housing instability, Flores added. “This precarity ultimately impacts prospects for long-term upward mobility,” she said. The report surmised — based on data from the Lightcast labor market analysis firm — that the region will add 587,000 jobs by 2034, but over half of all jobs will pay less than $50,000 in 2024 dollars. In order to support lower-income households, essential workers and homelessness prevention, affordable rental options must prioritized, according to the report. “To help families realize upward economic mobility, access to housing that is affordable, safe, stable, and in a thriving neighborhood is critical,” Flores said. “Both production of new affordable housing and preservation of existing affordable housing are needed to ensure that supply meets demand in the future.”' https://lnkd.in/gKE2Qd2A

“In a career spanning 40 years, Sharon Grigsby has been a powerful voice for The Dallas Morning News… This week, Sharon announced plans to move on to a new chapter in the community she loves so dearly. Next year, she will join a soon-to-be-announced project being launched by the Dallas-based Child Poverty Action Lab… “When you think about why local journalism is so important, the answer should include a picture of Sharon,” said Katrice Hardy, executive editor of The News. “She’s relentless about ensuring that this community is not just informed about decisions and programs and practices that deserve more scrutiny, she’s equally relentless about the pursuit of the good and inspiring and remarkable. We all have learned so much from Sharon and not just by what she wrote and reported, but how she did so with passion and grit and always by trying to help and uplift others.” https://lnkd.in/g73TXi-U

"Speaking with teens, parents, guardians, local clinics, and teen-centered organizations in Dallas County, we uncovered a series of challenges teens faced in learning about sexual health. What if, instead of searching for the right information, it found you right where you already were?  Our design for CPAL's Trust Her mobile pop-up was rooted in this idea... By showing up at public events and spaces where people already felt at ease—like farmers’ markets and community gatherings—we created an environment for sexual health education that didn’t feel clinical or intimidating. Showing up in these familiar places sent a clear message: conversations about sexual health are normal and didn’t need to be shrouded in shame." https://lnkd.in/g2295Adq

When you were a teen, how did you learn about sexual health? Who did you trust? For many young people today, sex-ed is defined by misinformation, stigma, and a lack of open conversations. In partnership with Child Poverty Action Lab (CPAL)'s Trust Her initiative, we flipped the script on the dreaded “talk” and transformed the conversation around sexual health into a team-oriented and approachable experience. Through a mobile pop-up that meets teens and their parents where they already are—farmers' markets, street fairs, and community events—we created a space where curiosity and education thrive. Learn More: https://lnkd.in/gYsCD-Pf #sexualhealth #teenhealth #herchoice #sexed

Congratulations to our Community Doula graduates! 🎉 Last month, UWTC and our partners at Child Poverty Action Lab (CPAL) and Paradigm Doulas celebrated an inspiring group of women and men who completed their certification training and are already supporting moms and families across Tarrant County! These dedicated doulas make a real difference—helping to ensure healthier pregnancies, births and postpartum care. With every mom they support, we’re building a stronger, healthier community. Thank you to everyone who supported this journey! Together, we’re expanding access to compassionate care and tackling disparities in maternal health one family at a time. Help us reach even more families in need! Thanks to a $1M matching gift, every dollar you donate doubles our impact. Join us in transforming maternal health by giving today: https://bit.ly/4cdqy8Z Check out photos from the graduation here: https://bit.ly/4fa3Ukj #CommunityDoulas #GetUnited #UWTarrant Photos by Rachel DeLira

"While violent crime in Dallas is down more than 9% this year and homicides have dropped more than 27% from this time in 2023, more teens are dying of gun violence. As of Sept. 30, 26 teen homicides had occurred in 2024, compared to 23 at the same time last year. “A tragic percentage of the year’s homicides have been kids,” Alan Cohen, co-chair of the Mayor’s Task Force on Safe Communities, told me. “Every death is a tragedy, but it is particularly destabilizing to the entire community when it’s a young person.” The News’ homicide project makes clear, Cohen said, that the work against violent crime is not even close to being done, especially when this many kids are dying... During outgoing police Chief Eddie García’s time in Dallas, he never wavered from his belief public safety is a tripod of suppression, intervention and prevention. Dallas does pretty well on the first two, he said in our last interview before he headed to a new job in Austin. “Where we fall short — and it’s not just in Dallas — is in prevention.”... García described CPAL’s Cohen as his “right-hand guy” on the prevention portion of violent crime reduction. In turn, Cohen emphasized everyone — City Hall, Dallas ISD and community nonprofits — has leaned into potential solutions. Investing in disinvested neighborhoods where violence concentrates in small pockets is the starting point. “We know the ZIP codes in our city that are overrepresented in the two places we don’t want them overrepresented — Incarceration and victimization,” García said. “That’s where the dollars need to go.” https://lnkd.in/gk3pJv2h

'A new report from Child Poverty Action Lab reveals that nearly half of Dallas residents spent more than 30 percent of their income on housing, with senior renters and single parents comprising the bulk of these cost-burdened residents. How did we get here? The most obvious answer is that building isn’t keeping pace with the growth of these income buckets. Dallas is increasing the number of units constructed, up from 61,900 in the 2000s to 71,000 in the 2012. But the rub is this: The city’s population grew by 10,000 people in the 2000s, and by about 100,000 the following decade. New construction didn’t keep pace. Since 2010, only 9 percent of the new rental units in the city of Dallas have been deed-restricted affordable homes. The demand for those affordable homes continues to increase, along with rents. (Deed-restricted means it has restrictions on who can occupy it and how it can be used to ensure it remains affordable.) Dallas ranks fourth out of the 12th largest cities for total affordable units per 1,000 residents. Still, only 17 percent of that deed-restricted stock is in high-opportunity neighborhoods, where a majority of the residents make at or above the city’s median income. Those high-opportunity neighborhoods often have better access to good schools, well-paying jobs, and resources. Because of this, Dallas ranks nearly last when it comes to how many rental units it has in high-opportunity areas. But it’s not just an issue of supply and demand. Wages have not risen apace with the growth of rental costs. The city’s AMI is still below the county and region’s, at $63,985. Wages have grown since 2012, but the median Dallas household still earns up to nearly $20,000 less than a similar household elsewhere in the county or the region. But a gap of 39,919 affordable units for households below 50 percent AMI doesn’t mean that there are nearly 40,000 families without a place to live, Flores says. It means these households are forced to economize in ways households that make more money do not. It also means they face more competition for available units. “We actually have presently a sufficient number of rental units—if we’re not considering price,” Flores says. “So if we pretend every rental unit is free, then every renter household in the city of Dallas could access a rental unit. The problem, where we say we have a shortage, is when we start to organize that supply by price point.”' https://lnkd.in/gdiek5UJ

Along with Ashley Flores, CPAL's Chief of Housing, I am pleased to share with you the 2024 Rental Housing Needs Assessment for the City of Dallas.  This 143-page report is our second annual attempt to focus on the gaps between supply and demand in the Dallas rental market, as well as the broader demographic and economic forces shaping the housing ecosystem.  Here are just a few of the primary findings in this year’s report... --The City of Dallas currently has a gap of 39,919 rental units affordable to households earning at or below 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI), which was $48,700 for a family of four in 2022. This means there are 65 affordable units for every 100 households at or below 50% AMI. --Driven by an anticipated loss of 54,000 unrestricted affordable housing units (a 98% decrease), we forecast the gap to grow to 76,073 units by 2035. This means there will be 24 affordable units for every 100 households at or below 50% AMI. The demand-supply gap is also projected to affect households up to 100% AMI – for example, by 2035, there will be 66 affordable units for every 100 households at or below 80% AMI and 94 affordable units for every 100 households at or below 100% AMI Rents have grown faster than wages: --Despite improvements over time in educational attainment and wage growth within the City of Dallas, the median rent is unaffordable for 71% of residents. Forty-nine percent of all renters in the City of Dallas are housing cost-burdened (meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing), but some groups are disproportionately affected: 69% of senior renters, 79% of single parents with children, 56% of Black renters, and 51% of Hispanic/Latino renters are housing cost-burdened. --Although all workers have seen nominal wage growth, the top three most common job types in DFW have median wages below $45,000. Due to inflation, wage growth has not necessarily translated into improved purchasing power, and residual income (income after paying rent) is thin for low-income households. --Wage growth has also been uneven: from 2012 to 2022, median income for Hispanic/Latino households grew the most (28%), while for Black households, it grew the least (8%), when adjusted for inflation. For those interested in digging deeper, we'd also like to draw your attention to some nuanced insights: --Residents with bachelor's and graduate degrees cannot always afford rent in Dallas: the median resident with a bachelor's degree ($69,789) cannot afford the median rent of a 2- or 3-bedroom rental unit. (see more on degree attainment, page 110) --Housing production has not kept pace with population and job growth in North Texas. For example, from 2012-2022, Dallas County added 41 new housing units for every 100 new jobs. (See breakdown by county, page 106).

In this past weekend's DMN Metro section, Sharon Grigsby highlights a big healthcare win -- access to birth control for community college students -- that took years of navigating bureaucratic challenges. It simply could not have gotten done without tremendous leadership and genuine partnership from many within Parkland Health and Dallas College. See link below to access the full article. https://lnkd.in/gVu-pyVc

The Addy Foundation loves collaboration among our partner organizations; it creates a lasting impact, is efficient, and ignites new ways of thinking. Today, we saw this in action with agencies The Addy Foundation supports. I was so proud of Child Poverty Action Lab (CPAL), TrustHER Hub, Dallas College, and Parkland Health working together to improve health access for all with a new mobile health clinic that will provide family planning services and other medical resources directly to our community where they are. I am proud we could play a small part in bringing their vision into reality. #healthcareaccess #familyplanning Congratulations to all these amazing folks/organizations!