• CPAL in the news

Closing the Gap: The $25M Initiative Aiming to Improve Maternal Outcomes Across DFW

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In the face of discouraging maternal health data in Texas, TCU and UT Southwestern have joined forces to launch the North Texas Maternal Health Accelerator. Since December 2024, 11 philanthropic organizations have committed nearly $25 million to address maternal morbidity, preterm birth rates, and other maternal health conditions at a crucial time for the accelerator.

The good news is that the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University and UT Southwestern Medical Center are collaborating to address maternal morbidity and other maternal health issues with the Maternal Health Accelerator (MHA).

Founding Dean of the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, Dr. Stuart D. Flynn, will lead the program. Co-investigators from UT Southwestern and Parkland Health will join him. The initiative is coordinated by the nonprofit Child Poverty Action Lab (CPAL) and is based in Dallas. Other partners include Health My Resources of Tarrant County (MHMR) and Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI).

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  • CPAL Launches Mobile Clinic to Enhance Family Planning

    In partnership with Parkland Health, CPAL's Trust Her team launches a mobile clinic to enhance family planning services for Dallas College students.

    • Partnering with Parkland Health Foundation, Dallas College, and philanthropic partners led by the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Fund at Communities Foundation of Texas, a Trust Her mobile clinic has been launched in North Texas to continue CPAL’s work to improve maternal health by helping ensure women and families have the resources they need to plan for their futures.
    • This barrier-free clinic is designed to meet women literally where they are, and to provide same-day access to birth control regardless of ability to pay.
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  • How Big Data Turned an Empty South Dallas Lot Into a Vibrant Plaza

    Alongside community partners, CPAL transformed an empty parking lot into a vibrant plaza and place of positivity.

    • These efforts are aligned with the work of sociologist Patrick Sharkey whose research shows that community organizations–alongside positive activities–can significantly reduce violent crime in their neighborhoods.
    • In 2019, the Malcolm X & Marburg area was the epicenter of violent crime in DPD’s southeast patrol division. By 2021, this area had dropped from the highest risk cell in the patrol division to the 463rd.
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  • Dallas County tenants who appeal evictions find better outcomes

    New data from CPAL reveals powerful insights about the link between legal counsel and staving off eviction in Dallas County.

    • During a year in which Dallas County evictions were at a five-year high, about 80% of times in which tenants appealed, the cases were either dismissed, abated or ruled in favor of tenants.
    • Having legal counsel matters a lot: When tenants have legal representation, cases are decided in favor of the landlord just 10% of the time.
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