Equity in Bond Planning
The Student and Family Resource Centers report was completed in collaboration with the Dallas Independent School District and HR&A Advisors. The report features Dallas ISD's Equity in Bond Planning project, an effort to make place-based investments in historically redlined communities so that students and their families have what they need to thrive.
Equity in Bond Planning is a project led by the Dallas Independent School District’s Racial Equity Office to develop concepts for Student and Family Resource Centers within the Lincoln, Roosevelt, Pinkston, and Spruce feeder patterns. The resource centers will be new or renovated facilities that can host programs to improve student performance and address community needs. The District recognizes that students face many out-ofschool factors that impact their education and is collaborating with the community to address these areas. Funding for the resource centers has been identified as part of the 2020 Bond Program. The Child Poverty Action Lab (CPAL) supported the Racial Equity Office with data analysis and community engagement for this project. Other key collaborators include HR&A Advisors, Concordia, and bcWORKSHOP. The report that follows was written under the direction of HR&A with input by Dallas ISD, CPAL, Concordia, and bcWORKSHOP.
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Eviction less likely for Dallas County tenants who get a lawyer — but most don’t have one
CPAL's data analysis shows that eviction chances fall dramatically when tenants have legal representation.
- Law students at SMU observed nearly 1,300 eviction hearings across five of Dallas County’s ten justice of the peace courts from November 2022 to April 2023, representing about 10% of all initial eviction cases heard in those courts.
- Renters who had lawyers lost their cases just 7% of the time, whereas renters without lawyers lost their case – and, typically, their home — nearly 70% of the time.
CPAL's Trust Her team gives contraception access to more women
Through the Trust Her initiative, CPAL works to dramatically increase access to free or low-cost contraception.
- 1.8 million Texas women of childbearing age cannot afford their preferred method of birth control. Without good insurance, an IUD–the most effective form of contraception–can cost up to $1,300.
- Women can often 7 months or more to obtain her method of choice. Appointments may not be available for many weeks and more waits can follow, depending on a clinic’s contraception inventory.
An Underutilized Housing Affordability Tool: Homestead Exemptions
CPAL examines homestead exemption access in Dallas County — who’s claiming, who isn’t, and how much money eligible homeowners could realize if they claimed this...
- ~57K residential properties in Dallas County may be eligible for the homestead exemption but have not yet claimed it, for an estimated total benefit of ~$310M.
- ~40K properties in low-income and very low-income census tracts in Dallas County may be eligible for the homestead exemption but have not yet claimed it, for an estimated total benefit of ~$200M, or ~$5,000 per household.
- While an estimated 95% of eligible households in high-income census tracts claim their homestead exemption, only 81% of households in very low-income census tracts claim their homestead exemption.