Housing Remediation as an Effective Intervention for Pediatric Asthma
One of the most well-documented consequences of substandard housing quality is asthma. The Green and Healthy Homes Initiative estimates that 40% of all asthma episodes are caused by preventable home-based asthma allergens, like dust, pests, and mold. Pediatric asthma episodes cause millions of dollars in unnecessary health care spending, keep kids home from school, and force parents to take time off of work to care for their children.
This issue-brief describes the impacts of asthma in Dallas and how home repair can better asthma outcomes, increase economic mobility, and improve the quality of life for children across Dallas. Key findings include:
- ~67K children in Dallas County (10%) have asthma.
- Black children in Dallas are diagnosed with asthma at more than double the rate of their White and Hispanic peers.
- Asthma is a leading cause of school absenteeism, and Dallas County students with asthma miss an estimated 109K school days annually. Their parents face $31M annually in lost wages to care for their children.
- Addressing in-home triggers, however, can significantly improve outcomes. In a Philadelphia program, home repairs led to a 90% reduction in overnight hospital stays for children with asthma.
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Dallas Knows More About Evictions Than Ever Before, Just in Time for a New Surge
CPAL’s new eviction filing dashboard is helping Dallas grasp the scale of the housing insecurity problem tenants face.
- CPAL’s dashboard allows a user to segment eviction filing data by city and county, but it can also explore more granular trends, like by ZIP codes, council districts, and school boundaries.
- In January 2022, Dallas landlords filed 2,056 evictions against tenants within the city limits. While these numbers are about half of what was filed in January 2020, this is still the highest point in the pandemic.
Violent crime is down in Dallas, and here’s why
Dallas has taken a multifaceted approach to reducing violent crime built on data, research, and community-based solutions.
- In 2021, violent crime in the Malcolm X & Marburg area fell 23%, outpacing the 18% reduction across the entire southeast patrol division and also outperforming the 9% citywide violent crime decrease.
- Dallas didn’t arrest its way out of violent crime which is remarkable. In 2019, police made 170 arrests in the Malcolm X and Marburg focus area. In 2021, police made only 69 arrests in that area.
Legal representation increases Dallas tenants’ chances of avoiding eviction
CPAL data underscores the importance of legal representation in eviction cases which keeps tenants housed.
- CPAL data reveals how courts rule in landlords’ favor 84% of time when tenants don’t show up; when tenants appear with legal representation, landlords win only 10% of cases.
- Through August, 28,845 evictions have been filed this year in Dallas County, an average of 119 per day, a 223% increase over the same period in 2021 and a 203% increase over the same period in 2020.