Role of Junk Fees in the Dallas Rental Housing Market
During summer 2024, CPAL began to explore the role of junk fees in the rental housing market in Dallas, Texas, with a specific focus on how common they are, how they impact affordability, and how they are disclosed to apartment-seekers.
In CPAL's sample of the 2024 rental housing market, junk fees were pervasive, made housing more expensive, and were poorly disclosed to renters. Junk fees increase monthly housing costs, make price comparison shopping more difficult, and undercut competition by incentivizing landlords to hide the true cost of an apartment.
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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.
Here's how Dallas leaders plan to deal with the third-worst child poverty rate among
Community leaders launch CPAL to address Dallas’ high rate of child poverty.
- According to the U.S. Census' American Community Survey data from 2011 to 2016, children that grow up in single-parent households are up to 3 1/2 times as likely to grow up in poverty.
- CPAL combines the clout of leaders and CEOs from major city and county institutions and systems (i.e. City of Dallas, Dallas ISD, Parkland Health and Hospital System, and Dallas Area Rapid Transit) with community-based partners.
Eviction at Dallas College
Analysis from CPAL and Dallas College explores how eviction affects Dallas College students and opportunities for support.
- Housing providers filed 4,114 evictions against 3,352 Dallas College students from 2017 to spring 2022. For students with an eviction filing while enrolled at Dallas College, just 4% went on to earn a credential.
- Black students, students with children, female students, and American Indian/Alaskan Native students are overrepresented in the subset of students with an eviction filing.