At The Dallas Foundation, we partner with organizations tackling the root causes—not just the symptoms—of inequity. One of those partners is CPAL (Child Poverty Action Lab), an organization transforming how Dallas approaches child poverty through data, collaboration, and systems change.
What CPAL Does
CPAL serves as Dallas’s “unofficial R&D lab for child poverty.” The organization combines evidence, community insight, and cross-sector partnerships to design solutions that work. Its mission is ambitious yet clear: cut child poverty in half within a generation.
CPAL’s work spans benefits access, maternal health, housing stability, criminal justice reform, and neighborhood safety. In each area, it identifies high-impact interventions that can change long-term outcomes for children and families. One of its most powerful tools, the Community Resource Explorer (CRE), maps critical resource gaps around every Dallas school. This tool gives funders, nonprofits, and civic leaders a clear picture of where support is most needed—helping them act strategically and collaboratively.
Why This Work Matters
CPAL turns data into action. When its researchers uncovered how few tenants win eviction cases without legal representation, they sparked community-wide discussions about court reform and tenant protection. Similarly, their pretrial detention analysis helped local partners see how unnecessary incarceration can destabilize families and disrupt a child’s future. Each project provides a roadmap for change rooted in evidence and shared accountability.
Our Collaboration
With support from The Dallas Foundation, CPAL is scaling its core functions—research, community engagement, and pilot strategy design. We help open doors to civic leaders, amplify their findings, and bring financial resources to promising interventions.
Together, we’re focused not just on short-term fixes, but on shifting the underlying systems that sustain inequity in Dallas.
How to Support CPAL’s Mission
The Dallas Foundation supports CPAL’s efforts to scale research, deepen community partnerships, and design pilot strategies that test new approaches to breaking the cycle of poverty. Together, we connect CPAL with civic leaders, amplify its insights, and channel resources toward high-impact interventions.
Through this partnership, we’re not only improving conditions for today’s families—we’re building a stronger foundation for the next generation of Dallas children to thrive.
