Housing and Urban Development Budget Review Prompts Debate Over Childcare, Community Courts
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A plan to distribute $31 million annually over five years to Dallas-based U.S. Housing and Urban Development grant programs is slated for adoption in June and implementation in October — but Dallas City Council members don’t agree on how to distribute the funds.
The Dallas City Council reviewed the plan in February and revisited it again during April 17 and May 1 council briefings.
The HUD funds are split among four grants: the Community Development Block Grant, Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME), Emergency Solutions Grant, and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS.
The City Council has limited discretion on how money can be spent within each of the four approved grant programs.
The subject of debate at last week’s council meeting was how to distribute $13.8 million in CDBG funds over five years. About $736,545 was allocated for the current fiscal year to drivers of poverty “with a focus on reducing and eliminating barriers to work and childcare and closing disparity gaps for residents with the greatest need,” Budget Director Janette Weedon said.
Housing and Urban Development Funding Allocations For ‘Drivers of Poverty’
The city manager recommended funding Community Courts entirely through the general fund and using CDBG money to address things like childcare programs and Rapid Rehousing.
During the May 1 briefing, Councilman Paul Ridley asked to move 50 percent of the proposed CDBG funding to Community Courts. Ridley said that “instead of being exposed to the vagaries of the budgetary process for 100 percent of their budget, half of it will be funded by CDBG funding, which we know will be constant over the five-year span of this budget.”
Ridley’s motion, supported by Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn, failed.
Councilman Adam Bazaldua said he did not want to restrict funding for Community Courts.
“These Community Courts are the lifeline, a tool that allows for an equitable opportunity and reverses a lot of what you would consider to be a pipeline to prison that is a vicious cycle that only perpetuates poverty,” Bazaldua said.
Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz added that if the Community Courts funding remains whole through the general fund, she didn’t see the advantage of taking funding out of CDBG when it could go toward childcare and homeless housing.
CDBG funding has historically been reduced each year, Weedon said, adding that outreach efforts determined an “overwhelming response” to a need for childcare opportunities.
Mendelsohn pointed out that Community Courts and childcare are both drivers of poverty.
“No matter how this is funded, whether it’s CDBG or general fund, we will be making inroads to addressing those needs,” she said. “Courts are the mainstay of what we do. There’s nobody else who is going to fund courts. It is part of the city’s responsibility, although we go above and beyond by doing this Community Court, which has been so wildly successful. Childcare is actually not our responsibility … I think it’s important, but it’s actually not the city’s lane.”
Poverty Drivers And The Racial Equity Plan
An April 26 memorandum from Chief Financial Officer Jack Ireland outlines nine drivers of poverty and how each aligns with the city’s adopted Racial Equity Plan.
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn King Arnold said during an April briefing that it’s important to ensure long-neglected neighborhoods like those in District 4 get support from HUD programs.
“We will be calling on you all as we move forward in this budget season,” she said to staff members. “What you do for this one district is going to impact other districts … We’re not going to start singing ‘We Are the World,’ but it will make a stronger Dallas if we’re working together.”
View the April 17 briefing here.
