Funded Projects

Community Asset Mapping: South Dallas

Project Year

2026

City & State

Dallas, Texas

Program Name

Planning

Topic

Access/Barriers to Health Care (LHI)

Program Description

Problem: Families in South Dallas face persistent non-medical drivers of health that contribute to missed opportunities for comprehensive care for children and their families. Dallas County’s pediatric population is highly diverse, with Hispanic and or Latino children representing 52.6% of children, and Black or African American children experiencing disproportionate adverse health outcomes compared to other children in Dallas. Despite recent improvement, the Dallas County child poverty rate remains 20.6%, meaning more than 135,000 children live below the federal poverty line, the highest number in the region. Racial disparities persist, with 28.6% of Black children and 23.5% of Hispanic or Latino children living in poverty, compared with 6.6% of non-Hispanic white children.  Dallas County also has the highest uninsured rate in North Texas, increasing to 15.2% in 2023. Food insecurity affects nearly one in four children, with over 162,000 children lacking consistent access and more than 60% of students eligible for free or reduced meals. Housing instability is rising, with the number of children without permanent housing increasing by over 30% since 2020.  In clinical care, providers and trainees have frequently identified needs related to food, housing, transportation, legal support, education, child care, and benefits navigation. However, many providers and trainees lack access to a single, trusted, local system that has already identified and vetted neighborhood specific resource and along with identifying any true gaps. This leads to inconsistent referrals, duplicated efforts, and missed opportunities for our pediatric patients and their families.  Primary Setting: The planning project will be based at UT Southwestern and Children’s Health within the General Pediatrics Division and will focus on select South Dallas neighborhoods, Fair Park and Oak Cliff.   Number of Children Affected: UT Southwestern and Children’s Health collectively serve a large pediatric population that reside within South Dallas. The long term goal is scalability across Dallas, allowing for expanded reach.   Project Goal: To develop a shared, stakeholder vetted community asset map framework/inventory for select South Dallas neighborhoods that enables providers and trainees to connect families to resources efficiently while identifying gaps to guide future advocacy work.  Proposed Intervention: This planning project will include • Community partner engagement and coalition building to define priorities  • Asset inventory across key domains including food, housing, transportation, education, legal, financial, and behavioral health supports • Needs assessment with community stakeholders to identify access barriers, service gaps, and policy constraints • Development of a standardized vetting, update, and ownership process • Creation and user testing of a draft map structure and referral workflow, with a scalability roadmap for Dallas County expansion  Anticipated Outcomes:  By the end of the grant period, we will produce a stakeholder vetted asset and gap framework and inventory list. Anticipated outcomes include future generation of a live community asset map for the selected neighborhoods and a sustainable governance plan, improved provider and trainee confidence in connecting families to resources, and stronger community partnerships. 

Project Goal

To develop a stakeholder vetted community asset map framework/inventory list for select South Dallas neighborhoods (Fair Park & Oak Cliff) that enables providers and trainees to connect children and families to trusted resources efficiently while identifying priority gaps to guide future advocacy work and scale across other neighborhoods within South Dallas with the larger goal of Dallas County. 

Project Objective 1

By the end of the grant period, establish an Oak Cliff and Fair Park Community Advisory Group that includes at least 12 members, with at least 50% being caregivers, youth, or community based organization representatives from South Dallas, and hold at least 4 structured meetings to define priorities and map out the governance for identifying resources, vetting resources, etc. 

Project Objective 2

By the end of the grant period, complete a community informed asset and gap needs assessment for Oak Cliff and Fair Park by conducting at least 4 family or youth focus groups and at least 15 key informant interviews with community partners, producing a ranked list of top resource gaps and access barriers grounded in lived experience.

Project Objective 3

Demonstrate feasibility & utility through structured testing of least 20 providers or trainees through the utilization of the vetted resources on the inventory list across the selected non-medical driver domains

AAP District

District VII

Institutional Name

UT Southwestern - Children's Health

Contact 1

Maurine Sam, MD