David McClendon
As we approach the three-year anniversary of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, we’re entering a scary new era for evictions in Harris County. Evictions aren’t just back to normal, they’re higher than ever before. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a sharp drop in eviction filings. Across the country, eviction filings fell…
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Every Monday morning, Judge Israel Garcia, Jr., who serves as Harris County Justice of the Peace for Precinct 5, stares down a punishing docket of eviction, debt collection, and traffic cases for the week. His courtroom has a line out the door of parents and children, desperate to resolve a dispute with their landlord or…
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For the past two years, the city of Galveston, Texas has been my home. Located about an hour southeast of Houston, Galveston is an island community that has the perfect blend of beachtown kitsch and rich historical character. It’s also been a great place to ride out the pandemic – I even took up surfing!…
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Health care providers and social service nonprofits have a hard time working together. Doctors often do not know about social service programs that might benefit their patients, and nonprofits find it difficult to keep health care providers up to date about their services. When they try to work together, communicating about a patient’s health history…
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The CDC eviction moratorium is the latest in a patchwork of policy solutions designed to prevent evictions. Since the pandemic began, there have been an unprecedented number of new housing policies across the country at all levels of government. But an eviction moratorium does not mean that evictions have stopped. This article analyzes the impact…
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Public art can bring a neighborhood together. Murals especially can help create a stronger sense of place. They can also be used to raise awareness about important social issues facing a community. If you’ve ventured outside onto the streets of Houston lately, you might have seen a few new bright yellow murals urging residents to…
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In the November 2019 election, voters in Harris County, Texas could vote at any polling location, not just the polling place assigned to their precinct. This change was designed to make it easier for more people to participate in the electoral process. In order to promote the program, the Harris County Clerk brought in our friends…
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Last week, we released a new study, Serving Veterans After Hurricane Harvey, with our partners at Combined Arms examining the impact of Hurricane Harvey on the Gulf Coast veteran population. Texas is home to nearly 1.5 million veterans and many felt the direct impact of the storm. Yet, two years later, we still needed to answer…
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Census 2020 is critically important for determining how much money state and local governments receive from the federal government. That is a major reason why states and cities around the country have been worried about the citizenship question and the lack of census funding, which threaten an accurate count. For every person missed, states end…
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We recently did a webinar with Jamey Caruthers, senior staff attorney at Children At Risk, about how to use data to fight human trafficking. Human trafficking is a huge problem in Texas, especially in Houston, and Children At Risk is leading the charge in helping to write and pass laws that increase penalties for perpetrators while…
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