 Community Development Block Grants at 40: Time for a MakeoverMichael J. Rich Housing Policy Debate, 2014, vol. 24, issue 1, 46-90 Abstract: This article reviews the origins and evolution of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, the federal government's largest program providing direct assistance to local governments. The article examines the program's changing national policy context over its 40-year history, as manifest in presidential, executive, and legislative deliberations over the program's national goals and objectives, as well as the key components of the program's policy design and administrative structure. The article also explores how the decisions affecting policy design adopted at the national level play out at the local level, through an examination of the choices communities have made regarding uses of CDBG funds and the social and geographic targeting outcomes that have been obtained. The article then revisits the extent to which the CDBG program conforms with the basic characteristics of block grants. The article concludes with several recommendations for revising CDBG that will provide a policy tool better aligned with the new community-building paradigm that has emerged over the past two decades, with its emphasis on collaborative, comprehensive, community-based initiatives. Date: 2014 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:houspd:v:24:y:2014:i:1:p:46-90 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/10511482.2013.865656 Access Statistics for this article Housing Policy Debate is currently edited by Tom Sanchez, Susanne Viscarra and Derek Hyra More articles in Housing Policy Debate from Taylor & Francis Journals |
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