Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Block grants have once again emerged on the national political agenda, as Congressional Republicans with the likely support of the White House appear poised to transform the funding structure of key social programs. Block grants, a means through which the federal government distributes funding to state and local governments, remain highly contested. Because they give states and localities broad program discretion, proponents argue that block grants improve efficiency and program effectiveness, reduce federal spending, and create opportunities for innovation in addressing social problems. Yet critics contend that, in practice, block grants reduce spending on domestic programs without improving program effectiveness, fail to respond to shifting demographics, and make it difficult to hold state and local actors accountable for national objectives.

Given the renewed national emphasis on block grants, there is a need for research that investigates existing block grant implementation to determine: (a) how block grants operate as they distribute funding from the national to state or local level; (b) what proportion of block grant funding reaches target populations, especially communities of color; and (c) which administrative structures or systems are associated with a greater proportion of funding reaching intended populations.

To investigate these questions, this paper employs a comparative case study research design with following existing six block grants acting as the cases under consideration: Community Development Block Grant, Social Services Block Grant, Child Care Development Block Grant, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and Children’s Health Insurance Program. While these grants all target low-income individuals, families, or communities, they differ in how they are authorized, when they were created, how funding is distributed, and in their overall funding levels. The first part of this paper analyzes these differences across the six programs. Because block grants enable state and local flexibility, there is considerable variation in their implementation across states. The second part of this paper documents and analyzes state-level variation across the six grants in five states: Louisiana, New Mexico, Michigan, Mississippi, and Minnesota. For each state, we interview the administrator in charge of implementation of each block grant and review state plans. This part of the analysis allows us to: (a) document state-level differences in implementation; (b) identify where key decisions about programming and implementation are made in the state (or local) administrative structure; (c) determine what proportion of the original funding allocation is distributed to target populations; and (d) analyze the relationship between the location of key decisions and the proportion of funding reaching target populations.

This national and state-based research allows us to describe the dynamics of block grant funding in public programs for low-income individuals, families, and communities. The project contributes to both scholarship and practice. For scholars, the findings draw into focus key points in the implementation process that enable or impede the delivery of benefits to individuals and communities in need. For practitioners, the analysis speaks to decision tools that can help elected officials and administrators respond to changing relationships between the national and state/local governments.