DC Accepted Papers Paper:
Does the Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery Serve Low- and Median- Income Persons?
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
The Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) is implemented through a federal agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), but this agency distributes funding to eligible grantees, usually states, that manage and distribute for the local government with the affected communities. The CDBG-DR is a flexible tool to facilitate long term disaster recovery and economic viability in an affected area. For my dissertation proposal, I will be exploring if the flexibility and discretion needed to manage the CDBG-DR funding and processes also affect the grant’s ability to serve low- and median- income persons. Although CDBG-DR is funded by Congress, HUD is expected to ensure that qualifying states meet the national objectives (create provisions or benefits for 70% of those who may be at lower or median income (LMI), prevent or remove blight or the creation of slums, and meet an urgent need in the community). With document analysis, I will examine the language of the state applications and program administration across affected states to see if there is a connection between discretion or flexibility in management and the achievement of the national objectives.
