The Trump administration’s proposed budget slashes funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by roughly 13 percent. A chunk of that comes from eliminating the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), currently worth $3 billion. Among other things, it helps fund local infrastructure, community revitalization projects, affordable housing, education initiatives like head-start, and programs like Meals on Wheels. According to the administration, CDBG “is not well-targeted to the poorest populations and has not demonstrated results.”
But a new brief by Urban Institute’s Brett Theodos, Christina Plerhoples Stacy, and Helen Ho, takes a closer look at this program, and comes to a different conclusion: