This is testimony given by Eileen Norcross on June 29, 2006, before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information and International Security of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program is a multi-billion dollar public welfare program operated out of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. These grants give local officials broad discretion on the use of the funds for housing, economic development activities, social services, and infrastructure. Critics of Community Development Block Grants argue that while flexibility abounds, the program has insufficient accountability, ambiguous goals, and no standardized outcome indicators.