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GAO-12-575R 1 (2012-05-15)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacgbi0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Accountabiliy - Integrity - Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 May 15, 2012 Congressional Committees Subject: HUD Has Identified Performance Measures for Its Block Grant Programs, but Information on Impact Is Limited In fiscal year 2012, Congress appropriated about $3.4 billion for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and $1 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) program. The CDBG and HOME programs, which are administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD), are the federal government's largest block grant programs for community development and affordable housing production, respectively. Both programs give grantees discretion to fund a wide range of allowable activities; in particular, CDBG funds can be used for 26 eligible activities. Block grants typically devolve substantial authority for setting priorities to state or local governments, and state and local officials bear the primary responsibility for monitoring and overseeing the planning, management, and implementation of activities financed with federal grant funds. However, federal agencies have oversight responsibilities and are expected to ensure that block grant funds are used effectively. Section 231 of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2012 directed us to review the effectiveness of the block grant programs administered by CPD. As part of this review, we were to examine performance metrics used by HUD and best practices utilized by program grantees.1 As agreed with your offices, this report focuses on the CDBG and HOME programs.2 Specifically, this report discusses (1) what is known about the effectiveness (or impact) of the CDBG and HOME programs, (2) the performance measures HUD has in place for the CDBG and HOME programs and any challenges HUD faced in developing these measures, and (3) promising practices HUD and others have identified for the CDBG and HOME programs. To determine what is known about the effectiveness (or impact) of the CDBG and HOME programs, we identified and reviewed studies that evaluated these programs or studied a particular aspect of them. To identify these studies, we conducted a literature review; interviewed HUD officials, representatives of selected national organizations that represent 1Pub. L. No. 112-55 §231. 2CPD also administers the Emergency Solutions Grants and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS programs. These programs are dedicated to addressing the needs of special populations-individuals and families experiencing homelessness and low-income persons living with AIDS and their families, respectively. A review of the legislative history indicated interest in the effectiveness of CDBG and HOME. GAO-1 2-575R Effectiveness of Block Grants

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