The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program is a flexible program that provides communities with resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs. Beginning in 1974, the CDBG program is one of the longest continuously run programs at HUD. The CDBG program provides annual grants on a formula basis to 1209 general units of local government and states.
Program Areas
- CDBG Entitlement Program provides annual grants on a formula basis to entitled cities and counties to develop viable urban communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment, and by expanding economic opportunities, principally for low- and moderate-income persons.
- CDBG State Program allows States to award grants to smaller units of general local government that develop and preserve decent affordable housing, to provide services to the most vulnerable in our communities, and to create and retain jobs.
- CDBG HUD Administered Non-Entitled Counties in Hawaii Program provides annual grants on a formula basis to Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui counties to provide decent housing and a suitable living environment and expand economic opportunities, principally for low- and moderate-income persons.
- CDBG Insular Area Program provides grants to four designated insular areas: American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to provide decent housing and a suitable living environment and expand economic opportunities, principally for low- and moderate-income persons.
- CDBG Program Colonias Set-Aside requires the border states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas to set aside a percentage of their annual State CDBG allocations for use in the Colonia to help meet the needs of the Colonias residents in relationship to the need for potable water, adequate sewer systems, or decent, safe and sanitary housing.
- Recovery Housing Program - allows states and the District of Columbia to provide stable, transitional housing for individuals in recovery from a substance-use disorder.
- Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program is the loan guarantee provision of the CDBG Program and provides communities with a source of financing for economic development, housing rehabilitation, public facilities, and large-scale physical development projects.
- Neighborhood Stabilization Program provided grants to communities that suffered from foreclosures and abandonment to purchase and redevelop foreclosed and abandoned homes and residential properties. Congress authorized NSP grants between 2008 and 2011; no new funds are available.
About the Program
The CDBG program works to ensure decent affordable housing, to provide services to the most vulnerable in our communities, and to create jobs through the expansion and retention of businesses. CDBG is an important tool for helping local governments tackle serious challenges facing their communities. The CDBG program has made a difference in the lives of millions of people and their communities across the Nation.
The annual CDBG appropriation is allocated between States and local jurisdictions called "non-entitlement" and "entitlement" communities respectively. Entitlement communities are comprised of central cities of Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs); metropolitan cities with populations of at least 50,000; and qualified urban counties with a population of 200,000 or more (excluding the populations of entitlement cities). States distribute CDBG funds to non-entitlement localities not qualified as entitlement communities.
HUD determines the amount of each grant by using a formula comprised of several measures of community need, including the extent of poverty, population, housing overcrowding, age of housing, and population growth lag in relationship to other metropolitan areas.
Citizen Participation
A grantee must develop and follow a detailed plan that provides for and encourages citizen participation. This integral process emphasizes participation by persons of low or moderate income, particularly residents of predominantly low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, slum or blighted areas, and areas in which the grantee proposes to use CDBG funds. The plan must provide citizens with the following: reasonable and timely access to local meetings; an opportunity to review proposed activities and program performance; provide for timely written answers to written complaints and grievances; and identify how the needs of non-English speaking residents will be met in the case of public hearings where a significant number of non-English speaking residents can be reasonably expected to participate.
Eligible Activities
Over a 1, 2, or 3-year period, as selected by the grantee, not less than 70 percent of CDBG funds must be used for activities that benefit low- and moderate-income persons. In addition, each activity must meet one of the following national objectives for the program: benefit low- and moderate-income persons, prevention or elimination of slums or blight, or address community development needs having a particular urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community for which other funding is not available.
CDBG Contacts
Access a listing of CDBG grantees in a particular state.
Content current as of December 17, 2019.
This collection of online technical assistance products will help grantees: create transformative impact in your community, improve the lives of all residents, and especially those with low and moderate income levels; develop strategies that bring partners and resources together, leveraging and building community assets; and implement your program effectively, increasing the likelihood of successful projects.
Featured Tools and Resources
For additional Community Development resources, visit the Community Development pages on the HUD Exchange.
- Básicamente CDBG - preparado para realizar un entrenamiento en Puerto Rico, el manual es un buen recurso para todos los administradores hispanohablantes del programa “Entitlement CDBG”
- "Basically CDBG" Entitlement Course Training Manual (May 2014) - developed to guide and assist CDBG entitlement grantees in the implementation of local Community Development Block Grant programs
- "Basically CDBG" State Course Training Manual (April 2012) - developed to guide and assist State CDBG grantees in the implementation of local Community Development Block Grant programs
- HUD Income Limits applicable to the CDBG program, include-- Extremely Low (30%), Very Low (50%) and Low (80%) of area median income
- IDIS Resources for the CDBG Program
- IDIS Training Manual for CDBG Entitlement Communities
This manual explains how to set up, fund, draw funds, and report accomplishments and performance measures for CDBG activities in IDIS - Memo on Fair Housing Agencies Eligible for CDBG Funds - guidance on the definition of fair housing organizations in a memorandum dated January 11, 2008
- CDBG Toolkit on Crosscutting Issues - designed to provide Entitlement and State grantees, as well as sub-recipients, with information on crosscutting regulations that apply to the CDBG program. The Toolkits cover five disciplines--financial management, environmental review, federal labor standards, acquisition/relocation, and fair housing and serve as a resource guide for grantees.