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Where Did the Money Go? Assessing the Distribution of the Community Development Block Grant - Disasters Recovery Funds

Qing Miao et al.

American Review of Public Administration2025https://doi.org/10.1177/02750740241308272article
AJG 3ABDC B
Weight
0.37

Abstract

In recent years, the U.S. federal government has increasingly used the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program, administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), as a vehicle for distributing aid to disaster-affected communities. In this study, we compile a unique dataset of CDBG-DR awards across U.S. counties between 2001 and 2017 to present the first comprehensive assessment of the aid distribution from this program. We empirically examine the factors associated with a county's receipt of CDBG-DR grants, including disaster damage, receipt of other disaster aid, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, local government capacity, political ideology, and local geographic risk attributes. We utilize a double-hurdle approach to estimate both the likelihood of a county receiving CDBG-DR grants following a disaster and the amount of aid it received. Results show that both the receipt and amount of CDBG-DR funding positively correlate with other federal disaster assistance, while their relationship with disaster damage is more ambiguous. Counties with lower housing values are more likely to receive CDBG-DR grants. After controlling for income and other economic factors, counties with a higher percentage of Black populations receive less aid from this program, suggesting a potential racial bias in CDBG-DR fund allocation. We also find that counties in states with a legislator serving on a CDBG oversight committee are significantly more likely to receive CDBG-DR aid after a disaster.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/02750740241308272

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@article{qing2025,
  title        = {{Where Did the Money Go? Assessing the Distribution of the Community Development Block Grant - Disasters Recovery Funds}},
  author       = {Qing Miao et al.},
  journal      = {American Review of Public Administration},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/02750740241308272},
}

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Where Did the Money Go? Assessing the Distribution of the Community Development Block Grant - Disasters Recovery Funds

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Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.