Community Development

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)

We want to hear from you about housing and community development needs. Your input is valuable to us during the preparation of annual action plans.

For more information contact Mark Sirois or by phone at 503-655-8591.

CDBG funds are awarded through a process that involves citizen participation and coordination with participating cities within Clackamas County. To receive CDBG assistance, a proposed project must:

• meet a national objective of the CDBG program
• be an eligible activity under federal CDBG regulations
• have a commitment of matching resources equal to at least 20% of the total project cost
• meet other funding criteria of Clackamas County's Community Development Program

National Objectives

In order for any project to be considered for funding, it must meet one of the three broad "National Objectives" established by Congress. A CDBG project must:

• benefit low and moderate-income persons
• prevent or eliminate slums
• blight or meet an urgent community development need

Primary emphasis is placed on the objective to benefit low and moderate-income persons.

Benefit to low- and moderate-income persons

A CDBG project meets this goal if it:

• benefits all residents of a residential area recognized by HUD as a low and moderate-income area. Click on the maps below to see areas that meet HUD criteria:
  • Clackamas County 
  • Canby/Barlow
  • Johnson City
  • Estacada
  • Gladstone
  • Milwaukie
  • Molalla
  • North Clackamas
  • Oak Grove
  • Oregon City
  • Sandy
  • Wilsonville
• benefits a group of individuals of which 51% have low or moderate incomes.
• benefits low or moderate income individuals.

Preventing or eliminating slums or blight

Prevention or elimination of slums or blight is the second major national objective of the CDBG program. A limited array of projects may meet this objective if they meet HUD recognized criteria for slums and blight.

Urgent needs

CDBG funds may also be used to meet the third national objective of "Urgent Needs." In this category, the project proposed must address a problem which is demonstrated to have arisen or escalated in the past 18 months, which poses a serious threat to the health and welfare of the community, and for which other financial resources cannot be provided or have been denied.

Eligible improvements

Improvements listed below which meet national objectives are eligible for funding under the CDBG program.

Public facility improvements

CDBG funds may be used for the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation or installation of public facilities. Examples include improvements to publicly owned properties and properties owned by private non-profit entities which serve the public, neighborhood facilities, centers for the handicapped, senior centers, utilities, streets and sidewalks, water and sewer facilities, parks and shelters for persons with special needs.

Historic preservation

CDBG funds may be used for the rehabilitation, preservation or restoration of historic properties. Historic properties are those sites or structures that are either listed on or eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic places, listed in a State or local inventory of historic places, or designated as a State or local landmark or historic district by appropriate law or ordinance. Historic preservation of buildings used for the general conduct of the government may not be assisted with CDBG funds.

Architectural barrier removal

CDBG funds may be used for projects designed to remove material and architectural barriers which restrict the mobility and accessibility of elderly or handicapped persons to buildings, facilities and improvements.

Economic development

CDBG funds may be used to assist economic development activities including:

• acquisition, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation or installation of commercial or industrial buildings structures, and other real property
• assistance for private non-profit business
• help for neighborhood-based non-profit organizations, small business investment companies, or local development corporations to carry out a neighborhood revitalization, community economic development or energy conservation project.

Housing rehabilitation

CDBG funds may be used to finance the rehabilitation of:

• privately owned buildings and improvements for residential purposes
• low-income public housing and other publicly owned residential buildings and improvements
• manufactured housing

Emergency shelter grant program

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) to improve the quality and number of emergency homeless shelters. The grant can be used to assist with the rehabilitation or conversion of buildings into homeless shelters and to provide funding for related social services, shelter operating expenses, homeless prevention activities, and administrative costs. HUD's purpose in funding the shelters and related social services is to provide a foundation for homeless people to begin moving to independent living.

HUD allocates ESG funds annually based on the formula used for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). Under HUD rules, the county may administer the entire grant itself or distribute the funds to private nonprofit organizations. The county must also match ESG grants dollar-for-dollar from non-ESG sources. The county distributes the funds to the following existing shelters to assist with covering operating costs.

For more information on the ESG program, visit HUD's web site.

Many agencies in Clackamas County which offer housing and services to people who are homeless participate in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). The HMIS is designed to collect data on the housing and services provided to clients. The system is only accessible to employees of contracted agencies, and the county works to protect the privacy of clients. This statewide HMIS is administered by the City of Portland. The software product used in Clackamas County is Community Services by Wellsky.

All questions about HMIS should be directed to:

Visit Continuum of Care for information and reports about homelessness in Clackamas County.

Documents and Forms

• CSS HMIS Privacy Notice
• CSS HCDD HMIS Administrative Agreement
• CSS HCDD HMIS Agency Participation Agreement
• CSS HCDD HMIS End Users Agreement (EULA)
• CSS HMIS Privacy Poster 
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Clackamas County receives grant funds from 3 HUD programs: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Home Investment Partnership (HOME) and Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG). In order to receive these funds the county must prepare a number of plans, the most important being the Consolidated Plan. The development of the Consolidated Plan has been designed as a collaborative process allowing cities, community organizations and residents to participate in creating a unified vision for community improvements in their neighborhoods.

Key components of the plan include:

• assessment of housing and community development needs and development of long-range strategies
• description of how we plan to use the federal funds to put the strategic goals of the consolidated plan in place
• maps identifying concentrations of low- and moderate-income residents
• an examination of barriers that limit fair and equal housing opportunities to county residents

Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG)

The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009 (HEARTH Act) revised the Emergency Shelter Grants program and renamed the program the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) program. The HEARTH Act also codified the Continuum of Care (CoC) planning process that is part of HUD’s annual application for funding of programs and services that assist homeless persons. Here is our ESG and CoC Policy manual.

If you have a question or would like to request more information, please call 503-655-8591.

Annual Plans and Performance Reports

*Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report