November 12, 2009

Washington, DC, Risks Losing AIDS Funding From HUD

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is threatening to withhold $12.2 million in federal dollars for next year if the Washington, DC, Department of Health does not improve how it tracks HIV services and spending, The Washington Post reports.

HUD had been monitoring DC since 2003, and the city has consistently failed to keep tabs on the nonprofits it sponsors. A Washington Post investigative series found that the HIV/AIDS Administration had invested more than $25 million in disreputable nonprofits. As a result, HUD froze the District’s funding.

According to the article, DC had given more than $400,000 to housing groups for a job-training center that never opened. Additionally, the nation’s capital has broken more than 60 HUD requirements.

“It is absolutely unacceptable that any single person suffers as a result of the District not being able to manage taxpayer dollars,” said assistant secretary Mercedes M. Marquez.

Most of the Washington region will be affected by the freeze, including Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, along with Loudoun, Fairfax and Arlington counties, since they share funding with the HIV/AIDS Administration. 

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Charlene, , 2009-11-17 16:24:00
This is totally unacceptable. The constant rate of leadership turnover in DOH coupled with the lack of success with their condom campaign should prompt the city and it's leaders to step up their game and get the job done that they are being paid to do. The rate of infection in Washington, DC is to great for the city to squander the precious funding that it is able to receive, especially when there are so many other states that do not recieve a third of what the major cities receive.