Reading Room Document

First Amendment Issues Implicated in Section 202 Loans and the Community Development Block Grant Program

In this memo, the OLC considered the impact of the Establishment Clause on two programs administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The OLC concluded that, to be eligible for a loan for housing for elderly and disabled families, a religious organization would have to create a separate nonreligious entity to be eligible for funds. However, it concluded that language in an organization's charter dedicating it generally to "religious, charitable, scientific, or educational purposes" would not automatically disqualified the organization from receiving funds.

July 1, 1983