As HUD Secretary, Hills took charge of implementing the landmark Section 8 housing assistance and Community Development Block Grant programs.
Upon her swearing-in as HUD Secretary on March 10, 1975, Carla Anderson Hills assumed direct responsibility for implementing the newly passed Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, one of the most consequential pieces of federal housing legislation in American history.
Central to her mandate was the launch and administration of the Section 8 housing assistance program, which provided rental subsidies to low-income families, and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which gave local governments flexible funding for community development projects. These programs fundamentally reshaped how the federal government approached affordable housing and urban revitalization, moving away from large-scale public housing projects toward more flexible, market-based and locally-directed solutions.
Hills's stewardship of these programs during their critical early implementation phase set precedents that would influence federal housing policy for decades to come. Her legal background proved invaluable in navigating the complex regulatory requirements of these new initiatives.
The legacy of this work is still felt today, as Section 8 (now known as the Housing Choice Voucher Program) and CDBG remain cornerstone programs of American federal housing policy, and Hills's early leadership in implementing them is frequently cited in retrospectives on her HUD tenure.