Lead poisoning: HUD approves $147 million in grants to address lead safety

Thousands of children and families in 27 states and the District of Columbia will benefit from more than $147 million in grants announced Oct. 2 by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez. According to a HUD news release, the announcement officially launched National Healthy Homes Month.

The grants will help 70 local programs around the country to remove potentially dangerous lead from lower income homes; to stimulate private sector investment in lead hazard control; to educate the public about the dangers of lead-based paint; to fund model programs promoting healthier and safer home environments; and, to support scientific research into innovative methods of identifying and eliminating health hazards in housing

"Whether it's eliminating lead hazards in housing or studying new ways to make our homes healthier, the funds we announce today are all designed to protect our children," Martinez said.

In Missouri, the city of Kansas City received $250,000 for lead paint outreach programs. The city of St. Louis received $2.6 million for lead hazard reduction demonstrations.

Grant programs

The funding announced includes $124 million to eliminate dangerous lead paint hazards in thousands of privately owned, low-income housing units. These funds are provided through HUD's Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control and the Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration grant programs

Additionally, HUD's Operation LEAP Lead Elimination Action Program will provide $9.9 million to stimulate private sector contributions that will enable children to grow up in homes that are free from lead-based paint hazards.

HUD also awards $2.4 million in lead outreach grants to support public education campaigns on the hazards of lead-based paint and what parents, building owners and others can do to protect children. Further, $2.8 million will assist local research institutions to study ways to drive down the cost and increase the effectiveness of lead hazard identification and control.

HUD now estimates that 26 million fewer homes have lead-based paint compared to 1990 when the program began.

Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the average amount of lead in children's blood has declined by 50 percent from a decade ago. Ten years ago, there was no federal funding for local lead hazard-control work in privately owned housing; now, the HUD program is active in more than 250 communities across the country.

Healthy homes initiative

HUD's Healthy Homes Initiative builds upon the department's existing activities in housing-related health and safety issues including lead hazard control, building structural safety, electrical safety, and fire protection to address multiple childhood diseases and injuries in the home. The initiative takes a holistic approach to these activities by addressing housing-related hazards in a coordinated fashion, rather than addressing a single hazard at a time.

Included in the funding is more than $5.9 million in demonstration grants to help local communities identify and eliminate housing conditions that contribute to children's disease and injury, such as asthma, lead poisoning, mold exposure and carbon monoxide contamination. HUD also is providing more than $2 million in technical studies grants to support scientific research into innovative methods of identifying and eliminating health hazards in housing.

The following is a breakdown of the announced funding.

Lead hazard control $74,440,466

Lead hazard reduction demonstration $49,675,000

Operation LEAP $9,935,000

Lead outreach $2,402,972

Healthy homes demonstration $5,916,355

Healthy homes technical studies $2,009,272

Lead technical studies $2,874,123