CLEVELAND — The City of Cleveland recognized National Lead Poisoning Prevent Week with a series of events and a commitment to make improvements, as it admits its own lead safe initiative faces a struggle in 2023.
Ward 12 Cleveland Councilwoman and Lead Advisory Board member Rebecca Maurer told city leaders that while the city-lead initiative has seen some results, she believes the program is starting to lose some momentum.
“I’m going to be honest. I think our progress is starting to wane when it comes to preventing lead poisoning," Maurer said. “Enrollments in the lead safe certificate program have decreased for the last three quarters and are continuing to trend downwards."
Maurer said the city was able to collect more than $100 million dollars to address the issue of lead poisoning in Cleveland but said less than 1% of those funds have been distributed over the course of the first 18 months of implementing Cleveland's lead law requiring all city rental units be inspected and receive a lead-safe certification.
“Are we getting money out the door and into the hands of property owners to truly make Cleveland lead safe? The Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition core incentive program pays landlords $750 to make their homes lead-safe," Maurer said. "Our loan and grant programs are also struggling. The coalition's goal for this year was over 1,000 loans and grants, but we only made it to 200.”
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Maurer said child lead poisoning rates in Cleveland continue despite the effort of the lead safe initiative.
“Cleveland’s lead poisoning crisis continues to be staggering; in many of Cleveland’s neighborhoods, more than 30% of our children have an elevated blood lead level," Maurer said. “Across the city, an average rate of testing positive is 17.4%, which is double or more than comparable rates in our peer cities.”
Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing President Yvonka Hall told News 5 that significantly stepped-up lead education and awareness is needed for landlords and tenant families in order to get more rental units inspected and lead safe.
“We need to reassess why we are having these delays, why people do not understand what’s going on with the application process and how to apply; that’s vitally important to the success of this program," Hall said. “For this, it’s education, education, education, we have to continually educate the community. If that means targeting through mail, if that means targeting through social media, if that means targeting through billboards or targeting through TV, we have the dollars, so we can’t say that we don’t have the money.”
Darrick Wade, who lost his son to complications from lead poisoning in 2007, told News 5 that enforcement is needed to get more landlords to become lead-safe compliant. And while Wade is pleased with Cleveland's recent legal pursuit of delinquent landlords, he believes much more must be done.
“There is an imbalance of implementing the law; there can be no voluntary registration; it will not work without enforcement," Wade said. “We need enforcement, we need the Department of Health to come together with the Department of Building and Housing.”
Meanwhile, Wade said he'll continue his advocacy in trying to protect Cleveland children from the dangers of lead poisoning in honor of the 24-year-old son he lost.
“Lead is a silent killer, and lead attacks different parts of the body, Wade said. “As my son was dying, he said, 'Look at my body, look at my body, we’re sick, Daddy, something needs to be done about it.'”
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