The latest report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reveals new information that local lead advocates told News 5 is concerning.
“Something needs to be done about the lead poisoning in Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority,” said Darrick Wade, who lost his son to lead poisoning.
Darrick Wade told News 5 he was upset after learning that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority did not comply with HUD’s reporting and verification requirements for cases of children with elevated blood lead levels.
“They are not concerned with the children’s health in the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority,” said Wade.
For more than three decades, Wade has been calling for greater lead poisoning safety measures after he believes his son Demetrius, who died in 2007 from lead poisoning complications, may have been exposed to the hazardous source while the family lived in a CMHA unit back in 1992.
“It’s personal and it’s a mission on behalf of my son Demetrius, to not allow any other child to be poisoned with lead or to be affected by lead,” said Wade.
Wade believes this report should sound the alarm that more needs to be done, especially considering other details in the report, including CMHA being accused of not reporting 10 confirmed cases of children with elevated blood lead levels to HUD or notifying HUD that it was unable to verify four additional cases.
The report also accused CMHA of painting over lead-based paint after learning about a child with elevated levels.
The authority stated it was not aware of certain HUD requirements for managing cases of children with elevated blood levels.
But Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing, or CLASH, Executive Director Yvonka Hall told News 5 over the phone the Housing Authority should have known.
“I am absolutely disheartened, and I feel for the parents whose children have been impacted,” said CLASH Executive Director Yvonka Hall.
More violations in the report mentioned how the authority failed to perform timely visual assessments, missed key information during inspections and risk assessments and did not provide supporting documentation to classify the majority of units and associated developments as lead-free.
Additional information even reports how CMHA did not provide accurate lead disclosures to tenants, where five of those units later had a child with a reported elevated blood lead level.
“I want to know how many other children in all of CMHA have been poisoned because of this level of neglect,” said Hall.
In a statement to News 5, CMHA’s Director says they understand the gravity of the situation and plan to incorporate lead-based paint disclosures electronically into leasing documents, utilize work orders for timely inspections and assessments and leverage technology to streamline their management process.
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