The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has about 120 active lead-hazard control grantees throughout the country. Since these grants began in 1993, the agency has awarded over 1,050 grants in 45 states and made over 200,000 homes lead safe for low-income families, according to HUD.
The agency is working to increase awareness about lead paint and other health hazards as part of the third annual National Healthy Homes Month in June.
The need for education continues, said Pamela Patenaude, HUD deputy secretary, in an interview with Affordable Housing Finance.
“We think about how far we’ve come with housing conditions in this country, but there remains significant barriers still, with hundreds of thousands of children being exposed to lead every day,” said Patenaude, who was speaking at the National Environmental Health Association annual and HUD Healthy Homes conference in Anaheim, Calif., later in the day.
HUD recently reached a settlement with the New York City Housing Authority, the nation’s largest public housing authority, to correct lead-based paint and other hazards in its buildings. Under the terms of the agreement, New York City will invest at least $1.2 billion to abate paint hazards in tens of thousands of public housing units and will correct a number of long-standing housing deficiencies including inadequate heating, failing elevators, and a significant backlog of work orders. In addition, a court-appointed monitor will oversee the city's corrective action plan and will ensure compliance with a consent decree.
“If we have that much of a concern in New York City then we still have a ways to go to meet that goal of a safe and suitable living environment for every American that was set forth in the ’49 Housing Act,” Patenaude said.
Earlier in the day, she visited the Century Villages at Cabrillo in Long Beach. The 27-acre campus is a residential community designed to break the cycle of homelessness. Situated on a former military Navy housing site that served Long Beach shipyards, the site was conveyed to Century Housing in 1997 under the federal McKinney Act for the benefit of the homeless. Since that time, Century has served as steward of the property, which is home to more than 1,500 people, including formerly homeless veterans.
In addition, mental health practitioners, a health center, job training, a child development program, and other programs are available on campus.
“It’s the most comprehensive living environment that I’ve ever seen,” Patenaude said.
