About three in five Ohio toddlers enrolled in Medicaid do not receive required blood lead screening tests — even though the risk of lead exposure in the state is among the highest in the nation.
One Ohio city is working to mitigate that risk with a $7 million grant to make homes with lead paint safer.
More than 80% of the housing stock in Toledo was built before 1978, when lead-based paint was made illegal for residential use. Now, nearly 50 years later, many kids are still feeling the impact of the heavy metal.
“On any given day, 3,400 kids in Lucas County have elevated blood lead levels,” said Monica Smith, the city’s lead safe coordinator. “Because we know that and we see that on a daily basis, it's definitely a concern.”
Lead exposure can slow development, lower IQ and decrease a child’s ability to pay attention in school, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Toledo’s lead safe ordinance
In 2016, Toledo passed its first lead safe ordinance, requiring some rental properties built prior to 1978 and home daycares to get lead inspections.
Last year, the newest iteration of the law took effect. Among other changes, it laid out a plan for the city to enforce the policy by taking non-compliant landlords to court.
Smith says it’s been effective.
“Thus far we've referred a few hundred people to housing court,” she said. “What I can say is we have noticed a significant number of the people who receive the housing court referrals comply.”
She says that’s a positive sign for children and families across the city, and it’s just one way Toledo is working to remediate the issue.
‘At the end of the day, we want to protect kids’
With its latest $7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Toledo is continuing efforts to reduce lead paint hazards in older homes.
“A lot of times folks can't afford to address the issues that might be poisoning their children that are living in that house,” said Jerry Culkowski, Toledo’s lead grant program manager. “That's where our grant comes into play because we're able to provide assistance.”
Culkowski says his team prioritizes remediating houses where children have elevated blood levels.
“At the end of the day, we want to protect kids,” he said. But with limited workforce, that can be a challenge.
That’s where the Toledo Lead Resource Center comes in. In addition to supporting families and helping them navigate resources, it’s offering training for lead abatement workers, risk assessors, repairmen and painters.
“We have so much housing that's in need of repair,” said Candace Buckley, the organization’s executive director. Building up the workforce is critical to moving the work along.
Still, even with the city’s support and federal resources, Culkowski says Toledo has a long way to go.
“We do our best to make a dent in it, but we're scratching the surface,” he said.
