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Cleveland City Council approves $17 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for lead safety programs

An estimated 1,000 children in Cleveland are affected by dangerous levels of lead each year.

CLEVELAND — Cleveland City Council has passed amended legislation that will allocate $17 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to be used for lead safe programs in the city. 

The approved legislation will give $13 million to the Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation to be used with Lead Safe Cleveland to ensure that rental properties and other homes built before 1978 are lead safe.

Another $3 million will go towards properties in the city that have sustained a severe amount of lead damage. An additional $1 million will be utilized by the Cleveland Department of Law and the Cleveland Department of Building and Housing for more code enforcement.  

In late May, the city approved using $17 million from ARPA funding to apply to fund various programs to fix the lead paint problem. All of it had been allocated for Lead Safe Cleveland.

According to the Ohio Capital Journal, the total of funds raised for lead safety in Cleveland is around $120 million from a public/private partnership arrangement — including more then $50 million from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.  

Monday's passed legislation by council comes as a kick-off to National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week. An estimated 1,000 children in Cleveland are affected by dangerous levels of lead each year. Ohio has the second highest share of children afflicted with lead poisoning in the nation.

In 2019 in Ohio, 2% of children tested had high lead levels. In Cuyahoga County, high lead levels were found in 6% of children tested. In the city of Cleveland, 8.6% of children tested had high lead levels. Some 25% of children in the Cleveland Municipal School District have been exposed to lead.

Daniel McGraw of the Ohio Capital Journal assisted with this report

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