The Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority failed to report at least 10 cases of children with lead poisoning, according to a recent audit by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD.
CMHA is one of the largest public housing authorities in the nation. The authority told HUD that it was not aware of some requirements for managing cases of children with elevated blood levels, but HUD responded in the report that they should have been aware.
In response to the report, a spokesperson for CMHA said in an email statement that they quote "understand the gravity of the situation, and they are actively implementing innovative strategies to manage our remaining lead-based paint portfolio."
There has been great outrage following the report from community leaders. Cleveland City Council is calling for an independent review of lead poisoning cases in children living in public housing -- and they have called for testing off all children living in the authority's properties for lead.
Lead poisoning can cause significant developmental delays and learning difficulties in children, among other health issues.
On Thursday's "Sound of Ideas," we're going to start by talking more about this report with our health reporter, Taylor Wizner, who has been covering these developments.
We're also joined by two leaders with CLASH, which stands for Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing, which is an all-volunteer coalition of 10 community organizations in the region.
Later in this hour, we'll talk about the City of Akron holding a community feedback session that has the potential to alter the landscape for generations to come.
The goal is to address the historic wrongs done through the construction of the city's innerbelt - a stretch of highway that lies just west of Downtown.
In the mid-20th century highways were built in major cities across the country, often times at the expense of communities of color, and this was no different in Akron.
But now the city is planning to reconfigure of stretch of the innerbelt that has been vacant since 2017.
It's also the focus of the next Sound of Ideas Community Tour, which takes place next Tuesday, July 30th at 6pm at the Akron Civic Theater's Knight Stage. You can get your free tickets here.
Guests:
-Taylor Wizner, Health Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
-Yvonka Hall, President, CLASH
-Andre White, Board Member, CLASH
-Liz Ogbu, Design Consultant, "Reconnecting Our Community"
-Amanda Rabinowitz, Host and Producer, "Shuffle" and "All Things Considered"
