Obtain the proper approval and communicate the IT modernization strategy to all appropriate stakeholders, including HUD program offices.

Obtain documentation from the remaining 55 potential cases (34 cases in the public housing program 21 cases in the Housing Choice Voucher program) reported by the public housing agencies that failed to provide supporting documentation to determine compliance with HUD’s requirements.

Obtain documentation from the remaining 195 potential cases involving children with EIBLLs reported by the public housing agencies (35 reported cases in the public housing program 160 reported cases in the Housing Choice Voucher program) that we did not review during the audit to determine Read More

Require the public housing agencies to support that the lead hazards were appropriately abated for the 11 cases (3 public housing program 8 Housing Choice Voucher program) that lacked adequate clearance reports or lacked documentation showing that the identified lead hazards had been corrected.

Ensure that the owners for the two Housing Choice Voucher program units, in which the families were relocated and abatement was not performed, do not provide housing for families with children under 6 years of age until the lead hazards are abated.

Obtain documentation of a lead-based paint inspection or exemption for the 222 public housing developments that failed to provide evidence of compliance with HUD’s lead-based paint inspection requirements.

Work with the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes to update HUD’s regulations to expand the inspection and abatement requirements of 24 CFR Part 35 to housing completed after 1977 in cases in which a child with an elevated blood lead level is reported.

Implement adequate procedures and controls at HUD’s field offices to ensure that requirements of 24 CFR Part 35 are followed by public housing agencies, including monitoring the public housing agencies to ensure that required actions are appropriately completed and performed in a timely manner.

Ensure that its staff appropriately determines exemptions from the Lead Safe Housing Rule and documents support of the determinations. Corrective Action Taken In June 2023, HUD publicly issued Notice 2023-16, Implementation of National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Read More

Ensure that its staff determines whether a child under 6 years of age resides in an exempted development. If a child is determined to reside in an exempted development take appropriate actions in accordance with its internal policies Corrective Action Taken The Office of Field Read More

Ensure that the 55 developments without sufficient support for an exemption either support the exemption status or complete the required lead-based paint inspections and provide the documentation to the appropriate field office.

Ensure that the remaining 244 developments’ exemption status is properly supported.

Ensure that the 382 potentially noncompliant developments are reported in its response tracking system and reviewed for compliance with the Lead Safe Housing Rule.

Implement adequate procedures and controls for monitoring public housing agencies’ compliance with the Lead Safe Housing Rule. Such procedures and controls should include but not limited to establishing timeframes for reporting potentially noncompliant developments in its tracking system and Read More

Develop a framework for taking administrative actions against public housing agencies that do not comply with HUD’s Lead Safe Rule.

Continue its efforts to identify and train staff on how to use the response tracker.

Continue its efforts to resolve technical issues that prevented the addition of new cases into the response tracker.

Establish policies, procedures, and controls for validating and correcting construction dates of the public housing developments in IMS-PIC. If the information is determined to be inaccurate, HUD should work with public housing agencies to update the data to ensure accuracy.

We recommend that the General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing require the Real Estate Assessment Center in coordination with the Office of Field Operations to develop and implement a plan to manage lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in public housing.

Requires the REAC in coordination with OFO to determine the number of developments and associated units that contain lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards. Status The Real Estate Assessment Center and Office of Field Operations will collaborate with the Office of Lead Hazard Control Read More