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Report Fraud, Waste and Abuse
Date Published
March 02, 2023
News Type
Press Release
Link to Original
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, OIG
EBLL - Press Release
2021-OE-0011b.pdf

WASHINGTON DC— Today, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General issued an evaluation report about HUD’s processes for monitoring children with elevated blood lead levels (EBLL) and lead-based paint hazards in public housing.

The evaluation examined HUD’s processes for addressing cases of EBLLs in children residing in public housing determined the effectiveness of two trackers that HUD uses to ensure appropriate action is taken following an EBLL case or when required lead-related documentation is missing or incomplete.

HUD OIG found that HUD has not aligned its EBLL policies and guidance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s reference value for identifying children who have more lead in their blood than most children.

The evaluation also identified ways HUD can improve two important tools that it uses to track EBLLs and missing or incomplete lead-related documentation. For example, the evaluation found that just over 94 percent of all EBLL cases being tracked were in two states, where HUD’s data reflects those same two states accounted for just over 10 percent of public housing units built before 1978.  Addressing the recommendations in the report will help HUD staff to better track EBLL cases and missing or incomplete lead-related documentation, and ensure appropriate action is taken.

Inspector General Rae Oliver Davis issues the following statement: “Promoting safety in HUD housing is a top priority for my office.  Lead-based paint and lead contaminated dust are some of the most widespread and hazardous sources of lead for children under the age of 6. This evaluation report identifies clear steps that HUD can take to provide better oversight of public housing authorities’ actions to address cases of children with identified elevated blood lead levels residing in public housing.”

Report potential fraud, waste, abuse, misconduct, or mismanagement to the HUD OIG hotline at 1-800-347-3735 or access the electronic form at https://www.hudoig.gov/hotline.  For media inquiries contact us at [email protected].