NCLSH: HUD Program Evaluation

The Evaluation of the HUD Lead Hazard Control Grant Program

Lead poisoned children often have low self-esteem, don't get along with their peers and get into trouble more.

In October 1991, the Congress appropriated funds to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish a grant program to state and local governments for the abatement of significant lead-based paint and lead dust hazards in low- and moderate- income, owner-occupied units and privately owned low-income rental units. Congress envisioned this grant program as a demonstration and mandated that HUD institute an Evaluation of the effectiveness of the lead hazard control activities conducted by grant recipients. HUD issued its first Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) in July of 1992, and the first grants were issued in 1993. Grant recipients were required to participate in an evaluation of the program under terms of the NOFA. In 1992 Title X of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 was adopted and the grant program has continued under Section 1011 of that act. As of December 31, 2000, $552 million has been awarded in 177 grants to 112 grantees in 35 states and the District of Columbia. These funds are ultimately expected to result in lead hazard control activities being conducted in over 50,000 homes. For more information on the grant program you may visit the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control's website or call that office at 202-755-1785.

Goal: The overall purpose of the Evaluation is to measure the relative cost and effectiveness of the various lead hazard control methods used by grantees to reduce lead-based paint hazards in housing. Specific study objectives included a description of lead hazard control costs, the determination of the longevity of treatments, and an assessment of the effectiveness of lead hazard control treatment strategies in reducing dust lead levels, and in reducing children's blood lead levels.

Description: In 1993, HUD contracted with the National Center for Lead-Safe Housing (National Center) to evaluate the interventions being conducted by the first round of grantees. The National Center partnered with the Department of Environmental Health of the University of Cincinnati (UC) to conduct the evaluation. In order to increase the diversity of the grantees being studied, grantees from the second round of funding were later recruited into the Evaluation.

The participating grantees (and funding rounds) were state or local governmental agencies in the following locations: Alameda County, CA (1)*; Baltimore, MD (1)*; Boston, MA (1)*; California (1)*; Chicago, IL (2); Cleveland, OH (1); Massachusetts (1); Milwaukee, WI (1)*; Minnesota (1)*; New Jersey (1); New York City, NY (2); Rhode Island (1)*; Vermont (2)*; and Wisconsin (1)*.

The grantees designed and implemented their lead hazard control grant programs. Within grant requirements, they decided which homes would be treated and what lead hazard control treatments would be done on specific homes. They supervised the lead hazard control activities and conducted the environmental inspections and personal interviews required by the protocols established for the Evaluation.

The National Center and UC developed the Evaluation protocols and developed and implemented field and laboratory quality control procedures. HUD approved the study protocols. The National Center and UC are responsible for the reporting of the results of the Evaluation.

The initial study design for the Evaluation called for studying the effectiveness of treatments until 12 months after the homes were treated. Later, HUD provided funding for nine of the grantees to follow selected homes to 36 months after treatment. The nine "extension" grantees are noted above by an asterisk.

Data collection has been completed and the final report is being written. The final report will be released in early 2002. Approximately 2,900 homes were treated in the Evaluation with 36 month post-treatment data collected on approximately 700 homes.

In 2001, the first journal article on the Evaluation was published in Environmental Research. See below for the pdf file of the published paper.

For more information Jonathan Wilson at jwilson@centerforhealthyhousing.org

* Participating grantees in an "Extended Evaluation"

Publications:

Evaluation of the HUD Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant Program Final Report in pdf format. (File size 5,233k)

Environmental Research Section A 86, 149-156 (2001) document in pdf format. (File size 352k)

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