CMHA in the News

HUD's Office of Inspector General has issued a report on Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority's failure to comply with HUD's Lead Safe Housing Rules. Follow the story as it evolves!

Learn more about CLASH's recommendations to address CMHA's Lead Problem

CLASH recommendations to City Council's Health, Human Services, and the Arts.

Background

• Jul. 16, 2024. cleveland.com. CMHA didn’t report child lead-poisoning, painted over potential hazards, violated other lead rules, HUD inspector general says. "The Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority didn’t tell the Department of Housing and Urban Development about lead-poisoned children at its properties, and covered up deteriorating paint before determining whether it was the cause of child lead-poisoning cases, according to a new report from a federal watchdog. CMHA didn’t adequately inspect its units for lead hazards, and it repeatedly failed to notify tenants about potential hazards in their units – including in five units that later had a child with reported lead-poisoning, according to the watchdog."

• Jul 16, 2024. WEWS. Report finds Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority with multiple lead-based paint violations "The latest report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development shows Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority with multiple lead-based paint violations."

• July 16, 2024. Ideastream. CMHA failed to report lead poisoning in kids, federal agency finds. "In response to the report, Lissette M. Rivera, a spokesperson for the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, wrote in an email statement that they are currently reviewing the Office of Inspector General's report."

• July 17, 2024. wjw news via MSN. Inspector: Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority didn’t manage lead hazards or report sickened children

• Jul. 17, 2024 WOIO. Cleveland City Council speaks out after HUD report shows lead exposure in CMHA public housing. "A recent report released by United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shows families who live in public housing in Cuyahoga County are at a greater risk of lead poisoning. Now, Cleveland City Council members are asking for an explanation and a solution. The 44-page report addresses the major problems and shows the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) did not have adequate oversight of lead-based paint in its public housing. According to the report, CMHA did not properly report children who suffered from lead poisoning. There were ten confirmed cases, but HUD was not alerted to any of them. There were also four additional cases HUD said they could not verify. Cleveland City Council members are asking for the city’s Director of Public Health to do an independent review. They are also calling for all children living in CMHA property to be tested for lead poisoning."

• July 18, 2024, cleveland.com. Cleveland City Council demands answers on CMHA’s lead failures. "Cleveland City Council is demanding answers after learning the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority failed for years to consistently abide by federal lead rules – failures the Department of Housing and Urban Development said increased the risk of lead-poisoning among children in Cleveland’s public housing. Council on Wednesday announced it will hold a joint meeting of its health and development committees on July 31 to get to the bottom of findings from HUD’s inspector general, which released an alarming report on Tuesday outlining numerous problems with CMHA’s lead practices."

• JUL. 19, 2024 Spectrum News. Report finds CMHA did not report lead poisoning cases  "Reverend Darrick Wade lost his son to lead poisoning in 2007. He believes his son was exposed when the family lived in CMHA housing years earlier. He filed a class action suit against CMHA after his son and other children who lived in his housing unit tested positive for high levels of lead but said he dropped the suit after CMHA promised to address the problem. He said he believes CMHA is simply sweeping the lead issue under the rug. 'That's just incompetence. And I believe the type of attitude that it's okay, ‘We do what we want to do. We we're in charge.’ But now it’s come back again,' Wade said."

• Jul 31, 2024. WEWS. Cleveland council grills CMHA about its failure to report lead poisoning cases in children & other violations "Cleveland City Council members grilled Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority leaders over how it manages lead safety issues after a federal report revealed several violations." 

• Jul. 31, 2024. cleveland.com CMHA officials testify before Cleveland City Council about lead failings. "Two weeks after a federal inspector general went public with a slew of failings by Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority related to lead dangers in Cleveland public housing, top brass from CMHA appeared before a City Council committee on Wednesday to plead their case. In the nearly four-hour hearing at City Hall, CMHA officials, including CEO Jeffery Patterson, said they took responsibility for the failures and were working to correct them. But they also argued the inspector general for the Department of Housing and Urban Development was just plain wrong about one of its most alarming audit findings."

• August 1, 2024. WKYC. 3News Investigates: HUD report uncovers Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority's failure to report lead poisoning cases. "A new report from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development shows the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority failed to report elevated blood lead levels (EBLL) in children. CMHA blamed it on a clerical error. CMHA also confirmed findings in the report that says between 2020 and 2022, 11 children tested positive for EBLL while living in CMHA housing. The report went on to say that CMHA not only failed to report the issue but also didn’t comply with federal regulations. More video here

• Aug. 01, 2024, Spectrum News. Cleveland City Council addresses lead safety concerns at CMHA in public hearing. " In a tense public hearing, Cleveland City Council drilled Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority leaders with questions about lead safety.

• Aug. 02, 2024. Cleveland.com. Hope amid distrust -- Fighting for a lead-safe Cleveland: Rebecca Maurer. "As I read the recent report of outrageous and indefensible lead-safe housing practices at CMHA, I felt a pit forming in my stomach. It was the same pit I felt in 2015 as I read the Toxic Neglect series and the same pit that lingered for months in 2017 as I fought for my Legal Aid client, a mom who had been let down by the system after her child had been lead-poisoned."

• Axios. CMHA disputes portions of damning HUD audit. "Officials with the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) have partially rebuked a damning federal audit related to lead-based paint in Cleveland public housing."

• Aug. 07, 2024. cleveland.com. Firings in order for CMHA’s failure to protect children from lead poisoning. "The Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority’s failure to protect children from lead poisoning requires nothing less than for heads to roll. CEO Jeffrey K. Patterson should be fired.  This is about accountability. What happened here is so outrageous that we cannot trust the people running the agency now to right the ship. The agency’s response to a federal report criticizing its failure to protect children from lead poisoning is unacceptable and alarming.  A U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s inspector general’s report ripped into the agency for failing to properly test for lead. When confronted by the inspector general before the report was issued, CMHA had no explanation. But when CMHA brass appeared recently before a Cleveland City Council committee, they said they did the testing but failed to provide the paperwork. The council wasn’t buying that, and we aren’t either. It fails the sniff test completely. We simply don’t believe it. That’s an enormous credibility problem for CMHA, and it is why CMHA’s governing board should oust Patterson immediately. He’s the leader. He’s ultimately responsible."

• Sep. 15, 2024. Cleveland.com. Past time for Mayor Bibb to step forward on CMHA lead-poisoning Issues: Spencer Wells.