The City of Covington, Ky., has received a federal grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Program to protect children from lead-based paint in older homes, the River City News reports. Covington is the only city in Kentucky to receive funds after many applied for the federal funds.
Use of lead-based paint in homes was outlawed in 1978 after researchers and health professionals determined that breathing its dust or swallowing tiny chips of paint could cause an array of health problems, especially in young children.
"It's a big problem in Covington because we have so many older homes, because some of them are in bad condition, with the paint chipping and peeling, and because we have a large number of children in low-income households living in such homes," said Jeremy Wallace, the city's federal grants manager.
Various departments and offices in city government will work with seven outside partners to first identify houses and rental units where children are already suffering from lead poisoning, based on elevated blood levels, and to assess other homes at high risk for the presence of lead-based paint.
Contractors will be hired to either remove and replace the lead-painted part of the house (such as plaster, baseboards, windowsills, and doors); remove the paint from it; or enclose/encapsulate the paint.
Covington estimates it will be able to aid 45 homes during the three years of the federal program, according to Wallace.
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