‘This is a huge victory’: Toledo officials praise lead abatement expansions

Aug. 21--Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's announcement Tuesday that the state has been approved to expand its use of Medicaid funding towards lead abatement drew praise from Toledo officials who called the move a "barrier-breaking" policy in the local fight against lead poisoning.

"This is a huge victory," said Larry Sykes, a Toledo city councilman, who recently proposed a revised lead-safe housing ordinance more than a year after a Lucas County judge ruled against a previous draft. "This means a heck of a lot. The biggest thing is we've got a governor that's serious about lead poisoning. I'm just happy that it has come to fruition."

Both Mr. Sykes and a working group crafted by Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz will soon have lead-safe proposals before the council. The biggest difference in the two is how soon they want the law to kick in. Mr. Sykes wants to speed up the process of proposing another ordinance, while Mr. Kapszukiewicz is awaiting the city's appeal on the original lead-safe law.

"We were the leader on this and then we blinked," Mr. Sykes added of the ordinance that was shot down. "This has been a community problem for some time now, but all the stars are aligning."

On Tuesday, the state's Children's Health Insurance Program initiative was granted approval from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services "to enhance and expand Medicaid's lead abatement program in partnership with the Ohio Department of Health," according to a press release.

Among its expansion are a important changes that local leaders think will ease the process to access federal funding towards lead abatement projects. According to the release, a number of homeowners were previously required to provide a financial contribution toward abatement, and all homeowners had to present both proof of homeowners insurance and copies of birth certificates to reveal the age of children living in the home.

Those mandates were removed "to provide additional flexibility for property owners and their tenants," the release said. In addition, permission is now granted for the program to use funding towards "workforce development," which includes training and hiring case managers to "provide educational support and outreach to the parents and guardians of low-income children and pregnant women who have lead poisoning."

Russ Kennedy, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health, said the governor's announcement Tuesday will help identify lead hazards before a child is poisoned. To do so, the state will target areas of "high risk," which are Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, and Youngstown. The state will then send direct mailing to both tenants and property owners in those areas, notifying them that they may be eligible for lead abatement funding. A timeline for the initiative wasn't immediately available and it's unclear how the money will be dispersed.

"What is new is now we're working on a more preventative approach," Mr. Kennedy said.

The program is also approved to include non-primary residence property types, if a Medicaid-eligible child under the age of 19 or a pregnant woman spends an average of six hours per week at that residence.

Eric Zgodzinski, the health commissioner of the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, said some of those "restrictions" were a "stomach block for individuals." He said the revised program gives people "less hoops to jump through."

"What's happened before was that the process to get that money was very restrictive," Mr. Zgodzinski said. "So, the governor said 'enough of the government bureaucracy, we need to get the money where it belongs, in the hands of the people.' I'm just excited to see that we have movement. This is barrier breaking."

Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz added in a statement that the governor's decision was "welcomed news for Toledo," as full abatement isn't cheap.

"The best way to stop a child from being lead poisoned is to fully abate lead contamination in a home -- although that work is very expensive," Mr. Kapszukiewicz said in the statement. "Directing federal health dollars to proactively prevent lead poisoning is a thoughtful and creative way to combat this public health crisis."

In a statement, Gov. DeWine said the news is a "meaningful step to ensure kids are safe in their homes."

"No child should be poisoned in their own home," the statement read. "As a result of this approval, Medicaid dollars will be used in more meaningful ways to abate lead and make homes safe for families."

The state budget for fiscal year 2020-2021 recently allocated $5 million per year to fund lead abatement efforts for both the Medicaid and health departments.

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