McHenry County, Ill., has been awarded $2.2 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to protect children and families from lead-based paint and other home health hazards, the Northwest Herald reports. McHenry County has seen the number of children reported with elevated blood levels spike in the past year and will use the majority of the grant money to address lead-based paint hazards.
“HUD understands the close connection between health and housing,” Matthew Ammon, director of HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes, said in a news release issued Thursday. “This year, HUD is awarding a record number of awards to jurisdictions to directly support their efforts to identify and clean up housing-based health hazards like lead and mold.”
Funding from HUD—which amounts to about $2 million for McHenry County—is meant to abate lead-based paint in households with children younger than 6. HHS funding—which amounts to about $200,000 for McHenry County—will address other home health hazards such as lead services pipes, asbestos, mold and radon.
According to a resolution to increase the Planning and Development Department’s fiscal 2020 revenue and expenses in the amount of the grant funding, the number of county residents that experienced the detrimental effects of lead-based paint increased by more than 72% in one year.
Sandquist said municipalities throughout the county contain housing built before 1978—when lead-based paints stopped being used—and the county is looking to work with various community partners to identify these properties.
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