Filing Date: 3/15/2022
The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland filed a and, joined by the Schubert Center for Child Studies, the George Gund Foundation, and other Lead-Safe Cleveland Coalition members to ensure Shaker House's compliance with the new lead ordinance. The Cleveland Housing Court adopted a rule requiring all landlords seeking eviction must attach a lead-free certificate to their eviction notifications for any housing built pre-1978. The requirement of lead inspection and removal helps Cleveland in its efforts to eliminate lead poisoning by requiring landlords to take responsibility for cleaning up their properties. Compliance with the law is critical to Cleveland's goal of achieving lead-free affordable housing for its youngest residents disproportionately at risk of lead poisoning.
The Schubert Center opted to join the amicus brief given the significant potential impacts on child well-being. Young children are particularly at risk of lead poisoning from lead paint dust and chips in homes and apartment buildings built before lead paint was outlawed in 1978, the vast majority of housing in Cleveland. Lead is a toxin - there is no safe level of lead in a child. Cleveland has the highest lead levels of all Ohio cities, twice as much as children living in Cincinnati and four times as much as peers in Columbus. Even small amounts of lead in the blood negatively affect a child's school performance impacting their lives and city resources.
Further reading: Downstream Consequences of Childhood Lead Poisoning: A Longitudinal Study of Cleveland Children from Birth to Early Adulthood.