City leaders now have two new opportunities to help ensure their residents live in healthy housing free of indoor environmental hazards, including a $1 million minimum grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and a technical assistance initiative from the National League of Cities (NLC).
By placing a priority on ensuring that homes are free of toxic substances, with an emphasis on lead and asthma triggers, municipal leaders can promote healthier communities and combat environmental hazards that undermine the health and well-being of children and families in residential settings.
The recently released HUD 2019 Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Grant Program NOFA, which can be accessed here, makes an unprecedented $324 million available in lead grant and Healthy Homes Supplemental grant funding for state, county, and city jurisdictions. Participating jurisdictions will be awarded funds to conduct lead hazard reduction and healthy homes interventions for low-income families. The maximum available award for the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Grant is $9.1 million for High Impact Neighborhoods, and the minimum award size is $1 million. There is also $38 million available in Healthy Homes Supplemental Funds. Applications are due August 9, 2019, and grants are estimated to begin September 30, 2019.
At the same time, NLC is launching an initiative, the Healthy Housing City Leaders’ Forum to advance city-level healthy housing efforts to address indoor environmental hazards. This intensive technical assistance cohort aims to ensure city leaders have the resources necessary to advance policies programs and practices. This announcement will be followed by future opportunities for peer-to-peer learning efforts in the near future.
For cities interested in advancing a deeper level of work, NLC will release a request for proposals (RFP) to join the Healthy Housing City Leaders’ Forum on Monday, July 8.
Please join NLC at 3 p.m. EDT on July 8 for a webinar for details on how to apply for both the HUD 2019 Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Grant Program and NLC’s Healthy Housing City Leaders’ Forum. Members of HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (OLHCHH) to talk about the recently released grant opportunity.
The new Healthy Housing City Leaders’ Forum and HUD opportunities will stimulate, accelerate and support the adoption of city-led policies, programs, and practices that reduce the exposure of children and families to environmental hazards in their homes. The NLC opportunity builds on the previous work its Institute for Youth, Education, and Families has done with city leaders on healthy housing, most notably through the Mayors’ Institute on Housing, Hazards, and Health. Key outcomes from that cohort include the introduction of new inspection ordinances, convening partners to develop new healthy housing strategies, and the development of new data systems.
About the Authors:
Anthony Santiago is a senior fellow for Program and Partnership Development in NLC’s Institute for Youth, Education, and Families.
Anne Li is an associate for the Health & Wellness program in NLC’s Institute for Youth, Education, and Families.