CLEVELAND — Cleveland is criminally prosecuting those who have not complied with fixing their homes to make them lead-free.

What You Need To Know

  • Many houses in Cleveland have lead paint, and the city is taking legal action against those who do not comply

  • The city has filed 50 criminal prosecutions against people who have not made their homes lead free

  • This is just the first step to keeping people safer from lead in the city 

“Fifty criminal prosecutions of homeowners and in many cases out of state landlords who have not taken care of the children who live and play and visit those lead contaminated orders,” Cleveland’s law director, Mark Griffin, explained.

Dr. David Margolius, director of Cleveland Public Health, said that they see hundreds of kids with dangerous levels of lead poisoning in their system each year.

“All of those children have had irreversible neuro toxicity damage that they will take years to recover from, if ever,” he said.

Rob Fischer, an associate professor at Case Western Reserve University and also a member room the city’s Lead Safety Initiative board, explained other damage that happens to kids who get lead poisoning.

“As they get into the teenage years and early adulthood, we see them showing up more frequently in juvenile justice, in homeless shelters, having lower earnings, less high school completion,” he said.

Fischer said having a lead-safe home is a level of fairness that everyone deserves.

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