Since receiving $24.8 million from Medicaid to remove lead from contaminated homes almost a year ago, the Department of Health and Human Services has abated only 23 homes of lead in Flint.
Another 47 Flint homes are undergoing cleanup. So far, $660,200 of those Medicaid funds have been spent in Flint and another $730,500 spent elsewhere, state officials said.
It can take a long time to remove lead from a house—close to three to five months—but before removal can happen, contractors need to be available. And there just aren’t enough.
“It’s the biggest impediment to spending those dollars,” said Tina Reynolds, the health policy director of the Michigan Environmental Council. “Lead risk assessors and contractors are in short supply. It’s related to us only having so much money to hire them so there was only a small pool of people willing to do the work.”
Michigan is the first state to receive Medicaid funding for lead removal. Some of it can be spent in communities other than Flint, which received nationwide attention for lead contamination in its drinking water.
To fully take advantage of that money and combat the shortage, the health agency has hired someone to help increase the number of lead contractors. The new workforce development coordinator is entrusted with finding those that could become lead contractors.