County program awarded $7.6 million in HUD lead-hazard funding; officials seek nonprofit partners to scale remediation

At a May 26 New Castle County Community Service Committee meeting, a Department of Community Services presenter described recent HUD awards that will expand the county's lead‑hazard remediation work.

The presenter said the county received a demonstration grant in 2019 and subsequent competitive HUD awards, and that a March 16, 2026 award of $7.6 million brings the county’s total lead and Healthy Homes funding since 2019 to about $21,700,000. "We were fortunate to go straight to a lead hazardous reduction grant at 3,300,000 in 2019," the presenter said, and later described the March award as "7,600,000." The grants are competitive, the presenter said, and the county has to apply for each award.

County staff told the committee the program prioritizes reducing lead hazards for children under 6 and also helps older adults and people with disabilities when those funding streams are available. Eligibility for lead work requires evidence that a child under 6 lives in or visits the home at least 60 hours per year and that the household meets HUD low‑to‑moderate income thresholds. The presenter said the program serves homeowners, renters and landlords and that program services are provided without charging the tenant, homeowner or landlord directly.

The presenter described how inspections and lead‑risk assessments are used to determine work: staff perform a visual inspection, then a state‑certified risk assessor uses XRF testing to check for lead, and abatement work follows the risk assessment results. The presenter said a risk assessment can cost about $1,500 or more. "If it's hot and it's deteriorated paint, it's considered a hazard," the presenter said. For renters, the presenter said the grant includes relocation assistance (hotel or temporary housing) during remediation; homeowners must arrange relocation on their own in accordance with HUD rules.

Operational details staff provided included an estimated per‑household remediation cost cited in the presentation (the transcript records this as "$20.20 to $25,000"; staff characterized typical work as on the order of tens of thousands of dollars per household), and County in‑kind support in finance, purchasing and office services that staff estimated at roughly $400,000–$600,000 per year. The presenter emphasized quality control: contractors are inspected before payment and work must meet HUD guidelines.

To meet the scale required by HUD, staff said the Department will release an RFP for nonprofit subrecipients by mid‑June to accelerate work and expand outreach. The presenter described an opportunity to serve several hundred households — staff used numbers such as "over 600 households" and later "over 700 families" when describing program reach.

Committee members asked about targeting and outreach. Staff described working on mapping and ZIP‑code targeting to identify housing built before 1978 and cited ZIP codes 19801, 19802 and 19805 and pockets including Delaware City; council members urged the department to add 19703 (Claymont) and other older‑stock neighborhoods to outreach efforts. A council member asked about the split between homeowners and renters in recent work; the presenter said the last grant work was approximately 60% homeowners and 40% renters, and noted HUD priorities for serving renters in some grants.

The presenter also said HUD requirements and Notice of Funding Opportunity rules restrict certain uses (for example, HUD rules determine relocation assistance requirements) and that staff are preparing for an upcoming HUD monitoring visit. Staff asked council members to help with outreach and to share flyers and other information with civic associations so eligible households enroll and the program can meet HUD timelines.

Next steps: staff plan to issue a mid‑June RFP for nonprofit subrecipients, continue mapping and outreach to targeted ZIP codes, and proceed with HUD monitoring and program implementation. Committee members praised the department's grant work and urged focused outreach to older neighborhoods.