Are housing conditions causing medical problems? DoD doesn’t know.
By Karen Jowers
Dec 21, 04:02 PM
A Defense Department inspector general report has revealed that military officials aren't able to connect residents' medical problems with conditions in their military housing, like mold, toxins or vermin. Here, a snowman stands sentinel at a housing area at Fort Carson, Colo. (Sgt. Eric Glassey/Army)
Defense officials don’t have enough information to be able to link mold, lead paint and other known issues in privatized housing to residents’ medical problems, according to DoD auditors.
Because this information hasn’t been available, DoD officials “were unable to effectively monitor and ensure the health and safety of service members and their families,” according to the report from the DoD Inspector General’s Office, released through the Freedom of Information Act. The original report was issued in April.
The report was congressionally mandated in the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act in response to persistent problems with mold, vermin and other issues in military housing, and families’ frustration arising from their futile attempts to get help from privatized housing companies and military installation officials.
Defense officials established the enterprise Military Housing system, or eMH, in 2014, to serve as the central data hub for gathering and analyzing timely, accurate information about the entire military housing inventory in order to make sound program and investment decisions.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2022/12/21/are-housing-conditions-causing-medical-problems-dod-doesnt-know/
