Cooperative Agreement NUE2EH001416

HENNEPIN COUNTY CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING PREVENTION - HENNEPIN COUNTY LEAD POISONING PREVENTION PROJECTHENNEPIN COUNTY, THROUGH ITS DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, IS PLEASED TO SUBMIT THIS APPLICATION TO THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY FOR CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING PREVENTION PROJECTS (CDC-RFA-EH21-2102). HENNEPIN COUNTY HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HCHED) IS SEEKING $275,000 IN ANNUAL FUNDING UNDER COMPONENT B TO REDUCE THE INCIDENCE OF CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING WHILE INCREASING THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN SCREENED THROUGH A MULTIFACETED APPROACH FOCUSED ON PRIMARY PREVENTION.HENNEPIN COUNTY HAS EXPERIENCED A DRAMATIC REDUCTION IN CHILDHOOD LEAD EXPOSURE, HELPED ALONG BY THE EFFORTS OF MANY OF THE PARTNERS REPRESENTED IN THIS APPLICATION. DESPITE THESE EFFORTS, TOO MANY CHILDREN CONTINUE TO BE AFFECTED BY LEAD EXPOSURE, AND THAT EXPOSURE IS NOT UNIFORM ACROSS THE COUNTY. AT THE CENSUS TRACT SCALE, 45 OF MINNESOTA?S HIGHEST RISK TRACTS ARE LOCATED IN HENNEPIN COUNTY. THE HIGHEST PREVALENCE RATE IN A CENSUS TRACT IN HENNEPIN COUNTY IS NEARLY 8.5% AND THE TOP 20 TRACTS ALL HAVE PREVALENCE RATES OF AT LEAST 3.5%, WELL OVER THE COUNTY AVERAGE OF 1.1% AND STATE AVERAGE OF 0.9%. IN 2019, 21,890 HENNEPIN COUNTY CHILDREN UNDER AGE SIX (72 MONTHS) RECEIVED A BLOOD LEAD TEST. OF THOSE TESTED, 198 HAD AT LEAST ONE BLOOD LEAD TEST RESULT OF 5 ?G/DL (MICROGRAMS PER DECILITER) OR MORE. WITH THIS APPLICATION, HCHED EXPECTS TO INCREASE THE NUMBERS OF CHILDREN TESTED WHILE STRENGTHENING OUR ABILITY TO TARGET HIGH RISK POPULATIONS AND CENSUS TRACTS THROUGH DATA ANALYSIS. HCHED WILL SEEK COMMUNITY PARTNERS TO IMPROVE OUR ABILITY TO TARGET INTERVENTIONS TO AT RISK POPULATIONS AND DECREASE DISPARITIES ALONG WITH DECREASING THE LEAD HAZARDS ON HOUSING AND EXPOSURE FROM NON-PAINT SOURCES OF LEAD.THESE OUTCOMES WILL BE ACHIEVED BY STRATEGIES INCLUDING WORKING WITH THE MN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO IDENTIFY THE HIGHEST RISK POPULATIONS AND GEOGRAPHIES THROUGH ANALYSIS OF DATA INCLU DING EXISTING BLOOD LEAD SURVEILLANCE, COUNTY LEVEL DATA ON BIRTHS, AND GIS BASED DEMOGRAPHIC AND HOUSING DATA. HCHED WILL SEEK OUT COMMUNITY PARTNERS WHO SERVE THESE IDENTIFIED TARGETED GEOGRAPHIES AND HIGH RISK POPULATIONS. THESE COMMUNITY PARTNERS WILL BE INVITED TO RESPOND TO A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. ALL TOO OFTEN COMMUNITY PARTNERS ARE ASKED TO ENGAGE THEIR SPECIFIC COMMUNITY AND PROVIDE THEIR INPUT BUT NOT PROVIDED ANY FUNDING FOR THEIR EFFORTS. HCHED WILL AWARD CONTRACTS WITH SUCCESSFUL PROPOSERS TO HELP DEVELOP CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE COMMUNICATION PLANS AND ANY NEEDED MATERIALS AND ALSO DELIVER OUTREACH TO THEIR GEOGRAPHIC AREA OR POPULATION PROMOTING BLOOD LEAD SCREENING, PROVIDING EDUCATION, AND DELIVERING TARGETED INTERVENTIONS. AT THE SAME TIME, WE WILL ALSO IMPROVE OUTREACH TO FAMILIES AFFECTED BY LEAD EXPOSURE THROUGH NON HOUSING BASED SOURCES, ESPECIALLY AMONG IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE POPULATIONS. HEHED WILL DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNICATION PLAN IN COORDINATION WITH OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS AS MENTIONED ABOVE AND WE COMPLETE 4 MEDIA CAMPAIGNS INCLUDING AT LEAST 3 SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS.