Preventing lead poisoning in philadelphia through surveillance, education, and enforcement - city of philadelphiadepartment of public healthlead and healthy homes programapplication for: CDC…

Preventing lead poisoning in philadelphia through surveillance, education, and enforcement - city of philadelphiadepartment of public healthlead and healthy homes programapplication for: CDC RFA-EH21-2102CHILDHOOD lead poisoning prevention and surveillance of blood lead levels in children project title:the philadelphia project: preventing lead poisoning in philadelphia through surveillance, education and enforcement the philadelphia department of public health (pdph) lead and healthy homes program (lhhp) has over forty years of experience improving conditions which cause childhood lead poisoning through education, hazard remediation and enforcement of housing codes. We have reduced the number of children with an elevated blood lead level of 10 ?g/DL or higher to 324 in 2019, expanding our mission to address those children with elevated blood lead levels between 5 and 9 ?g/DL. However, our goal of eradicating lead poisoning remains elusive. Many of philadelphia?s children are spending increased time in buildings housing childcare establishments with chipping and peeling paint due to age, deferred or poor maintenance, unsafe remediation or wear and tear on high friction and impact areas such as doors and windows creating poisonous lead dust. We recognize that there is no safe level of lead and that more work needs to be done.also of concern are the blood lead screening rates, which have dropped significantly over the past year due to the covid-19 pandemic. The lhhp project, preventing lead poisoning in philadelphia through surveillance, education and enforcement will provide individually targeted education on the importance of blood lead screening and community-level education and advocacy on the elimination of lead hazard exposures in high risk ZIP codes, which will be identified using health and housing surveillance data. We have established an expanded set of partners ? Community-based agencies, community development associations, legal services and childcare providers to develop shared advocacy strategies including proactive BU ilding code inspection and enhanced childcare health code regulation. This project will build on our previous endeavors, including close collaboration with community groups and partners in the targeted ZIP codes to create a community-specific strategic plan to address blood lead screening and lead hazard exposure. Lhhp will provide virtual home visits, where education and home hazards assessments will be provided. Community level education will be provided for childcare staff in the target ZIP codes. The lhhp will recommend that childcare facilities proactively obtain lead safe/lead free certification. Lastly, lhhp will engage our community partners for advocacy and enforcement to improve the health and safety of childcare facilities in the target ZIP codes.