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EPA Lead Program Grant Fact Sheet
EPA's Targeted Lead Grants
EPA's Targeted Lead Grant Program funds projects in areas with high incidences of children with elevated blood-lead levels in vulnerable populations. In 2007 the Agency awarded more than $5.2 million in grants under this ambitious program. These targeted grants are intended to address immediate needs of the communities in which they are awarded, and will also highlight lead poison prevention strategies that can be used in similar communities across the country.
EPA's lead program is playing a major role in meeting the federal goal of eliminating childhood lead poisoning as a major public health concern by 2010, and the projects supported by these grant funds are an important part of this ongoing effort. According to the Centers for Disease Control in 1978 there were 13.5 million children in the US with elevated blood lead levels. By 2002, that number had dropped to 310,000.
Lexington, Kentucky - Identifying Medicaid Children for Obligatory Screening
EPA has selected the University of Kentucky Research Foundation in Lexington, Kentucky, for a Targeted Lead Grant.
The Foundation will use the grant money to provide outreach information to the population and health providers in five counties in Kentucky, and to collect information from the population and health providers to increase blood lead screening for Medicaid-enrolled children.
Medicaid enrolled children ages 0 to 72 months were reported as having three times the risk for elevated blood lead levels than their non-Medicaid peers, but had much lower screening rates. In 2005, the lead screening rate was 8.7% statewide, but was estimated at only 2.26% for Medicaid-enrolled children, even though Federal regulations mandate that all Medicaid-enrolled children be lead tested at one and two years of age.
Partnering with the eight identified local health providers in the five-county area, the University will:
- increase the screening rates for Medicaid-enrolled children
- educate health providers and enable them to focus the message on their clientele, and
- conduct data gathering, patient screening, residential inspections and risk assessments.
The results of this project can be extrapolated to other counties and States with Medicaid-enrolled children.
For more information about EPA's Lead Program, visit www.epa.gov/lead or call the National Lead Information Center at 1-800-424-LEAD.