Introduction
The Lead Contamination Control Act of 1988 authorized the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to initiate program efforts
to eliminate childhood lead poisoning in the United States. As a
result of this Act, the CDC Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch
was created, with primary responsibility to:
-
Develop programs and policies
to prevent childhood lead poisoning.
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Educate the public and health-care
providers about childhood lead poisoning.
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Provide funding to state and local
health departments to determine the extent of childhood lead
poisoning by screening children for elevated blood lead levels,
helping to ensure that lead-poisoned infants and children receive
medical and environmental follow-up, and developing
neighborhood-based efforts to prevent childhood lead poisoning.
-
Support research to determine the
effectiveness of prevention efforts at federal, state, and local
levels.
Accomplishments
Since its
inception in 1990, the CDC childhood lead poisoning prevention effort
has:
-
Funded nearly 60 childhood lead poisoning prevention
programs to develop, implement,
and evaluate lead poisoning prevention activities;
-
Provided technical assistance to support the development of state
and local lead screening plans;
-
Fostered agreements between state and local health departments and
state
Medicaid agencies to link surveillance and Medicaid data;
-
Provided training to public health professionals through CDC’s Lead
Poisoning Prevention Training Center;
-
Supported the formation of collaborative relationships
between CDC’s funded partners and other lead poisoning prevention
organizations and
agencies (e.g., community-based, nonprofit, and housing groups);
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Developed the Childhood Blood Lead Surveillance System through which
46 states currently report data to CDC;
-
Expanded public health laboratory capacity in states to analyze blood
and environmental samples and to ensure quality, timely, and accurate
analysis of results; and
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Published targeted screening and case management guidelines which
provide health departments and health care providers with standards to
identify and manage children with elevated blood lead levels.
Future Directions
One of the goals of Healthy People 2010 is the elimination of
childhood lead poisoning as a public health problem.
CDC, HUD, EPA, and other agencies have developed a federal interagency
strategy to achieve this goal by 2010. The key elements of this
interagency strategy include:
-
Identification
and control of lead paint hazards;
-
Identification
and care for children with elevated blood lead levels;
-
Surveillance
of elevated blood lead levels in children to monitor progress; and
-
Research
to further improve childhood lead poisoning prevention methods.
Eliminating Childhood Lead Poisoning: A Federal Strategy
Targeting Lead Paint Hazards
Consistent
with the interagency strategy, CDC developed the following objectives
-
Increase
the proportion of Medicaid-enrolled children screened for lead
-
Ensure
appropriate management of children with elevated blood lead levels
-
Expand
initiatives to educate public health professionals, parents of
at-risk children, and the public about lead poisoning
-
Support
innovative approaches to identify children at risk for lead
exposure and ensure their housing is lead-safe before children are
exposed
-
Improve
the state-based blood lead surveillance system to determine
populations at risk and direct intervention efforts
-
Conduct
research on innovative methods to identify and reach children at
risk for lead poisoning
- Provide
international leadership in lead poisoning prevention
Program Funding
General Information
CDC provides funding to state and local health departments to do the
following:
- Develop and/or continue to implement childhood lead poisoning elimination plans
- Target resources to those children at
highest risk for lead poisoning
- Develop or enhance surveillance systems to monitor childhood lead poisoning
prevention efforts
- Assure primary prevention activities among pregnant women and those
families with children at high risk for lead poisoning
- Assure timely and appropriate case management of children with
elevated blood lead levels
- Develop or enhance strategic partnerships with organizations and agencies
involved in environmental and child health activities
- Coordinate with organizations and agencies involved in lead-based
paint hazard reduction activities and development of protective policy
- Evaluate programmatic impact on childhood lead poisoning prevention
efforts
Funded programs
are
expected to serve as catalysts and models for the development of
non-funded programs and activities in other states and communities.
Further, funded programs should create community awareness of the
adverse health effects associated with childhood lead poisoning (e.g.,
among community and business leaders, the medical community, parents,
educators, and property owners).
Health departments are expected to work
with interagency and community-based organizations that support the
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program’s agenda. These
organizations may represent the interests of public health, the medical
community, housing owners and organizations, business, labor, parents,
and residents of the community. The organizations may include, but are
not limited to, neighborhood groups, churches, fraternal organizations,
civic organizations, local businesses, and financial institutions that
have a vested interest in the viability of the community. Community
organizations should be encouraged and supported in their efforts to
help with program components such as follow-up, education, and hazard
remediation.
In 2003, CDC
awarded $31.7 million to 42 state and local health departments to
develop and implement comprehensive lead poisoning prevention efforts.
To contact a childhood lead poisoning prevention program (CLPPP) in your
area please visit
CLPP Programs.
Cooperative Agreement Announcement
The
NCEH RFA EHO6-602 (formerly RFA AA244), Childhood Lead Poisoning
Prevention Program (CLPPP) has been published. The deadline for applying for fiscal year (FY) 2006-20011 funds
is February 21, 2006.
You can view the
FY 2006-2011 cooperative agreement announcement
by clicking the link provided. You can access the online
application at
http://www.grants.gov.
Funding Resources
-
CDC
Procurement and Grants Office (PGO)
- PGO is responsible for the administration of federal procurements
and grants. This site contains information about grant and
cooperative agreement funding opportunities throughout CDC.
-
CDC
Grants Forms – This site contains links to
on-line forms.
-
Federal Register- 2003, 2001, 2000, 1999 – The link to the Federal
Register. Past federal cooperative agreements were published in
the Federal Register. Beginning 10/1/05, grant announcements
will no longer be published in the Federal Register.
-
Grants.gov - This site allows organizations to electronically find
and apply for competitive grant opportunities from all Federal
grant-making agencies.
Project
and Surveillance Technical Officer Contacts
Project
Officers
CDC Project Officers provide assistance to all funded Childhood Lead
Poisoning Prevention Programs (CLPPP) on the design, development,
management, and evaluation of their lead poisoning prevention
programs. To contact the Project Officer for your CLPPP, please call
(770) 488-3300.
Mailing
address for all Project Officers:
Childhood Lead
Poisoning Prevention Branch
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
4770 Buford Highway NE (Mail stop F-60)
Atlanta, GA 30341
Surveillance
Technical Officers
CDC Surveillance Technical Officers provide assistance to all funded
CLPPPs on the design, development, management, and evaluation of their
surveillance systems. Additionally, they provide epidemiologic
expertise in lead poisoning prevention applied research and
interventions. To contact the Surveillance Technical Officer for your
CLPPP, please call (770) 488-3300.
Mailing address for all Technical Officers:
Childhood Lead
Poisoning Prevention Branch
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
4770 Buford Highway NE (Mail stop F-60)
Atlanta, GA 30341
Last updated: 02/05/2008