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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.
Gary, Indiana - Gary Safe Homes Partnership Project
EPA has selected the City of Gary Health Department in Gary, Indiana, for a Targeted Lead Grant.
This project will establish an in-home education and inspection program that will provide support for pregnant women and new parents living in homes with lead hazards. This support will include tools for preventing exposure to lead.
Specifically, the Gary Health Department, in partnership with local prenatal care coordination programs, including faith-based and other community groups, will train local prenatal care staff and community health workers to incorporate the following activities into their outreach efforts:
- Advise each pregnant woman and new mother on lead poisoning risks and the importance having mothers and young children tested for the presence of lead in their blood;
- Perform visual assessments for lead-based paint hazards in the home;
- Provide for risk assessments in homes where hazards are suspected;
- Issue work orders requiring property owners to remediate lead hazards; and
- Provide free lead-safe work practices training for property owners, contracted renovators, and participants in the EPA-funded Gary Brownfields Job Training Program and the Indiana Plan Pre-Apprenticeship Program.
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.