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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.
Long Beach, California - Long Beach Lead Education and Outreach Project
EPA has selected the City of Long Beach Health and Human Services Department in Long Beach, California, for a Targeted Lead Grant.
The Long Beach Health and Human Services Department intends to use EPA grant funds to increase understanding of lead hazard risks among parents and childcare providers residing in two Zip codes in the city that are suspected of having childhood blood lead levels higher than other Zip codes within the city. The primary focus of this concentrated outreach and community awareness effort will center on residents of Cambodian-Khmer ancestry living in these two Zip codes, who appear to be at significantly higher risk of lead poisoning due to a comparative lack of awareness on lead poisoning and/or available resources to adequately address lead poisoning prevention efforts.
Milestone objectives for this project are:
- Conduct one-to-one health education outreach sessions with parents, childcare providers and tenants at multi-unit buildings in the two zipcodes on lead hazard issues and follow-up with participants to determine if children are screened for lead poisoning,
- Conduct lead poisoning prevention training sessions for childcare providers and organizations associated with parenting and childhood development in the two Zip codes,
- Conduct health education sessions for 500 Cambodian-ancestry parents and childcare providers in the two Zip codes to determine their awareness of lead hazards, and
- Develop culturally-relevant visual educational tools to assist in lead poisoning prevention programs attuned to Cambodian-ancestry residents of Long Beach.
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.