? Childhood lead poisoning remains a major threat to young children in the state of Florida.? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 22,000 children may be? poisoned in the state (CDC 2003 Program Announcement 03007, Appendix III). Children under? the age of 72 months of age, particularly children under 36 months of age who are low-income,? living in pre 1978 housing, or children who are minority or foreign born are at an especially high? risk for lead poisoning. These populations are the target of childhood lead poisoning prevention? efforts in Florida.? Since the establishment of the Florida Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program? (FL CLPPP) in 1992 the program has expanded from a basic surveillance program to a? comprehensive statewide program that works to prevent childhood lead poisoning and ensure? children with lead poisoning receive effective case management services. Between 1992 and? 1999 three county health departments (Miami-Dade, Duval, and Pinellas) in Florida concurrently? sought and received independent funding from the CDC to operate Childhood Lead Poisoning? Prevention Programs (CLPPPs). The statewide FL CLPPP was created in 2003 when the state?s? lead poisoning funding scheme changed from four separate grants to one overarching? cooperative agreement between the CDC and the Florida Department of Health (FL DOH).? Presently the state and local CLPPPs work as one to design, support and coordinate activities? such as establishing protective policies, developing partnerships, and integrating lead safety? measures into the operation of existing health, housing and social service programs through? training and risk education.? Over the past three years the FL CLPPP has become more sophisticated in its approach to? addressing this completely preventable condition. Significant improvements have been made to? data systems used to conduct blood lead testing surveillance and analysis. The process by which? the FL CLPPP coordinates and monitors case management also continues to improve. In the? near future all county health departments will begin receiving Medicaid reimbursement for case? management activities and high quality case management services will be continued as case? managers statewide participate in an interactive on-line training and utilize the FL CLPPP?s? updated Case Management Guidebook.? The program continues to experience a significant rise in the level of support for lead? poisoning prevention activities across the state. This increased support and commitment has? resulted in the creation of Florida?s Strategic Plan for the Elimination of Childhood Lead? Poisoning by 2010 (The Elimination Plan) and its 2006 Action Plan. The driving force behind? the statewide initiative, the Committee for the Elimination of Childhood Lead Poisoning, is? growing and members bring much needed attention to this often overlooked childhood health? issue. The robust planning, monitoring and evaluation framework developed through the? strategic planning efforts exemplify the diverse backgrounds, skills and resources brought to the? committee by its 60 members.? Building on this solid foundation, the FL CLPPP proposes to continue its work with the? Committee for the Elimination of Childhood Lead Poisoning to institutionalize lead poisoning? prevention in the state by establishing protective policies and expanding prevention initiatives in? high-risk rural and urban areas. Towards this end, the FL CLPPP has proposed two new subgrantees? and additional staff in the state CLPPP office in Tallahassee to implement new? protective policy, primary prevention and evaluation activities included in this cooperative? agreement proposal.? At the state level, 2.5 new positions (a Healthy Homes Project Coordinator, an Evaluation? Specialist and an Administrative Assistant) are proposed to advance the programs activities? towards the lead poisoning elimination goal. These individuals will assist in building and? maintaining strategic partnerships with health, housing and community organizations,? conducting thorough and useful evaluation activities and leveraging new public and private? resources to remediate lead hazards for children at high risk. One of these positions, the Healthy? Homes Project Coordinator position will be placed in the Florida Department of Health?s? Division of Family Health. The primary focus of this project, called the Florida Healthy Homes? Project, is to enlist existing home visitation programs targeting pregnant women and high-risk? children in the identification and remediation of lead hazards in homes before a child becomes? poisoned.? Refining the collection and use of surveillance data for evaluation purposes is also a? focus of this proposal. The proposed Evaluation Specialist position will enhance the programs? ability to collect and utilize qualitative data and surveillance data to monitor case management? services; assess the performance of providers in compliance with the blood lead screening? recommendations; monitor sub-grantee primary prevention activities and evaluate the overall? effectiveness of strategic planning efforts.? Enhanced capacity at the state level will expand the FL CLPPPs ability to provide? additional technical support and trainings to local sub-grantees and partners in the areas of grant? writing, partnership building and evaluation. The proposed positions will work to ensure? counties have the capacity needed to develop proposals that effectively leverage additional? resources to lead poisoning prevention efforts.? New lead poisoning prevention initiatives are occurring at the local level as well. In? addition to the existing programs in Duval and Miami-Dade Counties, two additional high risk? counties, Hillsborough and Palm Beach, have been included as sub-grantees in this proposal.? These counties have the second and third highest number of lead poisoned children each year in? the state. The two new programs will focus on developing partnerships to establish local? ordinances and will work to enhance lead education and screening activities by training the staff? of existing child health and social service programs.? All four sub-grantees will play a key role in enrolling families in Florida?s Healthy? Homes Project. They will also work to leverage public and private resources to connect families? enrolled in the project to free or reduced cost lead hazard reduction services. Through this? primary prevention project Duval County will target foster home families and neighborhoods? identified with significant numbers of lead poisoned children and older homes. Hillsborough and? Palm Beach will do the same while Miami-Dade will take the lead on targeting foreign born? children and will focus on both traditional and non-traditional sources of exposure including take? home exposure from occupations or hobbies, the use of home remedies and lead glazed pottery.? With the continued support from the CDC these program components will grow and? garner additional backing from key partners including child health advocates and state and local? governments. As these activities continue the number of childhood lead poisoning cases in? Florida will continue to decrease until reaching the ultimate goal of elimination.?
