BPHC has posted all the reports from its “Community Action on Lead” (CAL) Project, a year-long public conversation, including the final report, A Roadmap of Future Policy and Program Initiatives to Eliminate Lead Poisoning. This effort shows the benefit to leaders of administrative agencies of consultation with the interested public. Dozens of concerned professionals, nearly all working to make the world safer from lead in some way, volunteered time to meet with each other and find consensus on many recommendations that the BPHC has now taken up in its planning. The Roadmap is designed to meet these identified goals:
• Increasing outreach and partnership efforts to raise awareness of the importance of lead
• Testing/remediation of homes and having children tested for blood lead levels frequently
• Increasing staffing to provide more capacity for lead inspections not driven by cases of leadpoisoned children
• More case management support to clients
• Better connection to financial resources to deal with lead and other supports for families and property owners
• Avoid people ‘falling through the cracks’ of a referral hand-off
• Increased availability and reduced barriers to access of funding resources to remove lead
• Coalition building to advocate for larger scale policy changes to prevent lead poisoning
The specific actions to meet these aspirations include:
Short-term Programmatic Actions (current and next year)
• Increase inspection staffing to provide environmental lead inspections and intervention.
• Increase access to training resources (Moderate risk deleading and RRP training) for property owners and contractors.
• Expand case management services scope to provide ‘concierge’ integration with financial resources for property owners and supports for impacted families.
Medium and Long-Term Programmatic Actions (next 2 to 5 years)
• Establish partnerships with social services programs (WIC, DTA, food pantries), communities of faith, neighborhood associations, and other spaces where parents may frequent to both conduct outreach and build additional referral connections.
• Expand current relationships with childcare providers, subsidized housing agencies, community health centers, nonprofit homeownership support and community stability community organizations, and schools to increase outreach.
• Grow online and physical mass media outreach efforts including social media (BPHC Twitter and Facebook accounts) posts, YouTube videos, paid online advertising in social media, billboards, ads on public transportation (buses and subway), and ads on streetside solar trash bins throughout the city.
• Increase connection, coordination on case management, and data sharing with programs that administer or assist in accessing funding resources for deleading.
• Hire additional outreach workers/home health educators.
• Build on existing coalitions such as the MA Public Health Association lead stakeholder group to support policy advocacy work.
• Convene a lead advisory committee to BCLPPP from the stakeholders of the CAL Project and others.
https://www.bphc.org/whatwedo/healthy-homes-environment/lead-poisoning-prevention/Pages/Lead-Poisoning-Prevention.aspx