Attorney General Peter Kilmartin and the Children’s Health Forum (CHF) today announced $850,000 in competitive grant awards to five Rhode Island organizations working in various aspects of lead poisoning prevention in the state. The grants, totaling $850,000 over two years, will fund a variety of important programs, including the development of a Lead Court in the City of Providence and case management for low income families through the Medical Legal Partnership for Children at Hasbro Children’s Hospital.
The programs will be administered through the Healthy Kids Collaborative, a statewide lead safety initiative in Rhode Island conducted as a partnership of the Children’s Health Forum and the Office of the Rhode Island Attorney General, funded by DuPont, and implemented with the input and guidance of community leaders, health officials, and lead poisoning prevention and remediation experts. The five organizations receiving funding were selected through a competitive process by the Healthy Kids Collaborative after an RFP was issued in December 2010.
Attorney General Peter Kilmartin said, “Great progress to end childhood lead poisoning has been made, but lead is still a threat to many children. I commend the Healthy Kids Collaborative for their efforts to eradicate lead poisoning and I look forward to working with our community partners on these opportunities for enforcement.”
“Rhode Island continues to set the national standard for lead paint remediation, removal, education and safety,” said Children’s Health Forum Co-Chair of the Board, the Honorable Kurt L. Schmoke. “The Children’s Health Forum is excited to announce this latest round of funding to ensure the state’s continued leadership as we fight to eradicate the threat of lead paint poisoning in Rhode Island.”
Previously announced grants from the Healthy Kids Collaborative include funding for the remediation of lead hazards in up to 600 low income units in Providence. In the first two years, more than 400 units have been completed and awarded lead safe certificates. Grants also provided funding for three years for education and outreach services to communities throughout the state. The bold new initiatives funded by this third round of allocations will build on that work and take healthy housing in new directions in the state. The organizations, a short description of the programs, and the amount each is receiving are as follows:
City of Providence. $400,000 over two years The City of Providence will establish a program to assist in the municipal enforcement of lead poisoning prevention laws. In addition to launching a Lead Court modeled after other successful issue-based courts, the City will offer a comprehensive lead awareness class, working with the Childhood Lead Action Project, to increase the ability of inspectors and others who make home visits to effectively identify lead paint hazards and to report those hazards under the Housing Code.
Rhode Island Center for Law and Public Policy. $150,000 over two years The Rhode Island Center for Law and Public Policy is acting on behalf of the Medical Legal Partnership for Children, located at Hasbro Children’s Hospital and with the support of Roger Williams University School of Law, Health Leads, and the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, to improve the health and well-being of low income children and their families by partnering legal service and health care providers to address the social causes that contribute to childhood illness. This new program will provide bilingual and free legal assistance, case management, and advocacy for low income residents struggling with lead contaminated and unhealthy housing.
Rhode Island Legal Services. $150,000 over two years Rhode Island Legal Services will provide free and bilingual legal assistance, case management, and advocacy for low income residents struggling with lead contaminated and unhealthy housing. This project will help low income tenants enforce legal rights to lead safe and healthy housing and engage in legal advocacy to expand those rights.
Childhood Lead Action Project. $100,000 over 18 months. Childhood Lead Action Project (CLAP) will provide training to municipal employees, code inspectors, nonprofit housing property managers, and others on lead poisoning prevention law enforcement topics throughout the state. A new curriculum will be developed to implement these trainings.
Providence Plan. $50,000 over two years. The Providence Plan will conduct data analysis, mapping and other research to support lead poisoning prevention law enforcement. This project will create a web-based lead compliance mapping tool that puts data at the fingertips of municipal enforcement agents and community advocates, and will allow users to generate custom maps with data from several lead compliance sources.
The Children’s Health Forum is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing and eradicating childhood diseases that disproportionately affect underserved communities. CHF focuses on outreach, public education, and collaboration with states and cities seeking programs and funding to promote prevention. CHF’s primary activity has been in preventing childhood lead poisoning, the most significant and preventable environmental health problem facing children in the United States.
The Healthy Kids Collaborative is headquartered at 146 Clifford Street, in Providence.
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