Onondaga County Childhood Lead Poisoning Primary Prevention Program (CLPPPP)

The National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) has been providing technical assistance and evaluation support to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) Childhood Lead Poisoning Primary Prevention Program (CLPPPP) since the inception of the initiative in 2007. Each of the 15 grantee programs operates within a unique local landscape that impacts the distinct challenges they face and successes they accomplish.
As a CLPPP Program grantee, the Onondaga County CLPPPP program seeks to achieve five goals:
1. Identify housing at greatest risk of lead-based paint hazards.
2. Develop partnerships and community engagement to promote primary prevention.
3. Promote interventions to create lead-safe housing units.
4. Build lead-safe work practices (LSWP) workforce capacity.
5. Identify community resources for lead-hazard control.

Since 2007, Onondaga County CLPPPP has worked with property owners to remove lead paint hazards from housing in Onondaga County’s target area which includes the entire city of Syracuse, with the following ZIP codes designated as the highest risk areas: 13203–13205, 13207, and 13208. The program targets the highest risk properties including but not limited to (1) homes of at-risk newborns or pregnant women, units where children with blood lead levels between 5–14 μg/dL reside or other units in the same building, (2) units with a history of elevated blood lead cases or other units in the same building, (3) rental units occupied by resettled refugees, and (4) rental units occupied by DSS-funded or Section 8-funded recipients. Requests for inspections on rental units outside of the five high-risk targeted ZIP codes listed above that otherwise meet the program’s inspection criteria for age of housing
(pre-1960), presence of deteriorating paint conditions, and occupant composition (children less than seven years of age, newly arrived refugees, and/or pregnant women) are also accepted and scheduled as staff availability permits. The program also inspects properties identified in collaboration with the local LPPP, in response to referrals from the Healthy Neighborhoods Program, Maternal and Child Health Home Visiting programs, other partner agencies, or code enforcement agencies; in response to requests from owners or tenants; due to observations of deteriorated exterior paint; and as identified during door-to-door canvassing activities.

Some inspections are initiated by the program on the basis of information it already has about a unit or its residents, as noted above. For others, program staff will conduct a telephone survey with a parent or caregiver to determine if the property meets the following risk criteria: (1) a child age seven or under resides or regularly visits or a pregnant woman resides at the property, (2) the property was built before 1960, (3) chipping and peeling paint has been observed, (4) the property is located in the target area, and (5) it is a rental property. If determined eligible, an environmental team member then conducts an onsite lead hazard risk assessment. Risk assessments consist of exterior and interior visual inspection and XRF (x-ray fluorescence) measurement of the concentration of lead on painted surfaces. Dust wipe sampling may be conducted during an initial visit with negative XRF results in properties where children with BLL 5-14 μg/dL reside. If lead-based paint hazards are confirmed by XRF testing during the inspection, the environmental team member conducts a brief lead dust cleaning demonstration and leaves a package of wet wipes with the tenant. At the discretion of the environmental inspection team, renters who are pregnant and parents of children age seven or under may be referred to the public health education team for additional services.

Lead paint dust created during renovation work can substantially increase children’s exposure to lead. The program works to address this problem by training landlords, homeowners, and contractors in lead-safe work practices. This training focuses on reducing the amount of dust generated during paint-disturbing work, containing any dust generated, and thoroughly cleaning the jobsite after work to remove any lead-contaminated dust. At various times over the past years, Onondaga County CLPPPP has offered eight-hour Initial Renovator trainings in English and Spanish, monthly HUD lead-safe work practices training sessions, and or individualized lead-safe work practices educational contacts.