Rensselaer 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 Rensselaer 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 2009, Rensselaer County CLPPPP has worked with property owners to remove lead paint hazards from housing in target areas within the city of Troy, including ZIP codes 12180 and 12182, and the city of Rensselaer, including ZIP code 12144. The program defines its primary target group as target area residential homes that were built before 1980 with a resident child 17 years or younger, regardless of blood-lead level. It gives highest priority to homes of children with a confirmed blood lead level between 5 and 14 μg/dL. The program also conducts inspections in conjunction with the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP), in that this program inspects housing units before a child referred by CLPPP moves into it. Other units targeted for inspection include but are not limited to homes of at-risk newborns or pregnant women and units with a history of elevated blood lead cases or other units in the same building. The program also inspects properties because of referral from Maternal and Child Health Home Visiting programs, the Early Intervention Program, other partner agencies (e.g., inspections of units for DSS foster care placements), code enforcement agencies, and/or other partner organizations (e.g., the Homebuyer’s Incentive and Rehabilitation programs of the Troy Rehabilitation Improvement Program). It also inspects properties due to requests from owners or tenants, observations of deteriorated exterior paint, and identification through door-to-door canvassing.

Most inspections are conducted by EPA-certified staff of the Rensselaer County Cornell Cooperative
Extension under a contract with the program. The risk assessment protocol consists of exterior and interior visual inspection, an XRF (x-ray fluorescence) measurement of the concentration of lead on painted surfaces, dust wipe sampling, and soil sampling. The program also provides educational materials, remediation supplies, and other incentives to increase resident knowledge and encourage resident action.

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.