Westchester 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 Westchester 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, Westchester County CLPPPP has worked with property owners to remove lead paint hazards from housing in the target areas of ZIP codes 10701 and 10705 in Yonkers, 10550 in Mount Vernon, 10801 in New Rochelle, and 10606 in White Plains. The program focuses its efforts on housing units having a history of a children with a blood lead level at or above 10 μg/dL residing in them and other housing units in the same building. Other high-risk properties identified for inspection include but are not limited to properties that are vacant and foreclosed; properties that are referred by the
Healthy Neighborhoods Program, Maternal and Child Health Home Visiting programs, other partner agencies or code enforcement agencies; properties for which owners or tenants have requested inspections; and properties that have been identified by program staff through door- to-door canvassing or observations of deteriorated paint. During the past grant year (April 1, 2013–March 31, 2014), Westchester County’s program has also been conducting aggressive door-to-door campaigns in selected smaller target areas within the target ZIP codes. Last year, one such area was a neighborhood within the Yonkers target ZIP code area that proved to be, after looking at housing and poverty statistics and relying on field experience, a specifically high-risk neighborhood for lead poisoning and other health problems. Currently, similar outreach activities are being conducted in the other three target areas of White Plains, New Rochelle, and Mount Vernon. The program also provides follow-up inspections, including educational materials, to residences at which a child’s blood-lead level test result was 10–14 μg/dL. It also provides incentives to residents to encourage participation in the inspections and follow-up.

A routine assessment includes a visual assessment on the interior of the dwelling unit, plus the building’s common areas and exterior, as is indicated “accessible” to children. If chipping and peeling paint hazards are observed, the risk assessor uses the XRF (x-ray fluorescence) analyzer to measure the concentration of lead on painted surfaces. If the home has a child with a blood lead level of 10–14 μg/dL, the assessor takes dust wipe and water samples if no lead-based paint hazard is found using the XRF.

Training on lead-safe work practices
In 2009 and 2010, the Westchester County Lead Primary Prevention Program conducted a lead-safe work practices program that trained landlords, homeowners, contractors, and real estate agents in lead-safe work practices. With the advent of the EPA’s RRP requirement in April 2010, attendance to this class dropped significantly, and the class was discontinued. However, the Primary Prevention Program has subsequently produced three lists of Westchester-area RRP-certified contractors: one each for the southeastern, southwestern, and northern parts of the county. These lists are arranged so that the geographical area covered by these listings overlaps slightly, making full coverage for contractor listings available to a resident in any part of the county. The program also provides a list of EPA-certified instructors so that landlords and homeowners can get themselves or their crews trained in RRP.