TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an amendment to the existing grant agreement between the City of Long Beach and the State of California Department of Public Health, to shorten the term from June 30, 2018 to June 30, 2017 and to accept additional funding of $94,781, for a total grant amount of $859,157 to continue the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program to reduce the incidence of childhood lead exposure in Long Beach. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
On October 8, 2013, the City Council authorized a grant agreement with the State of California Department of Public Health to accept funding in the amount of $764,376 for the period of July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2018. However, on June 6, 2014, the State issued Agreement Number 14-10023 providing an amount of $859,157 and shortening the term of the agreement to July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2017.
The primary goal of the CLPP program is to prevent lead poisoning in children under the age of six years through outreach to the community including parents, teachers, caregivers, physicians, neighbors and friends. The secondary goal is to ensure that children with lead poisoning are followed by a physician and live in a lead-safe environment, through case management by a Public Health Nurse and inspections by a Registered Environmental Health Specialist.
Lead is a highly toxic metal that was used for many years in products found in and around homes, and was banned for use in paint in 1978 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). An elevated blood lead level in a child is defined as five or more micrograms of lead in a deciliter of blood. Lead poisoning is primarily a problem for children under the age of six, both because they tend to be more “auto-oral exploratory” (i.e., they put more things in their mouths) than older children and adults, and because children exhibit more pronounced health symptoms than do adults at the same blood lead level. In addition, lead poisonin...
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