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The Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning, a local nonprofit that has been in existence since 2000, is in danger of losing federal funding integral to its program.
Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, which began with the Lead Contamination Control Act of 1988, was abruptly cut.
CPLP was awarded funds through Causewave Community Partners in 2023. The awarded funds, which also were given to 10 other organizations, were to help provide better access to lead prevention resources, increase community knowledge and skills, expand educational efforts, and develop new partnerships.
While the amount of grant funding to each organization is not readily available, the program was intended to help support them until 2026.
At the local level, $310,000 in funding for the city’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention program was unanimously approved by the county Legislature in February 2024, ensuring that lead testing in affected family homes would continue.
“To date, we have not seen any plans to reinstate the CDC’s Childhood Lead Poisoning program. If these cuts are permanent, it will mean fewer resources to keep Monroe County children safe from lead exposure,” says Mel Callan, CPLP chair.
In April, 26 staffers from the In April, 26 staffers from the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program were placed on administrative leave as part of a restructuring at the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC. Although HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has claimed he still plans to fund the program, no staffers have been reinstated, with their termination set for June 2.
Lead paint poisoning is a lifelong problem that harms children under six in particular, causing behavioral problems, hyperactivity, hearing problems, growth delays and lowered IQ. Adults can suffer from high blood pressure, kidney problems and reproductive issues if they are poisoned by lead, often as they become older and their bones lose calcium.
Locally, most lead poisoning occurs from paint in Monroe County’s old housing stock. According to the most recent census data, 57.4 percent of its houses were built before 1970 (when New York banned lead-based paint) and 70 percent were built before 1978 (when the federal government followed suit).
Areas with large proportions of housing built before 1970 include the city of Rochester (particularly the southeast, with a rate of 87 percent), the towns of East Rochester (82 percent), Irondequoit (80 percent), Brighton (64 percent), and the village of Fairport (71 percent).
Since its inception, CPLP has been instrumental in creating the Lead Safe Monroe County Plan, pushing for the Rochester City School District’s adoption of a Lead Safe Schools Policy, lowering the Monroe County Department of Health environmental investigation to 8 mcg/dL, increasing one- and two-unit structures’ inspection rates, and aiding 29 municipalities assessing their lead paint safety regulations.
In the last year, CPLP has presented to more than 150 community members and provided thousands of lead poisoning prevention materials countywide.
These efforts appear to have helped address the issue. Data from the state Department of Health shows that tested children with an elevated blood level between 5 and 10 mcg/dL has dropped in Monroe County by 7 percentage points (from 9.16 to 2.12 percent) from 2009 to 2020. Tested children with an EBL level above 10 mcg/dL dropped from 2.13 to 0.18 percent in that same time period.
However, CPLP stresses that past success does not mean the work is over. It notes that “during each of the past five years, around 250 children were poisoned by lead in this county” and that “even (at) low levels, lead affects children’s development” for life.
“The secretary of Health and Human Services must put children’s health first and reinstate the program immediately in order to ensure their vital work is not disrupted further,” Callan says.
Jacob Schermerhorn is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and data journalist.
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