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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Ryan Torres, Lead Action Collaborative, The Medical Foundation, 622 Washington Street, 2nd floor, Dorchester, MA 02124, 617-423-4337 X513, rtorres@tmfnet.org

This presentation will focus on the Lead Action Collaborative's (LAC) efforts to eliminate childhood lead poisoning in Boston. In Boston we have made great progress in reducing childhood lead poisoning rates, yet risk is not equally distributed across the city. Using GIS, LAC learned that five Boston neighborhoods contained 70% of the remaining elevated blood lead cases, with over 50% of the cases in Dorchester alone. These neighborhoods have more housing with risk factors then other neighborhoods. The incomes of both the families and homeowners are low and cause real choices between having a home and having a safe home. LAC recognized that by targeting the lead risks in housing and focusing risk reduction resources, no family or landlord would need to choose between affordability and safety.

Housing that poses a risk to children is often not identified until after a child has been poisoned. LAC has developed tools to identify high risk housing before children are poisoned. Participants will learn about the LeadSafehomes.info website which provides inspection information for every unit in Boston and links to resources to assist homeowners/landlords with dealing with lead. They will also learn about the LAC Community Assessment Tool, a street by street house by house visual assessment looking for exterior hazards. Participants will see how LAC has used these tools to identify the census tracts in Boston that pose the greatest potential risk for lead poisoning and developed a program to deliver resources the families in Boston with the greatest need.

Learning Objectives: