SUPPORTING THE CDC HEALTHY HOMES AND LEAD POISONING PREVENTION PROGRAM

WHEREAS, approximately 450,000 children aged one to five have blood lead levels above the reference level recommended by the Advisory Committee for Childhood Lead Poisoning and Prevention and the CDC and need services to help reduce their exposure; and

WHEREAS, by eliminating the outdated ‘level of concern’ for blood lead level and moving towards primary prevention models, the CDC acknowledges that 365,000 more children than had previously been reported need services to address blood lead levels; and

WHEREAS, the CDC Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program funds 35 states and localities to educate the public, train health-care providers and public health officials, screen children for lead poisoning, inspect homes, ensure lead-poisoned infants and children receive medical and environmental follow-up, track surveillance data, and support enforcement and case management activities for lead poisoned children; and

WHEREAS, the CDC Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program served 850,000 children in the last ten years, reduced by 200,000 the number of children who have been exposed to lead in the last 3 years—saving $7.5 billion in lifetime productivity, and tested more than four million children and conducted case management for nearly 30,000 children last year; and

WHEREAS, the CDC Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program plays a critical role in targeting other Federal investment in the remediation of lead hazards such as the HUD Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes Initiative programs; and

WHEREAS, lead poisoning prevention activities are cost-effective for cities, with every dollar invested in lead paint hazard control resulting in a return of $17–$221due to prevention of health care costs, cognitive and behavioral impairment, reduction of IQ, need for special education services, reduction in lifetime earnings, and reduction in propensity to engage in violent criminal activity; and

WHEREAS, the cut from FY2010 appropriations of $34.9 million to the FY2011 level of $29.3 million eliminated cities from being eligible for direct cooperative agreements, constraining cities with the greatest need to only work through the state programs; and

WHEREAS, in FY2012, the Program was cut 93% to $1.995 million, eliminating all state cooperative agreements and Federal funding for local lead programs; and

WHEREAS, in the face of the severe cut, all state lead poisoning prevention programs were notified by the CDC that cooperative agreements would end September 1, 2012, crippling local city lead prevention efforts; and

WHEREAS, the President’s FY2013 budget proposal calls for a Healthy Homes and Community Environments program combining lead and asthma, with total funding of only $27.3 million, $29.4 million below the FY2011 level of both programs and $38.4 million below the FY2010 level of both programs when cities were eligible for cooperative agreements, and anticipating on 15 state cooperative agreements;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on Congress and to fund the CDC Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Program at least at $50 million, allowing cities to be eligible for direct cooperative agreements and accounting for the greater number of children needing services based on the new reference levels; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on the Administration to provide bridge funding to keep the critical CDC Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention program running until the FY2013 budget is set.