ORDINANCE approving and authorizing application for grant assistance to the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (“CDC”) for the Houston Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention and Surveillance Program); authorizing the Director of the City of Houston Health Department (“Director”) to accept the grant award from CDC for the Grant; declaring the City’s eligibility for such Grant; authorizing the Director to expend the grant funds, as awarded, and to apply for and accept all subsequent awards, if any, pertaining to the Grant

The Houston Health Department (HHD) requests City Council’s approval of an ordinance authorizing a grant application to and the acceptance of an award from the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the Houston Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (HCLPPP). The budget period is from 09/30/2018 through 09/29/2019. The project period is from 9/30/2018 through 9/29/2020.  The total grant amount is $444,901.00.

HHD also requests City Council  authorize the Director or his designee to act as the City’s representative in the application process with the authority to apply for, accept and expend the grant funds, as awarded, and to apply for and accept and expend all subsequent awards, to extend the budget and/or the project period and authorize the Mayor to execute all related contracts, agreements and documents with the approval of the City Attorney in connection with the grant not to exceed five years.

Funding will assist HCLPPP to decrease childhood lead poisoning in the City of Houston. To accomplish this goal, the Bureau of Community and Children’s Environmental Health (BCCEH) will : 1) enhance a surveillance system to better monitor blood lead levels, case management, lead hazard reduction, and conduct  data analysis of Geo-coding mapping, cluster identification and case reporting; 2) increase child lead poisoning awareness and action among the community and  professionals ; 3) ensure that children at-risk for exposure to lead are screened and receive case coordination, and if they qualify, provide their homes the needed environmental investigation and lead hazard reduction; and 4) expand primary prevention activities in Houston’s high-risk zip codes.  

HCLPPP tracks childhood lead data, provides environmental risk assessment and lead education campaigns to various healthcare systems.  Annually, HCLPPP:

• provides case coordination for more than 1025 children with elevated blood lead levels ,

• participates in more than 80 education and outreach events, reaching over 7,500 people in the City of Houston

• performs over 100 environmental home investigations, and

• remediates more than 80 homes.

______________________________

Stephen L. Williams, M.Ed., M.P.A.

Director, Houston Health Department

07/05/2017; 2017-0486

$444,901.00 – Fund 5000 - Federal

Porfirio Villarreal

Telephone: 832-393-5041

Cell:           713-826-5695