Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Louise F. Rogers, Chief, San Mateo County Health
Lizelle Lirio de Luna, Director, Family Health Services
Subject: Agreement with California Department of Public Health for the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing the acceptance of an award from the California Department of Public Health for implementation and administration of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program for the term of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023, in an amount not to exceed $1,020,075.
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BACKGROUND:
Lead poisoning in children remains a major preventable public health problem. Some sources of childhood lead poisoning in the County include: lead paint in homes, ceramic pottery with lead glazes, lead in candies, home remedies that include lead, and lead dust that is brought home from industries where lead is present. There are also a number of children who arrive from other countries who display elevated blood lead levels (BLL).
Even slight elevations in BLL can result in disruptions of growth and development, cause behavioral problems, and affect every organ of a young child. Children are particularly vulnerable because their small bodies absorb more lead, the lead is excreted slowly from their systems, there are no symptoms, and the only way to tell if a child is poisoned is through a blood lead test.
Since January 1992, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Child Health and Disability Prevention Program (CHDP) has required providers to screen children aged six months to six years for the risk of lead poisoning. Per CDPH recommendations, children eligible for the blood test who receive Medi-Cal, CHDP services, or Women, Infants, and Children programs should have a blood test at age 12 months and again at 24 months of age.
DISCUSSION:
Since 1993, the State Childhood Lead Poisoning Preve...
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