New Hampshire’s Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program has collaborated with the Environmental Public Health Tracking Program to braid funding to establish sub-contracts with twelve of New Hampshire’s Public Health Regions to implement local lead primary prevention activities in their high-risk communities. A total of $213,000 was distributed through contracts for the period of April 8, 2020 through June 30, 2021.
Each public health network developed a detailed work plan of primary prevention activities tailored to their region to help reduce the number of children exposed to lead dust from pre-1978 properties. As part of this initiative, the Public Health Regions will be establishing lead exposure prevention Advisory Committees with diverse local stakeholders to foster community-based participation and collaboration. Stakeholders will include members of their local municipalities, schools, medical providers, housing, contractors, parents, real estate, head start, HUD, and childcare facilities. Primary prevention activities that the Advisory Committees will be working on include increasing the number of local contractors certified by the EPA using lead safe work practices in renovation, repair, and painting activities in pre-1978 properties, promoting local building code to reduce dust generating activities in renovation, repair, and painting of pre-1878 properties, and exploring the introduction of EPA Lead Safe Work practice training in local High School Career and Technical Centers.
The NH Public Health Networks that applied for and received lead prevention sub-awards include:
Capital Area
Carroll County
Greater Monadnock
Greater Nashua
Greater Sullivan
North Central
North Country
Seacoast Region
South Central
Strafford County
Upper Valley
Winnipesaukee
To learn more about New Hampshire’s Public Health Regions go to: https://nhphn.org/who-we-are/
Map of NH’s Public Health Regions: https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/rphn/graphics/rphnmap.jpg
