Resource Details

Keeping Children Safe From Lead Poisoning

Year Developed: 2018

Resource Type: Publication.

Primary Audience: Clinicians, Enabling Staff
Secondary Audience: PCAs

Language(s): English

Developed by: National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership (See other resources developed by this organization).

Resource Summary: This story series follows the medical-legal partnership at Erie Family Health Centers, which built a multi-state coalition to secure children’s health by updating federal regulations related to lead levels in federal housing.

Resource Details: The first sign that a home has a lead hazard is usually when a child tests positive for lead poisoning. Many homes are not assessed for lead hazards before families move in. Because of Chicago’s old housing stock, providers at Erie Family Health Centers vigilantly check children’s lead levels every six months until the child is four, and whenever there is a new risk factor introduced into a child’s environment. That’s where, in 2012, just months after moving into a new home with her federal Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), Lanice Walker’s four year-old daughter screened positive for lead poisoning

Resource Topic: , Special and Vulnerable Populations

Resource Subtopic: Enabling Services (ES), Policy and Advocacy, Social Determinants of Health (SDOH).

Keywords: Access to Care, Health Systems, Medical legal Partnerships (MLPs).