Overview
The Kentucky Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program is administered by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The program provides a primary and secondary level of childhood prevention from pre-existing lead poisoning in children as well as housing hazard prevention.
If lead poisoning prevention is at the primary level the program provides lead screening to people who are at most risk. The program also provides education and other exposure to citizens of Kentucky to understand the dangers of lead poisoning and provide strategies on how to prevent exposure from housing hazards and prenatal lead poison in children.
In the case of Secondary lead poisoning prevention, the program provides several services from examining lead levels in patients’ blood to studying any epidemic outburst that can result in mass lead poisoning in children. The program also provides several medical services as well as environmental prevention by educating the citizens with the help of health professionals and collaborating with other programs in the state of Kentucky.
Program Background
In 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services determined the need to prevent lead poison in children resulting in formulating the goal to eliminate increased blood lead levels (BLLs) in children. The goal has established a result of many qualitative studies showing increases amount of lead in children’s blood levels in the state which was toxic for the body. From then on, the program has been able to decrease the lead level in children by providing testing and other preventive measures. The objective of the program is to eliminate the toxically high lead level in children in the state to create a healthy society and future for the children in the state.
To be eligible for the primary blood screening, the applicant should be either a pregnant woman or a child who is 6 years of age or younger. The applicant should be a Medicaid receiver living within the program’s targeted areas. The applicants who reply “yes” or “don’t know” are also considered for the primary blood screening testing.
The program also spreads awareness about lead prevention in kids by identifying lead-hazardous areas in the house and a balanced diet with improved calcium and vitamin C and a reduced-fat level. Fats are not as good as they help in absorbing the lead in the body.
For housing built before 1978: If your house was built before 1978, use house cleaning methods like dusting, mopping damping, and vacuum regularly which help in cleaning the toxic lead. It is advisable, to leave the shoes outside which is not easily accessible to your kids. Make a habit of regular hand washing your children with good hand soap, especially before eating.
Use barriers to prevent children from reaching areas in the house that might be hazardous like a recently painted wall. You can place some hurdles in front of the door or wall or a window that is being painted or is chipped off. To stop the child from reaching out to it, you can also use masking tape to cover the chipped areas which you can remove once it is permanently restored.
If you have a pregnant woman or young toddler in the house at the time of renovating or restoring the house a better option would be to relocate them to a safer place until the work has been done. Make sure the company you are hiring for painting and renovating purposes follow lead safety practices that could be daily cleaning at work, removing shoes before entering a clean space, and more.
For more information regarding the Kentucky Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, you can call the program’s office at (502) 564-2154. Visit the program office to find the application form and other important documents.
