May 16, 2024- Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition, Starting Point and Cleveland Clinic have launched the Lead Safe Child Care Pilot Program to award 30 selected Cleveland child care providers with grant funds and services to address and eliminate lead hazards at their sites.
This program, funded by Cleveland Clinic, is the first-of-its-kind in the nation and an urgent response to eliminate lead poisoning in Cleveland children, who are four times more likely to have elevated blood lead levels than the national average. Currently, 12,604 children receive care at 509 child care sites in Cleveland—273 of which operate out of facilities built before 1978, according to Starting Point’s data bank.
The pilot program is part of an expansion of the coalition’s Lead Safe Home Fund, which provides families and owners with the resources they need to live lead safe. Extending services to child care providers will reduce children’s exposure to lead outside of their homes.