County Gets $2 Million State Grant To Lessen Children’s Lead Exposure

(August 5) San Bernardino County will soon utilize more than $2 million in funding provided by the state of California to ensure that children are not exposed to lead.
Since 1991, the state has allocated Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program funds to
local health departments, including the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, to eliminate childhood lead poisoning. The San Bernardino County Department of Public Health will use this grant award to continue providing Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program case management activities, environmental investigations within homes to identify lead hazards and unsafe lead-work practices, and outreach and education strategies that target parents and health care providers to increase blood lead screening of children at high risk for elevated blood lead levels.
According to Trudy Raymundo, the director of the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, “On August 5, 2013, the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health received Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program application instructions from the state, which included the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health’s total basic allocation amount of $2,680,543 for the four-year period of July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2018. The application was due by October 8, 2013.”
On October 3, 2013, San Bernardino County Chief Executive Officer Greg Devereux approved the submission of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program grant application, in the amount of $2,680,543, for the period of July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2018. On March 19, 2014, the state notified the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health that grant awards for jurisdictions receiving Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program funds would be for three years instead of the four-year period stated in the grant application process. After applications were received, the state determined that use of a four-year award would eliminate flexibility for local jurisdictions to adjust budget line items over the grant period.
“On July 7, 2014, the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health received the grant award from the state, in the amount of $2,004,766, for the three-year period of July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2017,” Raymundo told the board of supervisors in a report dated August 5. “The state requires a resolution from the board of supervisors indicating the person authorized by the board to execute the grant award documents.”
Raymundo said the resolution for acceptance of the $2,004,766 grant that was presented to the board this week because Tuesday’s board of supervisors meeting was “the first date available following the required operational, fiscal, and legal reviews. Approval of this award by the board after the July 1, 2014 start date will have no impact on the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program services and activities.”
This week, the county board of supervisors  accepted the grant award from the California Department of Public Health for continued support of the Department of Public Health’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program services and activities, in the amount of $2,004,766, for the period of July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2017.
In doing so the board  authorized board chairwoman Janice Rutherford to execute all documents in relation to the grant award for the period of July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2017, as required by the California Department of Public Health.

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