2017 CHIP Funding Greatly Increases Lead Abatement

Exterior site prep

Lead Abatement work site (old wood siding and windows)

Beginning in 2017, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Service’s Lead Safe Home Program (LSHP) will greatly increase lead abatement throughout the State of Michigan.   MDHHS’s annual lead abatement budget will increase by an unprecedented $23.8 million dollars from new Medicaid Children’s Health Insurance Progam (CHIP) funding, a tremendous increase over the State’s previous funding levels.  Primary prevention services and case management for families will also be increased.

Dust from deteriorating lead based paint is the most common source of lead poisoning in children.  Lead abatement is the removal, enclosure, or encapsulation of deteriorating lead based paint.  Safely prepping and painting surfaces is considered to be a temporary fix.  Water-based lead hazards such as old fixtures will also be tested for and repaired when they present a hazard.

Lead abatement has a minimum return on investment of $17 per $1 invested, and can have an ROI of over $200 due to preventing the increased special education, incarceration, lost productivity, and decreased lifetime earnings costs associated with the type of brain damage lead poisoning causes in young children.

Visit michigan.gov/leadsafe for more info.

 

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