In May 2016, the State of Michigan created the Childhood Lead Poisoning Elimination Board to “address the need for ‘…a coordinated effort to design a long term strategy for eliminating child lead poisoning in the state of Michigan.'”
A 2014 University of Michigan Study estimated that lead poisoning costs the State of Michigan $270 million annually from increased crime, incarceration costs, lost earnings, and special education. The Board’s November 2016 report makes such recommendations as:
- Require that 100% of children are tested for lead poisoning at 9 to 12 months, and at 24 to 36 months of age. (p. 16)
- Require a mandatory Lead Inspection/Risk Assessment at point of sale or transfer for homes older than 1978. (p. 21)
- “The state must find adequate, dedicated, and sustained funding sources to support the gamut of measures necessary to treat and prevent lead exposure: (testing, data, remediation and abatement, training, outreach, etc.)” (p. 27)
In November 2016, the State announced that $23.8 million had been allocated directly for lead abatement for Fiscal Year 2017, a tremendous increase over the State’s current funding levels.
It is CLEARCorps’ hope that using the increase in funding to follow the Board’s recommendations will reduce and eventually eliminate lead poisoning in the State of Michigan.
