Running head: Community Assessment Plan Paper 1

Community Assessment Plan Paper

Katie Brogan
Wayne State University

Community Assessment Plan Paper 2

Community Assessment Plan Paper
The US medical authorities diagnosed childhood lead poisoning in 1887; in 1904 this lead
poisoning was linked to lead-based paints. In 1921 national lead company admits lead is a
poison. In 1943 reports conclude the physical and psychological damages caused by lead. In
1971 the lead-based paint poisoning act passed and lead paint was officially banned in the United
States in 1978. (Lah, 2011) With the ban, lead was no longer to be used it household paint,
batteries, gasoline and other items. This ban would only prevent further items being
contaminated with lead, doing nothing for the items that were already a hazard. It is relatively
easy to replace toys, keep antiques away from children along with other adult items that contain
lead, but what about homes themselves. Prior to 1978 household paint contained lead that was
used to cover the walls, doors, molding, window frames, and even some floors. The average cost
to remove lead from a home built prior to 1978 is $10,000, while more cost effective measures
can be used to seal the lead paint the lead is still present. (costhelper.com, 2014) In 1978 the
City of Warren had 57,000 homes, with an unknown number of homes containing lead paint.
(Data.com, 2014) When buying one of these 57,000 homes the buyer is given a blanket
disclosure stating that the home might contain lead and the option to purchase a lead inspection
at the buyers expense. (EPA, 2014) With all of the dangers that exist with the presence of lead
in homes not enough is being done to educate, detect, and remove lead from homes. When
developing a plan it is essential that support is received from community organizations,
community leaders, and residents. The first step to address lead in homes is to test all homes for
lead poisoning to determine the exact extent of the problem. Homes that should be targeted first
are homes with the most vulnerable residents, have children and pregnant women. Residents
should be given an incentive to participate in this program. Once homes are confirmed positive

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for lead three things need to happen, the family needs to be educated on the dangers of lead
poisoning, test the members of the household for lead poisoning, and remove the lead from the
home or for homeowners that refuse list their home on a registry marking their home as
containing lead. The benefits of this plan are it protects the current residents, future residents,
and visitors of the home. This plan will also protect the community as lead can be transferred
from particles that can be tracked from one place to another. This program has the potential to
save the government money, by reducing medical costs that are associated with lead poisoning.
This program also could stimulate the economy in Warren. If families are eligible to use federal
funds to remove the lead, local companies can be used, increasing local residents income. The
challenges of implementing this plan would be that this is an issue that the majority does not
think anything needs to be done about, out of 23 individuals surveyed 53% stated nothing needs
to be done along with 35% not knowing what lead poisoning is. Other challenges include the
cost of implementing this program, gaining access to private residents, getting residents to agree
to testing and educating individuals on lead poisoning. In order for this program to become
reality both community leaders and residents need to be educated in the permanent dangers that
are caused from lead poisoning. In educating the community facts need to be made available
that include what is lead poisoning, who is at risk for lead poisoning, where does lead poisoning
come from, why has banning lead not corrected the problem, along with receiving data from
homes within the area that contain lead. The results of this initiative can be measured by the
number of homes testing positive for lead with the number of homes that have lead removed.
Along with the number of current cases of lead poisoning to the number of lead poisoning after
homes are eradicated of lead

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Bibliography
costhelper.com. (2014, December). Costhelper home and garden. Retrieved from
http://home.costhelper.com/lead-paint-abatement.html
Data.com, C. (2014, December). City-Data.com. Retrieved from http://www.citydata.com/city/Warren-Michigan.html
EPA. (2014, February 20). United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from
http://www2.epa.gov/lead/real-estate-disclosure
Gordon, J. N., Taylor, A., & Bennett, P. N. (2002, May). US National Library of Medicine
Natioanl Institutes of Health. Retrieved from Lead Poisoning: case studies:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1874356/
Lah, K. (2011, May 08). Toxipedia. Retrieved from History of Lead Use:
http://www.toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/History+of+Lead+Use

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