Healthy Homes for Childcare

Program Name: HUD - Healthy Homes for Childcare
Point of Contact: Peter Palermo, Director – CLPPP; Sonia Haynes, Program Manager – Healthy Homes for Childcare

Program Description

Federal Grant Name: HUD Healthy Homes Demonstration Grant
Programs Supported Through Funding: HUD Healthy Homes for Childcare
Amount Applied For: $1,000,000.00
Funds Awarded: $875,000.00
Point(s) of Contact for Project(s):

• Peter Palermo, Director, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
• Sonia Haynes, Program Manager, Healthy Homes for Childcare

Why Apply for this Grant?

To continue and expand environmental health and safety interventions made available for home-based family childcare providers in Philadelphia. This program will provide services that will protect children in home-based childcare from the risks of housing related environmental health and safety hazards (EHS), specifically those caused by inadequate indoor air quality and pests-related asthma triggers. Funds will be used to assess and remediate multiple hazards and to educatechildcare providers on methods to improve home air quality, minimize risks, and reduce asthmas triggers that affect the health of children enrolled in the childcare home.

Project Objectives

During the course of the 36-month grant period, the performance objectives are: 1) Complete EHS assessments to 100 home based childcare provider homes; 2) Educate 200 childcare providers on methods to reduce the risks that EHS hazards present to children; 3) Perform contractor remediation of EHS hazards in 50 of the 100 homes assessed; 4) Educate & train additional 200 childcare providers on methods to identify EHS hazards in the home, and how to take independent and effective action to reduce the risks of hazards; 5) Educate childcare providers how to make their own non-toxic cleaning products; 6) Enroll 35 childcare provider leaders in a “Train the Trainer” project to educate their network of childcare providers about the Healthy Homes model; 6) Refer 50 childcare providers to “Pest-Free Maintenance” for pests evaluation and treatment; 7) Provide follow-up treatment to 15 childcare providers with excessive pests/rodent problems; 8) Conduct a series of four “Safer-Spaces” Workshops to educate providers about maintaining a safe and pest-free home; 9) Conduct a mini-conference for homebased childcare providers; 10) Conduct 27 environmental health and safety workshops/trainings; and 11) Distribute 50 recycling buckets filled with information about recycling, city health services and non-toxic cleaning products.

Job Creation

3

 

Healthy Homes Foster Care Program

Program Name: Healthy Homes Foster Care Program
Point of Contact: Peter Palermo, Application Manager; and Adina Ekwerike, Program Manager

Program Description

The Healthy Homes for Foster Care Program is an holistic approach to addressing a variety of environmental health and safety concerns including: mold, lead, allergens, asthma, carbon monoxide, home safety, pesticides, and radon. The grant focuses on low-income foster care homes with children less than age six. The program address housingrelated conditions that threaten the health and safety of foster care children and their families through education and remediation of those hazards.

Amount Applied For: The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was awarded $875,000 through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, under the Lead Hazard Control/ Healthy Homes Demonstration Grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Philadelphia Department of Public Health is a sub-recipient, along with Erie, PA.
Amount Awarded: $434,320 for a Healthy Homes Foster Care Program, over three-years

Use of Programs Funds

The allocated $434,320 will be distributed as follows: Class 100 - $218,735; Class 200 - $168,386; Class 300 - $35,661; and Class 800 - $11,538.

A portion of program funds are used for consumable services for foster care families that include: allergen-testing supplies (to collect and analyze dust samples for rat, mouse, cockroach, and dust mite allergens); moisture meter (to collect instant results of moisture levels); Tool Kit of resources (lead hazard control and healthy homes supplies); educational and training materials; office supplies; and remediation for improving conditions and/or removing hazards that creates a risk to the health or safety of residents in the home.

Rationale

This project will: evaluate at least 65 foster care provider homes for health and safety hazards; remediate those hazards in 32 homes; and educate at least 150 individuals on home health and safety hazard identification and remediation.

Jobs Created/Retained

1