From left, Natalie Whiteman, Chautauqua County Health and Human Services Department lead program coordinator, Chad Bongiovanni, Jamestown Public Schools student support services director, and Lisa Schmidtfrerick-Miller, Chautauqua County Health and Human Services Department healthy communities consultant, discussing the child lead poisoning problem in Chautauqua County during a Jamestown City Council work session meeting Monday. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

According to Chautauqua County Health and Human Services Department officials, child lead poisoning is 100% preventable.

On Monday, Lisa Schmidtfrerick-Miller, Chautauqua County Health and Human Services Department healthy communities consultant, and Natalie Whiteman, Chautauqua County Health and Human Services Department lead program coordinator, gave a child lead poisoning presentation to the Jamestown City Council. The two county health officials were joined by Chad Bongiovanni, Jamestown Public Schools student support services director, because of a new partnership between the county and city school district to bring awareness to the issue.

Bongiovanni said JPS has added lead poisoning to the health curriculum across all grade levels. He said school officials are also educating families in the district about childhood lead poisoning and the need for screening.

Schmidtfrerick-Miller said children should have two screenings by the age of 3. However, it’s believed between 25% to 33% of children in the county are not receiving the necessary screenings. She said the high rate of poverty in the city is one reason why children aren’t receiving the number of screenings they should by the age of 3. She added that parents with children who live in poverty move a lot and don’t necessarily make getting their children tested for lead poisoning a priority.

Whiteman said in 2008, the county started to be on the state’s radar for high rates of lead poisoning when it ranked the fifth highest in the state. She said since then, the county’s ranking has remained high, and averages one child a week testing positive for lead poisoning.

Schmidtfrerick-Miller said most of the cases in the county happen in Jamestown because of the old housing stock. She said 50% of all child lead poisoning cases in the county happen in Jamestown.

She said county health officials will be meeting again with city officials this week on what needs to be done to curtail the problem. She added that county officials have also started a Healthy Housing Coalition to battle the problem.

Bongiovanni said JPS officials are asking parents at universal pre-kindergarten registrations to be sure their children have been screened and referring children for testing when needed. He said school officials are providing early interventions to support children with a history of exposure. He added that the district is also researching policy-level solutions to prevent childhood lead poisoning.

Bongiovanni said children who suffer from lead poisoning have issues such as a lower IQ, memory problems and trouble paying attention. He said some of the students who have lead poisoning have to take special education courses, which adds to the cost of operating the school district. He added JPS expends $25,466 per special education student compared to $10,145 per a general education pupil.

Whiteman said the most prevalent way children get poisoned is by lead paint dust around windows, porches and stairs. She said it’s not cost prohibitive to abate a whole house, but funding can be used to peel away old lead paint from around windows, porches and stairs, with non-lead paint being reapplied to those areas of a house.