The Child Lead Exposure Elimination Commission’s five-year action plan places a priority on the prevention of exposure before children are lead poisoned. To gather feedback on the plan, a series of public forums are being held to gather input and feedback from federal, state, and community leaders, healthcare providers, private sector/academic experts, privacy law experts, local health departments, childcare centers and homeowners and tenants.

One forum is scheduled for July 11 from 4-6:30 p.m. at the Quality Inn Forward Conference Center, Damon 1, 2980 Cook Road in West Branch. Additional forums are being offered in other areas of the state. Visit Michigan.gov/leadcommission for more information.

CLEEC’s five-year action plan builds upon the work of the former Child Lead Poisoning Elimination Board with 51 specific action steps to be taken to benefit the health of Michigan’s children. Federal, state, local and community leaders, healthcare providers, private sector/academic experts, privacy law experts, local health departments, childcare centers and homeowners and tenants are invited to attend any of the forums to provide input on the next steps for implementation.

“We are hoping to gather feedback from a wide variety of individuals on how to move forward,” Denise Bryan, District Health Department No. 4 health officer, said. “The action plan is the state’s guide to a state free of lead exposure.”

The commission was established in 2017 to coordinate all efforts for the elimination of child lead exposure statewide, including the implementation of recommendations from the report A Roadmap to Eliminating Child Lead Exposure issued by the Child Lead Poisoning Elimination Board in November 2016. The commission prioritized the recommendations and grouped the objectives into six categories: regulations/laws, funding, testing, data, partnerships and education.

For more information or to review the action plan, visit Michigan.gov/leadcommission. To submit comments on the action plan, email MDHHS-leadcommission@michigan.gov.