Secretary Martinez has announced that HUD will award $6.5 million to seven organizations throughout the country to help prevent childhood lead poisoning in the home. The grants - made under HUD's Operation LEAP (Lead Elimination Action Program), a new Bush Administration initiative - will enable children to grow up in homes that are free from lead-based paint hazards.

"No parent should have to worry about the dangers of lead in their home," Secretary Martinez said. "By joining forces with the private sector, we take a significant step toward reaching our goal of eliminating lead poisoning in our homes and protecting the futures of all our children."

A unique feature of LEAP is that it is designed to use federal grant dollars to stimulate private sector contributions. The grants announced by the Secretary are expected to generate an additional $17 million from businesses, nonprofit organizations and other non-government sources to protect children from potentially deadly lead hazards.

Lead poisoning in children can reduce IQ, cause learning disabilities and impair hearing. Children who have elevated blood lead levels often experience reduced attention spans, hyperactivity, and can exhibit behavior problems. At higher exposures, lead can damage a child's kidneys and central nervous system and cause anemia, coma, convulsions and even death. While average blood lead levels have declined significantly over the past decade, one in six low-income children living in older housing is believed to be lead poisoned. Pregnant women poisoned by lead can transfer lead to a developing fetus, resulting in adverse developmental effects.

The awards were announced on Wednesday at The National Center for Healthy Housing's 10-Year Anniversary Reception in Washington, DC. President Bush has supported the national effort to eliminate this preventable childhood disease, and HUD funding for HUD's Lead Hazard Control Program has increased significantly - from $80 million in FY 2000 to a proposed $136 million in FY 2004. The 2004 budget proposal, released on Monday, includes $10 million for Operation LEAP and $25 million for an innovative lead hazard reduction demonstration program.

Since HUD's Lead Hazard Control program began in 1990, 26 million fewer homes have lead-based paint. In a report released last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that the percentage of children with high blood lead levels has been cut in half since 1990, although the prevalence of childhood lead poisoning in low-income older housing remains high. Ten years ago, there was no federal funding for local lead hazard control work in privately owned low-income housing; today, the HUD program is active in over 250 jurisdictions across the country.

• Read the full news announcement and learn more about the individual programs HUD's LEAP awards will support.
• Learn more about HUD's Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control.
• Read more about HUD's proposed FY 2004 Budget.