Rhode Island

Rhode Island’s main source of childhood lead exposure is lead paint in older housing, as 80% of Rhode Island’s housing stock was built before 1978. The state designates cities with a child poverty rate greater than 25% as Core Cities. These Core Cities also have the oldest housing stock in the state, with 94% of residences built before 1978 and 61% of residences built prior to 1940. The percentage of pre-1940 housing in the Core Cities is approximately twice the statewide rate, and the 2016 statewide proportion of children under the age of 6 with a first-time blood lead level (BLL) > 5 µg/dL was 3.6% (834 children).

The Core Cities in Rhode Island have historically had higher rates of elevated child BLLs. From 2013–2016, the rate in Rhode Island (and Core Cities) remained stagnant.

The Rhode Island Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (RI CLPPP) and the Childhood Lead Action Project (RI CLAP) worked with the Core Cities of Providence and Pawtucket to address the issue. Since 1992, RI CLAP has worked to eliminate childhood lead poisoning through education, parental support, and advocacy. They have come to be recognized as a leading education and information resource by Rhode Island communities and a catalyst for social change.

RI CLPPP and RI CLAP assisted these Core Cities in crafting policy to enforce the standards of Rhode Island’s Renovation, Repair, and Painting Rule more aggressively. This rule requires contractors, painters, and other workers doing renovation, repair, or painting on pre-1978 homes or childcare facilities (including day cares, preschools, and elementary schools) to be employed by licensed Lead Hazard Control Firms. The policy’s goal is to decrease exposures due to unsafe lead work practices in older homes and buildings.

Additionally, both Providence and Pawtucket are now rigorously enforcing lead-related minimum housing standards by requiring a lead certificate of conformance to resolve all housing-related complaints and open violations. Previously, cases were closed once a violation was fixed.

In 2017, Rhode Island’s elevated BLL prevalence dropped to 2.9%, meaning that 158 fewer cases of child BLLs ≥5 µg/dL were reported in 2017 than in 2016. Although the incidence in many of the state’s Core Cities continued to be approximately twice as high as in the rest of the state, the rate in the two Core Cities that implemented the renovation policy changes, Providence and Pawtucket, saw the most notable improvement, accounting for 87 fewer cases in 2017 than in 2016.

RI CLPPP and RI CLAP will continue to meet and partner with the Providence and Pawtucket municipalities to develop and review additional policies for combating childhood lead exposure in older housing. Pending additional funding, the state plans to expand these policies and procedures statewide, with the collaboration between RI CLPPP and RI CLAP leading the way.