General Problem-----Hilltop Problem-----Increased Awareness-----Testing Children-----Identify Contaminations

The Lead Problem in Hilltop Neighborhood

The Hilltop Neighborhood is a high-risk area for very serious lead contamination problems. The evidence to support this includes reports by the state department of health, the age and condition of the housing, the proportion of people living in non owner occupied housing, the mobility of the population, and the current problems limiting the effectiveness of health care providers to deal with the problem. All this suggests both the need and urgency of this particular problem in this particular area.

Department of Health Designation

In 2001 the Indiana State Department of Health designated the Hilltop Neighborhood as a potential danger areas for elevated blood levels. This was based on test results on children in the area and other potential risk factors. This action calls attention to the potential for lead hazards in the area and these conclusions are supported by the other data presented below.

Age of Housing

A prime indicator of whether or not a housing unit has a potential lead problem is the age of the housing. Studies indicate that unless something has been done to them, 80% of the housing built prior to 1978 have will have potential lead problems and that 90% of homes built prior to 1940 may have substantial problems.

According to the 2000 census, Hilltop Neighborhood has the oldest housing stock in the county with 41.2% of the housing units in census tract 509 constructed prior to 1940, 51.6% constructed before 1950 (almost twice the high risk level), 63.5% before 1960, 77.4% before 1970, and 86.3% prior to 1978 when the use of lead paint was banned. In other words, almost all of the housing units in the Neighborhood are at high risk for lead contamination.

Non-owner occupied housing

Abatement procedures that will address lead hazards are less likely to have been performed in non-owner occupied housing. According to the 2000 census, in census tract 509 most of the units are non-owner occupied. Thus the potential for lead contamination problems is very substantial in this area.

Mobility

Another factor of importance in identifying potential lead hazards is the extent of mobility in a particular area. If the population turnover rate is high, a greater number of persons are at risk as they live for a short period of time in a lead infested living unit, then leave. This is exactly the problem in the Hilltop area. Again, according to figures in the 2000 census, in census tract 509 more than 73% of the population has lived in their current housing for less than four years. As one member of the staff of Hilltop Community Medical Center noted: "...the Neighborhood is like a breeding ground for lead based problems. They stay here for a while in poor conditions, absorb the lead and leave so a new batch of kids can get the same experience."

Deferred Maintenance

The existence of deferred maintenance on older homes is an indicator that lead abatement may not have taken place. In the Hilltop Neighborhood there are 508 housing units that are in structures built before 1940. In the spring of 2003 a visual examination of a sample of the structures done by staff of the Community Research and Service Center at Valparaiso University indicated evidence of substantial deferred maintenance in over 75% of inspected units. Examples include visible signs of chipped or deteriorating paint on the sides of the building, stairwells and windows.

It would be difficult to put a precise figure on how many households and how many persons may currently be exposed to a lead hazard problem in the Hilltop Neighborhood. But based on these statistics, a conservative estimate would be that as many as one-half of the households could possibly have lead contamination problems. This means that hundreds of children in the area are probably at risk for problems related to elevated lead blood levels.

Lack of Adequate Resources

The problems of lead contamination for persons living in the Hilltop Neighborhood are compounded because of the absence of various resources to help deal with the problems. For example, the Governor of the State of Indiana in 2002 declared the Hilltop Neighborhood to be an underserved area for medical care. This means there are not enough physicians to serve the population in the area. Prior to 2004, there was no program for the regular and systematic testing of children in the Hilltop Neighborhood.

To add to these conditions, the ability of local health officials to manage the lead problem has been severely hampered by Porter County's currently economic problems. As the result of budget cuts there have been cut backs in services related to inspections on sanitation and unsafe housing, child immunizations, and water testing. For example, the County Health Department in 2002 served 2,000 fewer children than the previous year and gave out 4,000 fewer shots. As a result of cuts, the Porter County Health Department in 2000 had only 19 employees for every 100,000 people. The national average is 138, and the Indiana average is 46. Such cutbacks make it very difficult to make significant progress on lead contamination problems and point to the need for outside help that can be provided by the VU COPC New Directions program.