WASHINGTON, DC In an effort to help low-income families in Woonsocket clean up and prevent lead hazards within their homes, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today announced that the city of Woonsocket will receive $2,816,074 in federal funding through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program. Under this program, the funding will be available to Woonsocket to identify and control lead-based paint hazards in eligible low-income, privately owned housing. This funding will allow more parents to identify any lead hazards that may be present in their homes and help prevent and reduce exposure to their children, said Reed. Lead poisoning is a preventable tragedy that dramatically impacts a child's ability to learn and has a significant cost for schools. With the dedicated resources of the state and federal government we should be able to continue to reduce the incidence of lead poisoning in our children. The Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program was established under the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 to provide funding for lead hazard identification and control. The program also allows funding to be used to promote job training and employment activities for local residents and businesses to prevent and identify lead hazards, and to improve public awareness of the risks associated with this toxic substance. Reed has been a consistent supporter of Lead Hazard Control programs funded through HUDs Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control (OHHLHC). Last year, he spearheaded a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committees Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, and HUD, requesting that it provide at least $185 million in funding to the OHHLHC for its lead hazard prevention grant programs. The President proposed cutting funding for the programs by $35 million from last year. In 2003, Reed created the Urban Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Program to fight lead poisoning in communities with the highest rates of lead poisoning in children. The funding, which is also provided through HUDs Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control, makes funds available to areas that have a disproportionately high-percentage of children under age six with dangerous levels of lead in their blood and a demonstrated commitment to fighting the problem. Reed created the program after learning that the demand for funding for efforts to combat lead poisoning far exceeded the budget of the Office of Lead Hazard Control diluting the impact funding could have on any hard hit single city. Reed has also worked in Congress to increase funding to combat lead poisoning and to ensure that children are screened for lead in their blood before entering kindergarten. Reed secured a 25% increase in 2001, and a 10% increase in 2002 in the HUD's budget to remove lead based paint, educate families about the dangers of lead, help cities comply with new federal lead-safety regulations, test low-income housing units for the presence of lead and train inspectors and workers to identify lead contamination in housing. Additionally, Senator Reed has sponsored legislation to require all children covered under federal health programs to be screened and treated for lead poisoning. Reed's provision was included in the Children's Health Act of 2000, which was signed into law in October 2000. It also authorizes the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention to issue recommendations to ensure uniform reporting requirements for blood lead levels at state laboratories and to improve data collection on the number of children screened for lead poisoning annually.