OHIO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 246 North High Street Columbus, Ohio 43215 john R. Kasichr'Governor Richard l-lodgestirector of Health Jeff Cooper, MS Health Commissioner Public Health Dayton and Montgomery County 117 South Main Street Reibold Building Dayton, OH 45422-1280 Dear Commissioner Cooper: In August 2016, I sent a letter to you outlining the Ohio Department of Health?s (ODH) plans for enhanced monitoring of delegated boards of health for performance and compliance with regard to conducting public health lead investigations. A lot of work has gone into improving lead investigation rates over the past six months. ODH has worked with your staff to discuss your lead program?s outstanding caseload, and has initiated conference calls to discuss performance, compliance and technical issues. These calls began in December 2016 and will continue in addition, Angela Evans from our lead program staff will soon be scheduling site visits with your lead program staff to observe onsite investigation procedures and ensure follow-up monitoring of cases where the property owner has been nonwcompliant. We appreciate your partnership as we work together to ensure that every child with a lead level of 10 micrograms/deciliter or higher receives a lead investigation. Across delegated authorities, a high number of cases are being closed for ?no contact.? The Public Health Lead Investigation protocol manual prescribes ?no less than three (3) attempts should be made to contact the parent or guardian by phone, in person or through formal written correspondence.? ODH encourages at least one onsite contact attempt be made. if the family has moved, it is vital to seek contact information through other sources. For example, the manual states that the investigator shall contact the primary health care provider, Coordinator, case manager, or other sources to obtain contact information. if no progress is made with these sources, the property owner should also be contacted as an alternate means of seeking contact information. Of course, initiating a lead investigation quickly upon receiving a referral increases the chances of successfully making contact and conducting an investigation for the health of the child. ODH is closely monitoring requests to close a case for "no contact? to ensure that all potential sources of contact information have been pursued. Attached is a spreadsheet of open lead poisoning referrals for your lead program dating from 2011- 2016. ODH is requesting an action plan outlining your agency?s approach for closing the open referrals. This action plan should be submitted to ODH by February 24, 2017. Every effort should be made to determine the outcome for each open referral, particularly those dated prior to 12/31/2015 as those cases should now be closed. if it is determined that a referral never received appropriate followup (at least 3 contact attempts), steps should be taken to contact the parent/guardian to schedule a lead investigation. Please contact Pam Blais, ODH Environmental Supervisor, at 614?728-3105, with any questions you may have regarding this letter. Again, thank you for your partnership in this important work. Sincerely, Director of Health Certified Mail Receipt Number 701600910 0000 4112 0048 Cc: File