MPS lead crisis; RFK Jr. pressed on prevention effort cuts
The Brief
The federal government said its program to address and prevent childhood lead poisoning continues to operate, which came as a surprise to Milwaukee leaders.
City of Milwaukee health commissioner Dr. Michael Totoraitis said he's concerned to hear the federal government thinks it's helping, though it's not.
LaFollette School, Brown Street Academy and Westside Academy remain closed for lead remediation work.
MILWAUKEE - The federal government said its program to address and prevent childhood lead poisoning continues to operate.
That came as a surprise to leaders in Milwaukee, who asked for its help during the Milwaukee Public Schools lead crisis, but were denied. That denial came in April because the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services eliminated the program altogether.
City of Milwaukee health commissioner Dr. Michael Totoraitis said he's concerned to hear the federal government thinks it's helping, though it's not.
What we know
Before U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. even said a word during Tuesday's hearing of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, vice chair and Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin criticized Kennedy over his handling of the department.
"Your decision to fire staff and eliminate offices is endangering children, including thousands of children in Milwaukee," Baldwin said, in reference to the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program.
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Kennedy testified to it later in the hearing.
"We're continuing to fund the program, and in Milwaukee, we have a team in Milwaukee and we're giving laboratory support to the analytics in Milwaukee," Kennedy said. "And we're working with the health department in Milwaukee."
Local perspective
Totoraitis is helping lead the response to the MPS lead crisis.
LaFollette School, Brown Street Academy and Westside Academy remain closed for lead remediation work.
FOX6 News: Has the Milwaukee Health Department received funding at all from the CDC on addressing the lead issue?
Totoraitis: No, we have received zero funding from the CDC on addressing the lead issue, and the formal support has ended with the termination of the childhood lead team.
The city asked the CDC for help back in March. In April, an employee denied the request due to the "complete loss of the lead program."
Dig deeper
Totoraitis said their expertise would have helped more than MPS.
"It came as a pretty big surprise to myself and my team," he said. "There's a very real reality that now, our country is less safe, because there is no one looking for those patterns of potential poisonings at the federal government."
Kennedy has said he hopes to restore the lead prevention program.
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On Wednesday, May 21, MPS announced Starms Early Childhood Center had passed inspection and is now deemed safe.
The school district plans to clean 54 other schools before classes start in the fall.
The Source
The information in this post was collected and produced by FOX6 News.
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