Child Health Champion Campaign Pilot Program

Eleven communities participated in the Child Health Champion Campaign pilot program that was designed to empower local citizens and communities to take voluntary steps toward protecting their children from environmental health threats, such as lead, asthma triggers, and unsafe drinking water.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiated the Child Health Champion Campaign to meet specific goals of former President Clinton's Executive Order, Protection of Children from Environmental Health and Safety Risks, and EPA's National Agenda to Protect Children's Health from Environmental Threats. The Child Health Champion Community Campaign helps families and communities make informed decisions concerning environmental exposures which may cause illnesses in their children.

The Child Health Champion Community Campaign pilot effort was aimed at helping EPA learn:

• What information communities need,
• How that information is best conveyed,
• What additional help communities need to sustain the efforts, and
• What works in different kinds of communities

A Child Health Champion Community Team was established in each pilot community with participants from six sectors of the community: health care, education, government, citizens/citizen groups, business/agriculture groups, and the sector of contractors, building managers and maintenance workers. The teams:

• Identified local children's environment health issues, such as a high incidence of hospital admissions and school absences due to asthma,
• Set community-specific goals to protect children, and,
• Developed action plans to achieve those goals.

The pilot projects were located in the following communities:

Results from the 11 pilot projects were used to develop plans for the campaign. An independent evaluator, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. , evalutated both the national program and the 11 pilot projects.