As 2025 comes to a close, Better Health Partnership is proud to celebrate significant progress in launching the Lead Safe Screening & Testing Program and mobilizing cross-sector partnerships with a bold, shared goal: ensure every child in Cleveland is tested for lead poisoning before their 2^nd birthday.

This year, we put in place the essential building blocks for collective impact:

• Established a cross-sector steering committee to guide program implementation.
• Began collecting electronic health record data from five health systems to establish shared quality improvement goals and track implementation progress.
• Partnered with clinical leads at each health system to drive quality improvement initiatives.
• Formed community-based partnerships to increase access to lead poisoning prevention education and lead testing.
  
  
  

Recent highlights:

Success Measure: Percentage of children aged 12-23 months who receive at least one lead test during a wellness visit before their 2^nd birthday.

• As of October 2025, we’re at 73%, up from 69% in June 2025. Our goal is to reach 79% by June 2026.
  
  

Noteworthy Interventions:

• Implemented in-office testing at four clinics – a best practice to increase lead testing rates.

• Onboarded a CHW Lead Navigator and added volunteer support to improve timely follow-up for children with an elevated blood lead level.

• Three health systems implemented internal dashboards to monitor lead testing rates by practice and provider for continuous improvement. 

• Collaborated with Bright Beginnings to transition the Parent Lead Support Program to the Better Health Partnership Pathways HUB in January 2026.

• Integrated lead poisoning prevention education at one health system’s residency program.

• Partnering with Neighborhood Leadership Institute to develop lead prevention education during pregnancy and distributing to families at community events.

• All health systems attended the Lead Walk & Rally to provide lead testing and connect families to care. Check out the event recap video. 
  
  

As we look ahead to 2026, Better Health Partnership is excited to continue mobilizing partnerships to expand community-based testing, ramp up lead testing awareness campaigns, and continue spreading best practice interventions. Together, we can ensure every child in Cleveland is tested before their 2nd birthday. 

If you’re already engaged in this program, thank you for your dedication to the lead poisoning crisis. If you want to get involved, visit www.leadsafecle.org/ or email us at info@betterhealthpartnership.org.