The Florida Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (FHHLPPP) seeks to promote and create healthy and safe homes for Floridians
by raising awareness, coordinating services, and conducting needs assessments and evaluation.
The Division of Environmental Health and the Division of Family Health Services at the Florida Department of Health work collaboratively with
the county health departments to implement the program. Primary funding is received from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The FHHLPPP is currently operating in Duval, Orange and Miami-Dade Counties. The goal of the programs in each county is to educate families,
and connect them to local health and housing programs that can help reduce or eliminate hazards in the home before someone gets sick or hurt.
The program is implemented in partnership with existing home visiting programs, such as Healthy Start and Head Start. Home visitors assess housing
during routine home visits using a home assessment tool, and then they make referrals to the local FHHLPPP Healthy Homes Coaches for follow-up.
Healthy Homes Program Activities
- Raising Awareness: The FHHLPPP works to increase understanding of environmental health risks in homes (e.g., lead-based paint, mold,
carbon monoxide, pesticides and hazardous household products) by hosting trainings for health and housing professionals, providing group and
one-on-one family-centered education, and conducting outreach to realtors and landlords.
- Essentials for Healthy Homes Practitioners Course: This is a two-day course for health, housing and social service personnel who work in housing. It explains how
housing hazards impact health, and details simple steps to creating and maintaining healthier homes. Following the training, individuals may sit for the Healthy Homes Specialist credential
exam through the National Environmental Health Association.
- Home Visitor Training: This two-hour course teaches home visitors (i.e., Head Start and Healthy Start) how to complete a one-page home assessment tool. Participants
also learn how to deliver general healthy homes education and support to families during routine home visits.
- Group and One-on-One Family Community Education: Healthy Homes Coaches are the backbone of the FHHLPPP. Healthy Homes Coaches have technical training and experience working on
health and housing issues. Their background enables them to lead group trainings as well as provide personalized, one-on-one support to families working to create healthier homes. The FHHLPPP
Healthy Homes Coaches work to ensure their health education materials and topics are presented in a way that meets the individual needs of their communities. Coaches use their familiarity with
the community to provide culturally appropriate messages and materials in one-on-one and group settings.
- Service Coordination: The FHHLPPP coordinates services and referrals for families enrolled in the program. The FHHLPPP Healthy Homes Coaches connect families to local
health and housing programs to help them meet the needs identified by the coaches to prevent, reduce or eliminate environmental health risks in their homes.
- Needs Assessment and Evaluation: The FHHLPPP strives to understand and meet the unique health and housing needs of Floridas families and communities. Broad and local needs
assessments and evaluations are built into the FHHLPPP. The program works with our partners, including universities and other state agencies, to pinpoint areas of need, assess housing and
health risk factors, and identify disparities. In addition, the FHHLPPP conducts routine evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the program.
Healthy Homes Consortium
The Florida Healthy Homes Consortium is a
statewide, voluntary partnership of organizations and individuals who are committed to promoting housing that is healthy, safe, affordable and accessible through community and state
level actions. The purpose of the Consortium is to establish a network for sharing expertise and for working together to improve quality of life, reduce health care costs, and promote
community and economic development by reducing existing health hazards in housing and preventing new hazards from developing.
Core Healthy Homes Principles
A healthy home is accomplished by following these design and maintenance principles:
- Keep it Clean
- Keep it Dry
- Keep it Ventilated
- Keep it Contaminant-Free
- Keep it Pest-Free
- Keep it Safe
- Keep it Maintained
- Keep it Ready
For more information, visit our Tips for a Healthy Home
page.
Website Links for Information About Healthy Homes Info and Topics
