Get the lead out

California requires testing children considered at greatest risk for lead poisoning, which includes those enrolled in Medi-Cal and other programs for low-income children. We recently learned that over a nine-year period, DHCS did not ensure that millions of children were tested properly. Nearly half of 2.9 million eligible one-and 2-year-old children were not tested at all, and another 740,000 missed one of the two required tests. As a member of Assembly Health Committee, I participated in a hearing of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to review findings by the California state auditor about programs for children at high-risk for lead poisoning. The California Department of Public Health oversees the statewide lead prevention program, and the Department of Health Care Services overs