LEAD ISSUES IN MILWAUKEE ADVOCACY

Our Goal

The League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County hosted a series of events, including two Forums and two Roundtable Discussions about lead issues in Milwaukee between November of 2018 and March of 2020. With these events we hoped to bring together community leaders, mothers of affected children, scientists, practitioners, government experts, and policy makers to examine the many issues surrounding lead poisoning in Milwaukee. We will continue to host such events to encourage finding solutions to this longstanding issue.  Our goal continues to be to eliminate lead poisoning in Milwaukee.

Our Response

After hosting a Public Forum in November of 2018 on “Addressing Lead Issues: A Milwaukee Focus,” our Roundtable Series began by focusing on issues surrounding testing children for lead poisoning.  We then hosted a second Roundtable to examine policies and practices regarding testing for sources of lead poisoning, abatement, and prevention.  Policy makers, government experts, scientists, community leaders, practitioners, and other experts and officials were invited to the table for each event. Then a second Public Forum in March of 2020 focused attention on the North Side of Milwaukee. 

1. Addressing Lead Issues: A Milwaukee Focus (November 17, 2018)

• Three panelists discussed lead issues in Milwaukee from the perspectives of a Health Department official, an epidemiologist, and a lead outreach program coordinator
•  Addressing Lead Issues PIF 11-17-18
• A video of the entire Forum - 11-17-18 Forum Recording via Facebook
• Neighborhood News article by Abby Ng about the Forum, “Forum surfaces ongoing controversy over prime cause of lead poisoning in Milwaukee”
• View Article

2. Roundtable #1 – Testing Children for Lead Poisoning (May 18, 2019, Summit Place, West Allis, WI)

• Agenda Roundtable #1
• Agenda
• Final Report on Roundtable #1
• Final Report: Roundtable #1
• WUWM Interview by Susan Bence, "The League Of Women Voters Fosters The 'Citizen Component' To Addressing Lead" (May 14, 2019)
• View Article

3. Roundtable #2 – Testing for Sources of Lead and Preventing Lead Poisoning (October 22, 2019, Summit Place, West Allis, WI)

• Agenda – Roundtable #2
• Agenda
• Final Report on Roundtable #2
• Final Report: Roundtable #2
• WUWM account of the Roundtable #2 by Susan Bence,  “Preventing Lead Poisoning in Milwaukee-League of Women Voters Advance Discussion”  
• View Article

4. Forum Lead Issues in Milwaukee: A Focus on the North Side

• Thirteen panelists representing state and local policy makers, community activists and mothers of affected children provided priorities and resources to address lead poisoning on the North Side of Milwaukee
• Addressing Lead Issues PIF 3-6-20
• A Summary of the two Forums and two Roundtables, “What Have we Learned after Two Public Forums and Two Roundtables on Lead Issues in Milwaukee?”
• Summary