EPA Announces the Selection of Organizations to Receive Funding for Healthy Learning Environments

New York to Benefit

WASHINGTON (Oct 8, 2020) — In celebration of Children’s Health Month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to award a total of $290,000 in EPA funding through the agency’s FY 2020 Children’s Healthy Learning Environments Grant Initiative.

These EPA grants support capacity-building to address children’s environmental health in school and childcare settings.

“Reducing exposures to unhealthy school and childcare settings through the adoption of healthy environment best practices, which both projects aim to do, can lead to improved children’s health, attendance, concentration, and performance,” said Jeanne Briskin, Director of EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection.

EPA is pleased to announce that the New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH) and the Community Development Institute (CDI) have been selected to receive funding to support a project to build capacity for children’s environmental health in schools and childcare settings, respectively, under EPA’s Children’s Healthy Learning Environments Grant Initiative. EPA anticipates it will award NYS DOH and CDI cooperative agreements in the amount of $145,000 once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied. Funding these projects furthers the Administration’s goals of more effective partnerships through collaboration with impacted stakeholders and effective platforms for meaningful engagement.

The New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH) will work to expand and implement statewide the Clean, Green, and Healthy Schools Program. The multi-disciplinary program provides resources to school employees, students, and parents best practices to increase knowledge and empower school occupants to improve their school’s environmental health. The project is expected to reach all 4,433 schools in the 700+ school districts across New York State, including New York City, the largest school district in the country. Adoption of this school environmental health program will improve environmental conditions in school buildings across New York and support improved health, attendance, and academic performance for approximately 3.2 million school aged children.

The Community Development Institute (CDI), a non-profit organization based in Colorado, will collaborate with childcare administrators to improve policies and practices in early childhood settings. CDI will provide trainings, facility assessment tools and information to reduce environmental hazards to over 200 Head Start/Early Head Start centers across 22 states, as well as at least 20 Tribal childcare centers/family childcare homes in California.

The EPA is grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the awardees and looks forward to further enhancing its partnerships to address protecting children’s environmental health in schools and childcare settings.

To learn more about what EPA is doing to protect children’s health visit: www.epa.gov/children  and www.epa.gov/schools.