Office of Children's Health

Protection

OCHP'S VISION

All children, especially those in underserved communities, thrive by
living, learning, and playing free from environmental exposures that
contribute to harmful health effects.

Children comprise

about 24% of the

US. population>, but

Protect and promote children's environmental health.

OCHP'S MISSION

they are 100.% of

the natiio n's fu ture.

OCHP'S GOAL

Apply and promote the use of science, policy, partnerships, communications, and research to further
protect all children from the health effects resulting from harmful environmental exposures.

PROTECTION OF CHILDREN'S HEALTH FROM ENVIRONMENTAL
HAZARDS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER

Protecting children from the effects of environmental exposure during early life (from conception,
infancy, early childhood through adolescence until 21 years of age) is imperative because children are at
greater risk to environmental contaminants than adults due to differences in behavior and biology, and
because the effects of early life exposures may also arise in adulthood or in later generations. Many
indicators of children's environmental health show improvement over the past years. Unfortunately,
some rates of exposure and/or health effects have not improved or have gotten worse, and many
environmental hazards disproportionately impact minorities and children living in poverty.

The Office of Children's Health Protection (OCHP) developed this Strategic Plan to prioritize and
communicate our planned activities from 2022 to 2025. The timeframe, scope and objectives match the
EPA's Strategic Plan 2022-20251, which includes a cross-agency strategy to Consider the Health of
Children at All Life Stages and Other Vulnerable Populations.

1 https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan

OBJECTIVES

OCHP Strategic Plan 2022-2025
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To accomplish our vision, OCHP has established three objectives:

Objective 1: Use Science and Policy to Strengthen Protection for Children at All Life Stages

Objective 2: Strengthen and Expand Partnerships and Provide Leadership

Objective 3: Address Disparities in Children's Environmental Health

APPROACH

OCHP's objectives are informed by the EPA's 2021 Policy on Children's Health2, which recognized the

following seven elements:

1.	Children's environmental health refers to the effect of environmental exposure during early life:
from conception, infancy, early childhood and through adolescence until 21 years of age.

2.	The health effects of early life environmental exposures may also arise in adulthood or in later
generations.

3.	Childhood is a life stage experienced by everyone, and exposure to environmental hazards during
early life is a key consideration in the assessment of how environmental impacts shape human
health over the course of a lifetime.

4.	Children can be at a greater risk to environmental hazards due to unique activity patterns,
behaviors, and biology. They have unique behaviors such as breast feeding, crawling and hand-to-
mouth activity that may contribute to increased exposure. Children eat more food, drink more
water, and breathe more air in proportion to their body size as compared to adults, and the variety
of the foods they consume is more limited.

5.	The timing of exposure to environmental hazards is critical in protecting human health. The same
dose during different periods of development can have very different health consequences.

6.	Children who live in highly exposed or underserved communities may have reduced biological
resilience and ability to recover from exposure to environmental hazards. With new threats and
worsening conditions resulting from climate change, the EPA has a greater responsibility to provide
children with heightened focus, assessment, and safeguards to protect their health.

7.	It is important to account for health risks associated with both environmental and social
determinants of health to better protect children in environmental justice communities.

2 https://www.epa.gov/children/epas-policv-childrens-health

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OBJECTIVE 1: USE SCIENCE AND POLICY TO STRENGTHEN
PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN AT ALL LIFE STAGES

OCHP will:

o Work with the EPA programs and offices to identify,
evaluate, and promote the use of science to support
EPA policies, decisions, and actions, including
regulations and voluntary programs, that protect
children's environmental health.

o Serve as a resource and partner with EPA program
and regional offices conducting toxicity, exposure,
and risk assessments, and developing policies,
regulations, and programs to consider the unique
vulnerabilities of all children.

o Support the development of new science to address gaps in knowledge regarding risks at all life
stages. Partner with EPA's Office of Research and Development, other EPA programs and
organizations to advance scientific research on the impacts of early life exposure.

o Seek input from the OCHP-led Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC)3 to
obtain expert advice on regulations, research, and communications related to children's
environmental health from this body of external researchers, academicians, health care
providers, environmentalists, state and tribal government employees, and members of the
public.

o In collaboration with EPA programs and offices, update existing and develop new children's
environmental health indicator data to track progress, communicate trends, and identify areas
that warrant additional attention.

o Lead development of additional measures of benefits arising from protecting against the
environmental health impacts of early life exposure and take these benefits into account in
decision making.

O Develop a better understanding of and address children's environmental health issues related to
climate change, natural disasters, and other public health emergencies.

Program Offices have
primary responsibility for
implementing legislative
mandates through
development of
regulatory and other
actions.

3 The CHPAC is a federal advisory committee which provides advice, information, and recommendations to assist
the EPA in the development of regulations, guidance, and policies to address children's environmental health. For
more information, see https://www.epa.gov/children/chpac.

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OBJECTIVE 2: STRENGTHEN AND EXPAND PARTNERSHIPS AND
PROVIDE LEADERSHIP

OCHP will:

relationships with external

O Lead the President's Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children
(PTF), together with the Department of Health and Human Services, to make recommendations
to the President on federal strategies to advance children's environmental health nationwide.

The PTF facilitates information exchange, targeted
Regional Offices bring their research planning, and program implementation

coordination across the federal agencies. It also
enhances public outreach to support reduction in
partners and on-the-ground environmental exposures and risks to children's

health throughout the country.

experience in communities

to carry out children's health o Work with EPA regions, through Regional

protection activities across children's Health and Schools c°°rdl"atos'to

develop and support partnerships. Implement
the country.	programs to support protection of children's

environmental health, particularly in homes, child-
care settings, and in schools.

o Lead and fully support the integration of children's environmental health into the day-to-day
activities of EPA's programs and regional offices.

o Provide national leadership by working with governmental and non-governmental

environmental and health organizations and provide opportunities to support understanding
and application of the latest science and evidence-based information on children's
environmental health exposure and effects.

o Seek input from and leverage the capabilities of diverse groups by engaging partners and
stakeholders, providing opportunities to develop and share evidence-based information, and
distributing information through training, tools sharing, conferences, and electronic media
including the web and social media.

o Support health care professionals, including those who provide pediatric and maternal health
expertise at the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSUs), to better address real
time risks from childhood exposures to environmental pollution and other stressors.

o Enhance public outreach to assist families and caregivers in making informed choices about
reducing detrimental environmental exposures and improving children's environmental health.

o Strengthen internal collaborations within EPA to promote children's environmental health
internationally.

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OBJECTIVE 3: ADDRESS HEALTH DISPARITIES IN CHILDREN'S
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

OCHP will, working with EPA programs and offices:

o Protect and promote the protection of children who live in highly polluted or underserved

communities, or suffer from cumulative impacts, as they may have reduced resilience and ability
to recover from exposure to environmental hazards.

o Collaborate with partners to identify factors, develop solutions, and implement strategies that
advance environmental health protection for children in vulnerable populations.

o Add indicators of social determinants of health and climate change to reports that document
trends in children's environmental health.

o Partner with environmental justice efforts at EPA and at the federal level to promote children's
environmental health in underserved communities.

o Strengthen partnerships with states and tribal governments, to address children's
environmental health concerns of unique populations, including indigenous peoples.

EVALUATING PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS

OCHP will continuously evaluate its performance to ensure steady progress and will communicate
results to partners, stakeholders, and the public.

As part of the EPA's Strategic Plan 2022-2025, OCHP will measure progress on Objective 1 through the
Long-Term Performance Goal: "By September 30, 2026, assess and consider environmental health
information and data for children at all life stages for all completed EPA actions that concern human
health."

As part of the EPA's Strategic Plan 2022-2025, OCHP will measure progress on Objective 2 through an
Annual Performance Goal by tracking the number of EPA regional offices with stakeholder engagement
on children's environmental health designated to provide durable, replicable, and widespread results."

In succeeding years, OCHP will consider updating key measures corresponding to major activities
undertaken under each objective of this plan. OCHP plans to make available publicly the results of its
work.

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