The city of Cincinnati will establish a Children and Families Cabinet to provide guidance on health and safety issues affecting children. Council Member Greg Landsman initiated the ordinance. He points to issues like the city's high infant mortality rate and lead poisoning.
"We have about 300 children who go to the hospital with acute lead poisoning which is devastating for these children," Landsman says. "This group - working with each other internally and externally - can bring that to zero."
Council Member Betsy Sundermann was the lone "no" vote on the plan, questioning if it duplicates work already being done by agencies like Job and Family Services (JFS).
"I know the city already has programs for doing that and I know, personally, that JFS already deals with lead in paint, so I think there are at least two different programs in the county and the city that already deal with that so, again, I think we're recreating what already exists," she says.
Other council members, like Wendell Young, disagree.
"I don't think there's any such thing as too much help to solve these kinds of problems," Young says.
The ordinance also creates a position to oversee the cabinet's work.
