Healthy Homes and Community Supports

The Division of Healthy Homes and Community Supports is committed to protecting the health and well-being of Boston individuals and families, across the lifespan, in homes and communities. Division programs include:

The Division focuses on Boston’s most vulnerable populations including children and the elderly, Black and Latino residents, low-income residents and communities and residents of public and affordable housing.

The Division collaborates with academic research institutions, health care institutions, advocacy organizations, housing and family support organizations, business, government and community groups on policy, regulatory and program efforts.

Healthy Homes Programs

The Boston Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (BTPCP) provides development, implementation, and enforcement of local ordinances that control the sale, use, and distribution of tobacco. The BTPCP also supports/leads initiatives, which promote smoking cessation, protect residents from second hand smoke, prevent youth from becoming smokers, and monitors data to identify high risk populations in the city of Boston. more>>

Asthma Prevention and Control
Asthma in the urban environment is a serious problem and nationally it remains a primary cause of preventable hospitalization in children. In response to residents’ concerns about rising asthma rates in their communities, the Boston Public Health Commission's created the Asthma Prevention and Control Program in 1998.  The program operates a number of initiatives to help children and families manage the symptoms of and the environmental contributors to asthma. more>>

Healthy  Homes
The Boston Public Health Commission believes that all residents should live in a safe and healthy home.  Conditions in the environment can have a direct impact on the health of its occupants.  Asthma symptoms can be triggered by mold, excess dust, or pests.  Children are at risk for injuries in the home.  Second hand smoke affects the health everyone in the home, smokers and non-smokers alike.  more>>

Injury Prevention
Unintentional injuries - such as those caused by burns, drowning, falls, poisoning, and road traffic - are the leading cause of death and disability to children in Boston and in the United States.  Each year, one out of every four children ages 14 and under sustains an injury serious enough to require medical treatment.  more>>