Case Study · Communications Campaign
Children's Health
Month
Co-Producer · Director · Editor · October 2024
The case for making it yourself.
Each October, EPA Region 9 marks Children's Health Month by reaching caregivers, educators, and families across California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, 148 Tribal Nations, and Pacific Island territories with public education content on the environmental health risks most likely to affect children in frontline communities.
In 2024, regional leadership initially engaged an outside contractor to produce the series. During pre-production review, I identified a significant problem: the contracted producer was requesting that personal and nonprofit branding be embedded throughout the deliverables. Federal ethics guidelines are explicit on contractor credit in government-produced content. I flagged the issue and offered an alternative: produce the series in-house.
The program team said yes. Working directly with EPA's Children's Health coordinator, I developed five vertical videos produced at no additional contractor cost, fully owned by the agency, and cleared of any third-party brand conflicts. The series began with a single proof-of-concept wetlands video built from existing b-roll. After post-production on the piece, they approved it, and with that approval in hand, production moved through the remaining four topics, wrapping up with the lead poisoning prevention video in the final week of October. Two videos were amplified by EPA national headquarters. The series reached more than 9,000 combined views across Instagram and YouTube in the weeks following publication, and all five videos were formally published in the EPA Pacific Southwest Media Center, the agency's official regional video archive.
EPA's Air Quality Flag Program
The Flag Program illustrated most clearly why format decisions are distribution decisions. EPA's Air Quality Flag Program uses a simple color-coded system to help schools and caregivers understand daily air quality and take protective action for children. The subject is inherently visual. The short format was the right container for it. The video produced would hit two things at the same time: address outdoor air quality issues and their effect on children, and sell EPA’s AirNow app.
EPA national headquarters reshared the video, and it was the highest-performing piece in the series by a significant margin, with particular resonance across a region where wildfire smoke events regularly drive air quality into ranges that affect children's respiratory health.
EPA’s Air Quality Flag Program explained for parents, caregivers, and educators, providing a color-coded daily air quality alert system for children before they walk on campus.
View on InstagramNational Lead Poisoning Prevention Week
EPA's National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week concludes Children’s Health Month. The video addressed lead sources in children's environments: older housing stock, soil, and consumer products. It was the second piece in the series to be amplified by EPA headquarters, reaching one of the largest audiences in the campaign. Lead's health effects are permanent and entirely preventable.
The piece highlights how central lead exposure remains to pediatric environmental health, and that most people don’t realize just how close they are to the chemical, especially if they live in old homes. The video provides a warning and a call to action to prevent lead from coming in contact with the most vulnerable.
A public-facing short on lead poisoning prevention — sources, risks, and protective steps for families during National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week.
View on InstagramIdentifying Pesticide Hazards
Pesticide Safety is among the most directly relevant topics for Region 9's agricultural communities, where children's proximity to pesticide application is an ongoing environmental justice concern. The video addressed safe handling, storage, and the protective steps families can take. It was important to keep the science accurate and the language accessible to a general audience.
Working in-house and being close to the scientists working on the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, and the Food Quality Protection Act enforcement meant the subject-matter expert was in the room from script to approval. That loop is shorter, tighter, and less likely to produce content that misrepresents a program or oversimplifies the risk.
Pesticide safety guidance for families — safe storage, handling, and protective steps to reduce children's exposure to residential and agricultural pesticides.
View on InstagramWetlands: A Vital Ecosystem for All
The wetlands video was the first produced and the one that had to prove the concept. Program leadership wanted to see what the in-house approach could deliver before committing to the full series, and this was the test: produce a complete short from existing b-roll, no new field shoot. Its approval greenlit the remaining four videos. Some footage was pulled from stock resources.
The subject connects healthy water systems and natural filtration to the drinking water quality that affects children most directly, less intuitive than lead or pesticides, which made the scripting challenge more demanding.
How healthy wetlands support clean water — and why protecting them matters for children's environmental health across EPA Region 9.
View on InstagramIndoor Air Quality
While outdoor air quality is obvious, the hidden dangers of poor indoor air quality are not. Indoor air quality can carry significantly higher concentrations of pollutants and allergens than outdoor air, especially in homes with poor ventilation.
Children spend the majority of their time indoors, making this a priority topic even as it competes for attention with more obvious environmental threats.
Indoor air quality risks for children — common pollutants, sources, and practical steps for families to improve air quality in the home.
View on InstagramEvergreen Content Built for all Platforms
Every video in the Children’s Health Month series was produced as a vertical from the start. While my workflow is typically shooting horizontal for vertical, building vertical pieces was apparent from the start. It’s meant to inform adults where they spend a significant amount of their time: on their phones.
In addition to providing script support and post-production work, I also narrated all five videos. When the language becomes too scientific, I help mold the script not just so it’s delivered well, but also so it's read in plain language for a broad audience. I also worked to tighten copy, ensuring we’re saying more with less.
B-roll was sourced from EPA Region 9’s internal programs while doing inspection work, and also from Envato, Adobe Stock, and DVIDS. Working in-house with EPA Region 9’s Children’s Health coordinator meant the subject-matter expert was in the review chain from beginning to end, keeping the science accurate without losing the audience in jargon.
Each video was produced, edited, and cleared for distribution without contractor branding, third-party logo placements, or promotional credits. The work belongs to the agency. The programming it represents belongs to the communities it serves.
All five videos are formally archived on EPA.gov as part of the agency's official 2024 regional video record.