Lead Poisoning Prevention Campaign
The goal of NJCA’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program is to create a lead-free environment for all of New Jersey’s children, by:
- Educating parents and staff of social service agencies in our Train-the-Trainer Program.
- Offering Free Lead Hazard Assistance Breakfasts for Landlords and Homeowners.
- Finding creative ways for homeowners, especially low-income owners, to finance lead abatement, as with the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund.
- Holding state and local officials accountable to policies that emphasize prevention, like Lead Inspection on Request.
- Activating community groups around the issue of lead, including the Newark Partnership for Lead Safe Children.
We also offer basic facts about lead poisoning and its prevention.
Law Passed to Expand Lead Inspection Requirements to All NJ Rental Properties
On Friday, January 4, 2008, Governor Corzine signed S2622 — a law that will significantly help protect New Jersey's young children from lead poisoning, a fully preventable but extremely dangerous disease.
The law amends the current Hotel and Multiple Dwellings Code and requires the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to inspect every single-family and two-family rental dwelling for lead-based paint hazards at least once every 5 years. Until now, one and two unit dwellings had been exempt from lead hazard inspections, as the previous Code applied only to rental units in multiple dwellings and left a great number of New Jersey's residents more exposed to the dangers of lead hazards.
This is a major victory for NJCA, as we have long been fighting the battle against childhood lead poisoning and do not believe that children should be used as lead detectors!
Financial Assistance with Lead Remediation: Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund
The Lead Hazard Assistance Fund offers financial assistance to homeowners and property owners to reduce lead-based paint hazards in the home.
Eligible housing includes both owner occupied and investor owned properties that contain lead hazards. The housing must have been built before 1978.
The LHCA fund provides deferred payment 3% interest loans, with some opportunities for forgivable loans for low-to-moderate income households. Property owners from all income levels are eligible to apply for repayable loans. Contact Angie Tapia at angie@njcitizenaction.org to find out if you qualify for a forgivable loan.
Download a one-page FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on the LHCA, or for more information or to apply for the LHCA fund, contact Angie Tapia at angie@njcitizenaction.org or at 973-643-8800-ext. 12. You may also download the LHCA application for a 1–4 Family Dwelling, or the LHCA application for a 5 or More Family Dwelling.
Sponsored by the State of New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.
Free Lead Test Kit Available
NJCA can provide you with help in determining whether or not there are lead hazards in your home.
These hazards can result from peeling paint, dust generated by opening and closing doors and windows and from other parts of your home and yard.
If you believe you may be living with a lead hazard please contact Angie Tapia at (973)-643-8800 ext.12, or angie@njcitizenaction.org for a free lead test kit and to discuss how to use it in your home. Results are confidential.
Lead Poisoning Prevention Train-the-Trainer Workshops
We continually train people in our Train-the-Trainer program, creating an educational infrastructure of lead awareness in the Newark area. Several of these trainings are planned throughout the year, and it is quite possibly the best way to learn about lead.
Graduates of the training are reaching hundreds of other people by teaching parents, co-workers, and staff what they learned.
Become an Expert on Lead Poisoning!
Learn How to Teach Your Clients and Constituents About Lead Poisoning Prevention.
Lead poisoning in early childhood is associated with reduced intelligence, learning problems, attention disorders, and aggressive and delinquent behavior. Lead’s harmful effects can be permanent. Thus, prevention is the best approach to lead poisoning. Fortunately lead poisoning is entirely preventable, and education can be an effective method for prevention.
Our Train-the-Trainer Program will teach staff from agencies and organizations that serve high-risk families so they can, in turn teach their clients and constituents about lead poisoning. By creating a strong infrastructure of groups knowledgeable about lead poisoning, we hope to prevent future generations of children from getting this devastating disease.
This workshop will prepare you to teach lead poisoning prevention methods to parents of children at high risk of lead poisoning. The workshop will also enable you to make appropriate referrals for families where a child has lead poisoning.
Sponsored by New Jersey Citizen Action and the New Jersey Citizen Action Education Fund with support from the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services.
Please check back here for information about our upcoming Train-the-Trainer workshops.
Lead in Candy
Certain types of candies made in Mexico have been found to have high levels of lead.
Download a poster in English (PDF format) identifying the toxic treats. Here is the poster en Español (PDF format) identifying the toxic treats. Parents should view the posters and make sure their children aren't eating any of these candies.
The lead appears to come from several sources including inks in the candy wrappers, lead glaze in the pottery ingredients are stored in, and dirt that sometimes enters the manufacturing process in Mexico. Here is more information: the full investigative feature from The Orange County Register.
Lead Hazard Control Assistance Act
The Lead Hazard Control Assistance Act (S-1348/Rice, A-1947/Weinberg) was signed by Governor McGreevey on January 20, 2004. Thank you to everyone who called, wrote letters and supported us on this campaign! This is a major victory for NJ families, homeowners, and landlords who will now have the means to remove hazardous lead paint from their homes. And it moves us closer to the goal of New Jersey Citizen Action’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Campaign to create a lead-free environment for all New Jersey’s children. The bill will:
- Create the "Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund" to provide landlords and homeowners with loans and grants to help with the high cost of lead abatement.
- Add a $20 fee per unit on all rented housing units under the Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law. The fee will be added to the "Fund".
- Set aside a portion of the sales tax generated by paint sales. Either $7,000,000 or $0.50 per container of paint sold in NJ, whichever is more. The sales tax set-aside will be added to the "Fund".
- Create a registry of lead safe housing in NJ.
- Create the Emergency Lead Poisoning Relocation Fund and puts $2,000,000 into that fund from the Catastrophic Illness in Children Relief Fund.
- Empower the State Department of Community Affairs to look for lead hazards as part of their 5-year cyclical inspections they do on all buildings under the Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law (buildings with 3 or more units.)
- Require those engaged in Lead Safe Maintenance work to take a free 6 hour course on lead safe work practices.
Lead Inspection on Request
Inspecting a home for lead hazards before a child is poisoned makes sense and should be available to at least the highest-risk individuals in the highest–risk areas. Until recently this was not the case in Newark, where the City would only come to inspect your home for lead hazards after your child was lead poisoned.
NJCA and the Newark Partnership for Lead-Safe Children campaigned in 2000 for "Lead Inspections on Request." As a result, Newark’s Lead Program says it will do inspections on request. We need other towns to follow Newark's example and institute a program of lead inspections on request." Contact Angie Tapia at angie@njcitizenaction.org, if you want Inspections on Request in your town.
Leveraging the Disclosure Law
Federal law requires owners of pre-1978 housing units to disclose what they know or do not know about the presence of lead hazards in a unit they are renting or selling.
The owners must provide the tenant or buyer with a disclosure statement (167K PDF file download), and a brochure entitled "Protect Your Family from Lead In Your Home" (665K PDF file download).
By finding landlords who did not follow the disclosure rule, we can use HUD's enforcement power to have them comply with the law.
If you are sure that your landlord did not follow this disclosure law, contact Angie Tapia at angie@njcitizenaction.org.
Newark Partnership for Lead Safe Children
The Newark Partnership for Lead Safe Children involves over 60 community-based organizations in Newark, as well as the City and State lead programs. Its goals are to coordinate different lead prevention activities, and facilitate communication among those fighting lead poisoning.
The Partnership is seeking new and creative ways to tackle the lead problem. Last year, NJCA ran bus ads in Newark with the Newark Partnership to urge parents to have their children tested for lead.