Media Release

For Immediate Release Contact Phone
March 13, 2006 Jim Walsh 732-246-4772 x 14

NJ Citizen Action Testimony Before the New Jersey Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee on Recommendations to Improve the Implementation of the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund

Jim Walsh, Assistant Program Director
March 13, 2006

Good morning Chairman Payne and members of the Committee. My name is Jim Walsh and I am the Assistant Program Director for New Jersey Citizen Action. Thank you for holding this hearing to discuss the implementation of the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund. We hope the testimony provided today will aide in the future success of this critical program. Citizen Action is here today to support improvements in the administration of the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund and to oppose any attempts to cut or divert funds from this critical program.

NJ Citizen Action represents 60,000 member households and 110 organizations representing seniors, women, disability groups, labor unions and tenant organizations. As the state's largest citizen watchdog coalition, New Jersey Citizen Action works to protect and expand the rights of individuals and families and to ensure that government officials respond to the needs of people rather than the interests of those with money and power.

Preventing childhood lead poisoning has been a major goal of New Jersey Citizen Action for the last two decades, and we fully support and stand ready to assist the State of New Jersey in reaching its goal of eliminating this devastating and wholly preventable childhood disease by the year 2010.

The leading cause of childhood lead poisoning is the ingestion of lead dust from pealing paint in homes built before 1978. According to the US Census 2.3 million homes were built in New Jersey before 1978. According to the Center for Disease Control, in 2004 New Jersey had 2,758 children with elevated blood lead levels. We also know thousands of children who are at risk of lead poisoning go untested, so this number is most likely higher. Lead poisoning is known to have serious, permanent health effects on young children. Even in small amounts it can cause mental retardation, hearing loss and stunted growth. At higher levels lead poisoning can result in death. Lead poisoning is completely preventable, and with proper funding, we can prevent further instances of this dreadful disease.

Lead abatement is an expensive endeavor, which can cost a homeowner anywhere from a few thousand dollars to well over one hundred thousand dollars depending on the extent of lead hazards. The Lead Hazard Control Assistance (LHCA) Fund was established in 2004, to provide the critical funding needed by homeowners to remove lead hazards from homes and prevent further instances of childhood lead poisoning. NJ Citizen Action worked alongside numerous community groups and Senator Rice, a champion for eliminating childhood lead poisoning, to ensure the creation of the LHCA Fund.

The LHCA Fund is funded through a small tax on paint sales and a $20 fee on multiunit building inspections. Its primary purpose is to prevent childhood lead poisoning by providing grants and low interest loans to homeowners for the removal of residential lead hazards. Besides the cleanup of lead hazards, the funds are used to support the Lead Safe Housing Registry and the Emergency Relocation Assistance Program (ERAP). The ERAP is used for temporary or long term relocation of a lead poisoned child from a home containing lead hazards to a home that is lead safe. The relocation of a lead poisoned child is essential to reducing blood lead levels and lessening the impact lead poisoning will have on that child. There is a serious need for this program, as many families who find themselves in homes with serious lead problems, and a child or children who has been diagnosed with lead poisoning have no place to go, or no money to find temporary housing.

Funding for the LHCA Fund must not only be maintained, it must be increased. As knowledge of the LHCA Fund increases, there will be a greater demand for the resources in the fund. It would be penny wise and pound foolish for the legislature to cut or divert funds in this program. According to statistics provided by the US Health Department, New Jersey spends about $30 million per year on special education and healthcare costs associated with lead poisoning, significantly more than the cost of removing or abating problem lead paint in homes. And while current funding levels for the LHCA program is significant, much more will be needed to ensure the eradication of childhood lead poisoning in New Jersey. The program will be doomed to failure if funds are cut and/or diverted to other areas in the upcoming budget. The legislature should not even consider this option.

Recently, there have been reports concerning whether or not the state is doing all it can to ensure the success of the program. We of course share those concerns and have recently met with representatives of the Department of Community Affairs to determine what work has and is currently being done to get the program fully operational, and to offer our assistance in whatever way we can to aide in that effort. We had a productive meeting with the Department and are confident the program is receiving the attention it deserves.

Along with increases in funding, NJ Citizen Action believes the immediate implementation of the following recommendations will help ensure the future success of this program:

New Jersey homeowners are eligible for grants from the LHCA Fund to remove lead hazards from their homes if they fall below 50% of the median income. New Jersey Citizen Action runs a first time homebuyer and credit counseling program, where we have helped thousands of low and moderate income families secure home loans. We know from our own experience there are very few homeowners with incomes at or below 50% of the median income, simply because they cannot afford a home loan. Therefore there are very few people who are eligible for these grants. By increasing the number of people eligible for grants from the LHCA Fund we will expedite lead cleanup and reduce the numbers of children who are suffering from lead poisoning.

The U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD), who among other things also helps low and moderate income families buy homes, uses 80% of the median income to determine a moderate income household. We know there are significantly more moderate income families who are able to afford homes. However, many homeowners who are slightly above 80% of the median income will still not be able to afford the additional payments a loan from the LHCA Fund would require. This is especially true because of the rapid increases in home prices and property taxes in New Jersey. By increasing income eligibility for a grant from the LHCA Fund to 100% of the median income we will be allowing low, moderate and some middle income families to take advantage of grants from the LHCA Fund. We believe this action alone will be a tremendous step towards increasing the number of families who can take advantage of the LHCA Fund.

Targeted outreach and publicity of the LHCA Fund through state agencies and community organizations is also crucial to the success of the program. Marketing of the LHCA Fund has primarily been done with radio advertisements and limited outreach through community groups and local health departments. To improve the marketing of the LHCA Fund we have several suggestions for improvements.

DCA should foster a closer relationship with State and Local Health Departments. Any child who has a blood lead level of 20 micrograms per deciliter is automatically reported to State and Local Health Departments. Removal of residential lead hazards is mandated in almost every instance where a child is poisoned at this level. DCA should explore ways to work with the State and Local Health Department to get information about the LHCA Fund to the owners of properties where a lead poisoned child has been found. We are glad to see the DCA has recently given training to a group of social workers concerning the LHCA Fund, and we look forward to seeing more of these collaborations with other agencies.

We recommend close collaboration between DCA and HUD. Before HUD sells a home that was built before 1978 it tests the home for the presence of lead hazards and makes this data available to potential home buyers. DCA should explore ways to work with HUD to get information about this program to potential homebuyers when lead hazards are found.

DCA can use some of its existing programs to foster awareness of the program. For instance, DCA administers an emergency weatherization program, which provides information and resources to low income families on home energy savings projects and could provide LHCA information to these clients DCA should also perform lead tests at any property where they provide emergency weatherization services.

There may be other programs in DCA or other agencies, including the Department of Health and Senior Services, Department of Human Services and state and local education agencies where collaboration could result in increased use of the LHCA Fund. We ask DCA to explore these relationships and to also look specifically to community groups, faith based organizations and government agencies that work with first time homebuyers, low and moderate income families, community development, pregnant women and children under 6 years of age.

NJ Citizen Action applauds the efforts to create the NJN special on lead poisoning, and recognize the airing of this program has helped contribute to an overall awareness of the problems associated with lead poising. Increasing publicity for the LHCA Fund through similar programming and earned media like public service announcements and press conferences in targeted areas will greatly increase knowledge and use of the program.

NJ Citizen Action is also concerned about the state's capacity to handle the increased demand for lead abatement the LHCA Fund will create. Without a plan to increase capacity, we could see a situation where the LHCA Fund is not able to be used because homeowners are not able to find certified contractors. There was a report at the last meeting of the Statewide Interagency Lead Task Force, a collaboration of government and nonprofit agencies working to eradicate childhood lead poisoning, that some homeowners in South Jersey are already having trouble finding certified contractors to do smaller residential lead abatement projects.

NJ Citizen Action would also like to bring Senate Bill S440 to your attention. To help meet the need for increased funding Senator Rice has introduced S440. This bill will place a small fee on realtor licenses and divert these funds to the LHCA Fund. We ask that every member of this Committee and the entire legislature support this critical initiative and further recommend that S440 be amended to require notification of the LHCA Fund at the time of a home sale. This amendment will ensure every homeowner is aware of resources available in the LHCA Fund.

Thank you for holding this hearing to discuss the implementation of the LHCA Fund. We hope the testimony provided today will aide in the successful implementation of this critical program. I am happy to answer any questions the committee has about our recommendations or the program itself.

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New Jersey Citizen Action is the state's largest citizen watchdog coalition, with over 100 affiliate organizations and 60,000 individual members.
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