City Pumps Lead Poisoning Prevention

New Haven property owners can receive up to $15,000 per apartment from City Hall to help cover the costs of making their homes lead-safe — while city government watchdogs can now keep track online of how the Health Department is doing in making local houses less toxic for children to live in.

Those were just a few of the takeaways of a lead-poisoning-focused press conference hosted by Mayor Justin Elicker and city Environmental Health Director Rafael Ramos on Pierpont Street on Thursday morning.

Standing in front of a freshly painted and recently lead-abated two-family house and alongside Fair Haven Alder Sarah Miller, Dixwell/Prospect Hill/Newhallville Alder Steve Winter, and a half-dozen city health workers, Elicker and Ramos noted that National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week starts on Sunday and runs through next Saturday.

In that vein, the Elicker Administration has launched a new website dubbed the ​“New Haven Blood Lead Case Dashboard.” It provides a clear rundown of when and how the city’s Health Department responds when a child tests as having an elevated blood lead level of at least 5 micrograms per deciliter, as well as statistics on how many such cases the Health Department has seen, started working on, and closed out over the past three years.

The mayor also spoke about how, since he took office roughly three years ago, his administration has prioritized hiring more lead paint inspectors. It has digitized the Health Department’s lead inspection records, educated parents and landlords alike about the dangers of child lead poisoning and about how many such lead hazards in the city consist of flaking and chipping paint in houses from before 1978, and followed the city’s strengthened lead law as updated by the Board of Alders in 2019.

“New Haven has a very aggressive strategy for how to increase safety” for children vulnerable to lead poisoning, Elicker said. He described the newly launched online dashboard as ​“another tool of transparency to digitize our records.”

“It is imperative that we educate the public” about the dangers of child lead poisoning, Ramos said, which can lead to lifelong cognitive and behavioral harms. 

Next week, he said, community health care workers like Becky Mayberry will be going to daycare centers and schools across the city to talk with teachers, students, parents, and others about everything from how kids can best wash their hands to reduce the likelihood of ingesting lead paint, to how to clean a lead-paint surface with a wet wipe.

Ramos also spoke about how the city still has roughly $2.6 million left from a $5.6 million federal grant New Haven received several years ago. That grant allows the city to distribute $15,000 per-unit forgivable loans to eligible property owners looking to make their homes lead safe. (Click here and here to learn more and apply).

“We have a shortage of certified lead abatement contractors” in the city, he continued. And so, starting Oct. 31, the city’s Health Department will be providing cost-free lead worker and supervisor certification training to building up the local pool of qualified lead abatement contractors.

Amanda Decew, a pediatric primary care provider who is also a member of the city’s Lead Paint Advisory Committee, spoke about how she has seen a stark difference in how City Hall handles child lead poisoning cases over the past three years.

“It’s totally different today,” she said about how this part of the Health Department has operated since Elicker came to office and since New Haven legal aid lawyers took the former Harp Administration to court around the city’s enforcement of its lead laws.

Today, Decew said, when a child with high blood-lead levels returns to her office after an initial visit, ​“the Health Department has been out to inspect” their home, the child’s family has a clear timeline in mind of when the lead hazards will be abated, and the family better understands where the lead hazards and why they’re so dangerous and how best to protect their children.

“This is a result of leadership and making it a priority for the city,” she said.

Previous lead coverage.

• Gov Urges State To Follow New Haven’s Lead On Lead
• Judge Approves Lead-Poisoning Settlement
• Judge OKs Lead Class Settlement Notice
• Lead Paint Settlement Signed
• Lead, Park, Ricci Suits Enter New Phases
• Lead Lawsuit Settlement Draws Near; 50 New Orders Issued
• Crisis Gov’t: Grilling By Zoom
• Social Services Chief’s Appointment Advances
• City’s Outside Legal Tab Nears $200K For Lead Paint Fight
• City​“Explores” Lead Lawsuit Settlement
• Lead Class Action To Drag Into New Year
• New Lead Law Passes, With Teeth
• Legal Aid Lobbies Alders On Lead Paint, Alleges Civil Rights Harm
• Weakened Lead Law Advances
• City Still Fighting As Lead Case Drags On
• City Lands $5.6M In Federal Lead Grants
• 5 New Lead Inspector Positions Approved
• Outrage Stalls Weakened Lead Law
• Lead Paint Legal Tab Tops $118K
• City Plan Passes On Lead Law
• City Loses Again On Lead
• Judge Denies City’s Motion To Dismiss Lead Suit
• City, Legal Aid Clash In Court On Lead
• New Lead Proposal​“Eviscerates” Mandate
• Lead Cleanup Pricetag: $91M?
• Lead Panel’s Advice Rejected
• Lead Paint Chief Retires
• Lead Paint Fight Rejoined
• Harp Switches Gears On Lead
• Motion Accuses City Of Contempt
• City Loses Again On Lead
• Briefs Debate​“Lead Poisoning”
• New Haven: Another Flint?
• Harp Administration Admits Relaxing Lead Standard To Save $$
• Class-Action Suit Slams City On Lead
• City, Legal Aid Clash On Lead Paint
• Legal Aid To City: Get Moving On Lead Paint Law
• 100+ Tenants Caught In Lead Limbo
• 2 Agencies, 2 Tacks On Lead Paint
• Chapel Apartments Get 3rd Lead Order
• Lead Sends Family Packing
• Health Officials Grilled On Lead Plans
• Judge Threatens To Find City In Contempt
• Same Mandy House Cited Twice For Lead
• Same Mandy House Cited Twice For Lead Paint
• Lead $ Search Advances
• 3 Landlords Hit With New Lead Orders
• Another Judge Rips City On Lead
• Judge To City: Get Moving On Lead
• Health Department Seeks Another $4.1M For Lead Abatement
• City-OK’d Lead Fixes Fail Independent Inspection
• Judge: City Dragged Feet On Lead
• 2nd Kid Poisoned After City Ordered Repairs
• Judge: City Must Pay
• City Sued Over Handling Of Lead Poisonings
• City’s Lead Inspection Goes On Trial
• Eviction Withdrawn On Technicality
• 2nd Child Poisoned; Where’s The City?
• Carpenter With Poisoned Kid Tries A Fix
• High Lead Levels Stall Eviction
• 460 Kids Poisoned By Lead In 2 Years
• Bid-Rigging Claimed In Lead Cleanup
• Judge Orders Total Lead Paint Clean-Up
• Legal Aid Takes City To Task On Lead