LET’S MAKE LEAD HISTORY

Background

• Monroe County pop: @749,600

• City of Rochester pop: @209,734

• 43% of NYS homes (over 3.3M) built before1950 • Most pre-1950 housing units in country, over 1M more than

next highest state (PA).

• Out of 1700 NYS zip codes, 36 accounted for 41% of lead

poisoning reports.

– 9 in Buffalo; 6 in Rochester; 5 in Syracuse; 5 in Albany

(cities on the Erie Canal)

– High-risk zip codes in Rochester

• Home to 78% of Latino children and 80% of African

American children under age 5.

• In 2002, 25% of children living in these zip codes

had EBLLs (nationwide rate was 1.6%).

CPLP History

1999 Call to Action• School #17 Principal raised alarm when discovered 41% of

children entering his school had history of EBLLs.

2001 Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning founded• Advocacy and education

• Shifted conversation to PRIMARY PREVENTION –

identifying hazards in housing before children are poisoned

2003 Research and Data Collection▪ small grant tested homes of children near School #17

▪ 98% of homes in study had lead hazards

▪ $3,300 est. average cost of repair

▪ data collected built community support for changing local

housing laws to address lead hazards

2003 GLO project—UR, MCDPH,

CBOs, medical students. Demos for

general public (incl. city council

members).

CPLP hires

full time staff.

“economically, politically, and morally unacceptable…”

Issue Definition

• Dominant perception was that lead was “unsolvable”

• Challenge to redefine lead as health problem with housing solution

• CPLP publicized estimates of juvenile justice, special education, and medical care costs

• Emphasized new research showing interim controls could effectively reduce lead hazards at lower costs than previously believed.

• No fingers pointed at government, landlords, or paint companies.

• Focused on community’s obligation to protect its children and maintained that all groups had a role.

2004 Community Lead Summit• 500+ attendees

• Mayor pledged to pass ‘comprehensive lead legislation’ and

County Executive pledged to implement same system of

inspections in Quality Housing Initiative (QHI).

Vision Becomes Policy

2006

Monroe County begins lead hazard inspections to TANF (public assistance) housing.

City of Rochester begins implementing historic Lead Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Ordinance passed in December 2005.

• Monroe Co. Dept. of Public Health begins

conducting environmental investigations at 15

g/dl and above – below state level of 20 g/dL.

• CPLP supports efforts of Monroe Co. to secure

HUD/SuperNOFA funding. County awarded

nearly $3M and anticipated making 370 housing

units in the city lead safe by 2009.

• Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton calls Rochester

a “national model.”

2006 VISION BECOMES POLICY

• Gantt & Robach introduce statewide legislation authorizing tax credits

for property owners to make housing lead-safe.

• WIC Program includes question "Has your child been tested for lead?"

on application and re-certification forms.

2007 VISION BECOMES POLICY

• Lead Safe Monroe Co. Plan with 20 community organizations, government agencies, etc.

• Comprehensive RCSD Lead Safe Schools Policy passed

• OFCS Medical Report of Child in Day Care form revised to include BLL test results at ages 1 and 2.

2009

• MCDPH begins environmental investigations with confirmed venous of <10 g/dL.

• Gantt/Robach Bill passes (Vetoed by Gov Patterson)

• 90% of properties passing City inspections– Ordinance prompts landlords to make pro-active

improvements (tied into C of O process).

• ALL local clinical laboratories add “blood lead levels in this range have the potential to cause neurocognitive deficits” to BLL test results.

City of Rochester Lead Ordinance

• Presumption pre-1978

• Hazards

▪ Interior Deteriorated Paint

• > 2 square feet in any room or space

• > 10% of the surface area of a component with a small surface area

▪ Exterior Deteriorated Paint

• > 20 square feet on exterior surfaces

• > 10% of the surface area of a component with a small surface area

▪ Bare Soil

• Within the dripline area of residential structures

• Proactive Dust Wipe Testing (High Risk Area)

• Presumption pre-1978

• Hazards

▪ Interior Deteriorated Paint

• > 2 square feet in any room or space

• > 10% of the surface area of a component with a small surface area

▪ Exterior Deteriorated Paint

• > 20 square feet on exterior surfaces

• > 10% of the surface area of a component with a small surface area

▪ Bare Soil

• Within the dripline area of residential structures

• Proactive Dust Wipe Testing (High Risk Area)

Remediating Lead Violations

• Exterior Deteriorated Paint

▪ Visual Abatement by Code Enforcement Officer (CEO)

• Bare Soil

▪ Visual abatement by CEO, can be corrected by

various methods of ground coverage.

• Interior Deteriorated Paint

▪ Paint stabilized by RRP certified owner/agent/contractor

▪ Clearance Test by third party Lead Inspector or Risk

Assessor

▪ Owner affidavit submitted

• Lead Dust Hazard

▪ Clearance by third party Lead Inspector or Risk

Assessor

City of Rochester Lead Ordinance

SOLID FOUNDATION• Existing Property Maintenance Inspection Programs

(Access to inspect units) ▪ Renewable Certificate of Occupancy Program

• Long history of continuous HUD Lead Grants

• Partnership with DOH and DHS

QUALITY ASSURANCE & ACCOUNTABILITY• Internal

▪ Auditing of Inspection Staff

• Random

• Tandem

• Complaint

• DWT Procedures

▪ Third Party Ordinance Evaluations (CGR & UofR)

• External

▪ Auditing of Third Party Lead Clearance Providers

• Non-Responsibility Charge

▪ Landlords - Code Enforcement

Causewave Community Partners & Roberts Communications

Once Lead Ordinance passed, communications goals shifted

from influencing policy to outreach and education. Without

cooperation from general public, lead law would be less

effective.

Roberts developed award

winning messaging and

materials for TV, radio,

print, billboards, & buses.

CPLP website provides

multiple pathways for

parents, property owners,

tenants, healthcare

professionals, and

childcare providers.

Hundreds of thousands of

dollars in in-kind

advertising.

Community Outreach & Ed.

Accomplishments

2010 CPLP, City of Rochester, URMC, Empire Justice Center, MCDPH, FLHSA) honored to receive 2009 EPA Environmental Justice Achievement Award.

Activities & Results2011

• Provide open-to-the public blood lead tests for children and pregnant women.

• Lead law amended to exempt bldgs. with more than five units, studios and senior citizen complexes with more than 10 units that pass visual inspections. Amended law based upon five years of data that almost NO violations occur in these types of properties—smart, data-based prioritization of resources.

• Focused outreach to Refugee Communities including in-home presentations and creating educational materials in multiple languages. Locally based lead poisoning prevention brochures translated into Burmese, Nepali, Somali.

• 29 local municipalities and towns surveyed to assess existence of regulations or codes that enforce lead paint safety in response to 2010 EPA RRP rule.

Prevention Efforts Timeline

Activities & Results2013

• CPLP, RCSD, and County Health Dept. facilitate sharing info related to BLL tests. Revise school registration forms.

– Done in accordance with HIPAA and FERPA.

• MCDPH lowers investigation level from 10 g/dL to 8 g/dL.

• If child is City resident, under 6 years, and had a BLL result between 5-7 g/dL, parent can request a home investigation from County.

• City of Rochester amends Certificate of Occupancy.

• Data shows 91% of EBLL children reside in 1 or 2 family structures.

• As of 2014, any 1 or 2 family structure, located in High Risk Area where interior deteriorated paint was made safe by means of Interim Controls, CofO renewed every 3 yrs. instead of the every 6 yrs.

Activities & Results

2014

• MCDPH reports number of children reported with EBLLs of <10 g/dl dropped to 197 in 2013—an 89% decrease from 1999.

- 13,607 children tested in 2013.- Begin collecting data on BLLs of 5-9 g/dLs. 689 children in Monroe County (v. & fs) reported with BLLs of 5-6 g/dL.

• CPLP distributes 36,000 lead poisoning prevention brochures in seven languages (Karen, Swahili, English, Spanish, Burmese, Nepali and Somali) throughout Finger Lakes region.

• CPLP produces 32-page resource guide Healthy Homes Healthy Families (in English and Spanish).

CategoryYear 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Totals

Units inspected for

deteriorated interior paint 16449 11607 13355 16766 14656

14048 13485 15268 13838 12002141474

Number (percent) units

failing deteriorated

interior paint inspection

958

(6%)

1380

(12%)

699

(5%)

684

(4%)

733

(5%)

711

(5%)

405

(3%)

235

(2%)

380

(3%)

552

(5%)6737

(5%)

Number (percent) units

passing interior paint

inspection

15491

(94%)

10227

(88%)

12656

(95%)

16082

(96%)

13923

(95%)

13337

(92%)

13080

(97%)

15033

(98%)

13458

(97%)

11450

(95%)134737

(95%)

Units referred for dust

wipe test 3850 5778 5320 5607 5068 3033 2554 2637 2899 3066 39812

Number (percent) referred

units that received dust

wipe test

2850

(74%)

4606

(80%)

4654

(87%)

4940

(88%)

4785

(94%)

3071

(101%)

2061

(81%)

2363

(90%)

2794

(96%)

2620

(86%)34744

(87%)

Number (percent) of units

passing dust wipe test 2420

(85%)

3936

(85%)

4242

(91%)

4518

(91%)

4354

(91%)

2691

(88%)

1834

(89%)

2153

(91%)

2560

(92%)

2388

(91%)31096

(90%)

Number of units cleared

(outstanding) after failing

dust wipe test 422(8) 663(7) 408(4) 409(13) 425(6) 372(8) 213(14) 194(16) 212(22) 214(18)

3648(73)

Buildings inspected for

exterior lead hazards 10548 10619 8612 11110 8684 7599 8450 7912 8124 8277 89935

Number (percent) of

buildings passing exterior

lead hazards inspection

8588

(81%)

9391

(88%)

7339

(85%)

9934

(89%)

7339

(85%)

6515

(86%)

7409

(88%)

7032

(89%)

7254

(89%)

6963

(84%)77764

(86%)

Lead Ordinance 10th Anniversary Party

Activities & Results2017/18

• 2017 BLL data due very soon.

• MCDPH reported number of children reported with EBLLs of <10 g/dL decreased slightly to 191 in 2016.

- 14,116 children tested in 2016.- 733 children in Monroe Co (v. & fs) reported with BLLs of 5-6 g/dL. - 733+191=924 (about 2004 levels)

• SIX years later: NYSIIS amended to allow school nurses across NYS to access to BLL data!

• City of Rochester, Town of Irondequoit & Town of Brockport require documentation of EPA RRP certification on building permits. CPLP working to expand initiative throughout County and NYS.

• Sharing lessons learned and best practices with lead coalitions across NYS

2017 Annual Meeting

Current & past CPLP board,

committee members & staff

Thank you

For further information and additional resources

please go to our website at www.theleadcoalition.org

Elizabeth McDade

Program Manager

o: (585) 224-3125

emcdade@theleadcoalition.org