Cost-Effective Approaches for Creating Lead Safe and Healthy Housing

This webinar explores Isles’ experience in creating an integrated service to provide lead safety, energy efficiency and health homes through an innovative project called, ReHEET (Residential Health, Energy and Environmental Transformation).  We explore the elements that makes this project successful and provide information that will help your agency initiate a similar project in your own community. 

We also had an interactive discussion about the newly released Lead-Safe Home Remediation Pilot Grant Program RFP from the NJ Department of Community Affairs. We hope this discussion will provide information to help agencies envision a lead remediation project in their area.

This webinar may be of interest to: Representatives of community-based organizations, municipalities and cities, community activists, concerned citizens, funders and anyone concerned with lead safety and healthy housing.

The webinar is available for free viewing here.

Download the .pdf presentation here.

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This webinar was made possible with funding from PSEG Foundation, the Fund for New Jersey, Horizon Foundation of New Jersey, NJ Department of Health, and NJ Department of Human Services Division of Developmental Disabilities. It is part of a series on lead and community health. Previous webinars include: Beyond Flint- The Crisis of Lead in Older Housing (and what we can do about it!) and The Elephant in the (Class) Room: Lead’s Effects on Learning and School Performance.  Essential background information packets are provided with each webinar.

The 2016 Isles Youth Institute Commencement Ceremony took place on Tuesday, June 21, 2016, at 10:00 AM at the Mercer County Park Marina and Boathouse in West Windsor, NJ. The commencement included an awards ceremony and student speeches, as well as a reception afterwards. Trenton resident, author, entrepreneur, and Isles Trustee Tracey Syphax gave the keynote address to an audience of families, teachers, friends, and other supporters.

This commencement ceremony was the culmination of a year’s worth of academic and job training for students at Isles Youth Institute (IYI), an alternative school that emphasizes leadership development and civic engagement for students who have dropped out of traditional high school. Students participate in afterschool activities and volunteer extensively in the community. Staff works with students to help them apply to college and pursue employment. Isles started New Jersey’s first YouthBuild in 1995. Since then, more than 1,000 young people have successfully completed Isles Youth Institute.

“Our students are the most resilient people I know. They embody the true meaning of grit,” states Shenette Gray, Director of Isles Youth Institute. “Our young people will become the change agents of this capital city and revive that great slogan ‘Trenton Makes and the World Takes’…this is the exact purpose of education.”

Check out our photos from graduation here, and if you’d like to read through our program, you can do so here.

 

The Elephant in the (Class) Room: Lead’s Effects on Learning and School Performance.

A presentation in two parts about how lead affects a child’s ability to learn and dramatically limits their performance on standardized tests. We will discuss concerns about lead in water at many NJ schools, how lead affects school performance, and what parents and schools can do to support lead affected children.

Hosted by: Elyse Pivnick, Isles Director of Environmental Health
Guest Speaker: Dr. Ted Lidsky, clinical neuropsychologist

Wednesday, June 15th, 12pm-1pm, EST

• Part One: Isles’ Elyse Pivnick presents on the lead issue in NJ, what can be done about it, and what services Isles offers 
  • Click here to view slides from her presentation.
• Part Two: Dr. Ted Lidskey presents the latest in neuropsychological research on how lead affects a child’s ability to learn and why it is not safe at any level. 
  • Click here to view slides from his presentation.
  • Or watch Part Two below:

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Dr. Theodore I. Lidsky, PhD is a clinical neuropsychologist currently in private practice. He has evaluated more than 1,000 individuals who had elevated blood lead levels as infants. Until retirement in 2008, he directed the Center for Trace Elements and Environmental Neurotoxicology at the NYS Institute for Developmental Disabilities. Publications from his research include “The Neuropsychology of Childhood Lead Poisoning,” “Autism and Autistic Symptoms Associated with Childhood Lead Poisoning,” and “Neurodevelopmental Effects of Childhood Exposure to Heavy Metals: Lessons from Pediatric Lead Poisoning.”

This webinar was made possible with funding from PSEG Foundation, the Fund for New Jersey, Horizon Foundation of New Jersey, NJ Department of Health, and NJ Department of Human Services Division of Developmental Disabilities. It follows our March webinar Beyond Flint- The Crisis of Lead in Older Housing (and what we can do about it!) in this series of lead webinars.

Today is the (gulp) 25th anniversary of Elyse Pivnick’s employment at Isles. Please, please give her a very special shout out for being such an awesome part of Isles’ evolution!

She started as a grant writer/fundraiser, then quickly engaged at a deep level in Isles’ on-the-ground work.

She has been a pioneer in bridging the fields of community development and child health, and she’s now a force at the state and national levels around child lead poisoning prevention.

We, and so many others, benefit directly from her perseverance, smarts and friendship. Happy 25th anniversary Elyse!

 

Beyond Flint- The Crisis of Lead in Older Housing (and what we can do about it!). Click on the link below to access the presentation slides on the effects of lead on children, the problem of environmental lead in NJ, and proposed solutions for housing and education. Additional resources are provided and may be helpful for community-based organizations, government decision-makers, community activists, school officials, health care workers, teachers, parents, and concerned citizens who want to learn more about what we can do about the crisis of lead in older housing. 

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Beyond Flint – The Crisis of Lead in Older Housing
(and what we can do about it!) – Click to watch

Presented by: Elyse Pivnick, Isles Director of Environmental Health, and Peter Rose, Isles Managing Director
With funding from the PSEG Foundation, the Fund for New Jersey, NJ Department of Health, NJ Department of Human Services Division of Developmental Disabilities

Additional resources:

• Comprehensive Lead Packet – NJ lead levels, NJ Strategic Plan for Healthy Housing, and Center for Healthy Housing BluePrint for Action
• Lead Exposure and Racial Disparities in Test Scores – A.Aizer, J. Currie, P. Simon, and P.Vivier
• Educational Interventions for Children Affected by Lead – Department of Health and Human Services
• Childhood Lead Poisoning FAQ

Isles has been engaged in environmental health and policy work since 1999.​Earlier this year, Isles released data that showed almost a dozen jurisdictions in NJ with higher incidences of children affected by lead, as compared to Flint, MI. Since then, the news has caught the attention of the entire nation on the widespread crisis of lead poisoning–in water, in schools, and in homes. Click here for a summary of lead news.

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Elyse Pivnick, Isles Director of Environmental Health, has over 25 years of experience in managing environmental health projects in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. In 1999, she  created Isles’ Environmental Health Initiative with funds from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The program has since grown to address a broad range of challenges such as lead poisoning, asthma, pest management, healthy schools, open space needs, exercise, and nutrition. Ms. Pivnick is a certified trainer for the Healthy Homes for Community Health Worker course, has written extensively on lead and health issues, and has testified on behalf of legislative changes to support lead safety and community health. Ms. Pivnick is a board member of the National Center for Healthy Housing. She has a Masters Degree in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.

Peter Rose, Managing Director for Isles Center for Energy and Environmental Training, joined Isles in August of 2006 after his most recent work as Program Manager for Microenterprise Development for MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates) where he supported the replication of the ASSETS Plus+ microbusiness development model in new across the United States and Canada. In 1995, as the Founder and Executive Director of the Washington Community Alliance for Self-Help (Washington CASH), he created an award-winning, comprehensive microbusiness development organization for low-income women, people with disabilities and other economically disadvantaged groups — from the ground up. At the time of his departure, its peer lending program had started more than 500 businesses and made more than $500,000 in small loans (the majority less than $1,000) to people with very low incomes and achieved a 98% repayment rate. Prior to starting Washington CASH, Mr. Rose was the Managing Director of RESULTS and RESULTS Educational Fund, the organizing agency for the Microcredit Summit — a 9-year coordinated effort to bring microcredit to 100 million of the world’s poorest families by 2005. He has a B.A. from Evergreen State College and a teaching certificate from the University of Puget Sound.

Download FAQs on Child Lead Poisoning here 

Update – 4/5/16 

After lots of back and forth,  Governor Christie committed $10 million out of this year’s budget to get more lead out of NJ homes, especially those with kids. How this gets spent really matters! 

We appreciate his team’s willingness to reach out and learn about solving the challenge at the community level, where Isles has developed high-impact, low-cost approaches that work.

Thanks to all those who joined us – the Housing and Community Development Network of NJ, NJ Citizen Action, the Anti-Poverty Network, and many others – to get this done.

We look forward to learning the details of the plan in the coming days.

 

Update – 2/3/16 – On Monday, Isles announced surprising data, being shared across the country, showing high levels of lead in children in 11 NJ cities.

In response to feedback, we cross-referenced the numbers once again and we have two adjustments to make.  In two cities, Atlantic City and Newark, the revised numbers show a higher % of children with elevated BLLs for 2014.  Atlantic City now has the highest % of children with elevated lead levels in the state. See updated table here. 

Children in 11 NJ Communities are Testing Positive for Lead at Higher Rates than Children in Flint, MI Advocates launch #LeadFreeKidsNJ to put lead prevention in state budget 2/1/2016 Community leaders and advocates joined parents and their young children at a State House press conference today to urge Governor Christie to support lead poisoning prevention measures. Kicking off a campaign to fund lead poisoning prevention, the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey (the Network); Isles, Inc.; New Jersey Citizen Action, the Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey, and others are asking Christie to restore $10 million in funding for the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund (LHCAF) in the next state budget. Funding earmarked for lead prevention has been diverted to other budget items, said Staci Berger, president and chief executive officer of the Network. “In 2016, no child should suffer from lead poisoning, it’s a completely preventable issue. Our budget should reflect that. We hope the governor will abide by the law and do right by our children by putting the money where it belongs. Our children should not be lead detectors.” In 2004, the State of New Jersey introduced the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund to allocate resources for the removal of lead from older homes, offering deferred payment loans or grants to property owners. LHCAF has also financed home inspections, emergency relocations for affected families and efforts to educate the public about the risks of living in homes built before lead-based paints were banned in 1978. However, since the implementation of the LHCAF, the state has steered more than $50 million into its general treasury instead of the LHCAF as required.  “This fund has been raided for over a decade to balance the budget, which has had devastating consequences,” said Ann Vardeman, associate director of organizing and advocacy for New Jersey Citizen Action. “Thousands of young children are being found with elevated levels of highly toxic lead and not even a penny is put towards the fund. That’s why we’re launching the #LeadFreeKidsNJ campaign to ensure that Governor Christie includes proper funding for the lead prevention. Our goal is to send the governor 3,100 children’s handprints representing the children who will be needlessly poisoned by lead this year, to remind him that his budgetary decisions have real consequences to our children’s future.” Advocates point to newly released data from Trenton-based Isles, Inc. that shows almost a dozen jurisdictions in NJ with higher incidences of children affected by lead, as compared to Flint, MI.  In 2015, more than 3,000 new cases of children under six with elevated levels of toxic lead were reported.  All told, about 225,000 young kids in New Jersey have been afflicted by lead since 2000. “Water is not the only way children are lead poisoned,” said Elyse Pivnick, director of environmental health for Isles, Inc. “In NJ, the primary source of lead poisoning is chipping and peeling lead paint applied many years ago in housing  that is not well maintained. Among children tested in 2014, there is a higher percentage of children with elevated blood lead levels (EBLL) in 11 cities and two counties in comparison with Flint to date. Over 3,000 NJ children were identified with EBLLs for the first time in 2015.”    At the event, Anti-Poverty Network Executive Director Serena Rice spoke as an advocate and mother of a six-year old. “When I explained to my son about why we were coming here today – about how some kids get sick because of the dust in their homes, and when they leave the hospital they have to go right back to the home that made them sick – his response summed it up perfectly. He said ‘Mommy that’s just wrong,’” said Rice. In addition to funding for lead prevention, advocates also urged support for a new measure sponsored by Senator Shirley Turner (D-Mercer/Hunterdon) that would permit municipalities to inspect one and two bedroom multifamily homes. At the present, only rentals that three bedrooms or more are required to be inspected.  In the last session, a bill (S-1279) that would appropriate $10 million to the LHCAF was introduced by Senator Ronald L. Rice (D-Essex). However, the bill was ultimately pocket vetoed by Governor Christie. “We’ve seen the national outrage resulting from lead contaminated water distributed in Flint, Michigan. We have our own crisis here in New Jersey that cannot be ignored,” said Senator Rice. “This is a public health issue that needs immediate attention. Lead poisoning can cause brain and nervous system damage, inability to pay attention, behavior and learning problems. The governor should have signed the legislation to fund lead hazard reduction efforts, yet he is preoccupied by a campaign that has become a priority over the needs of New Jersey residents. I will continue to fight for increased funding to protect our residents from lead exposure and keep working to bring attention to this issue until something is done.” For more information on the Lead Hazard Assistance Control Fund including data from Isles, Inc., visit www.hcdnnj.org/lead.

 Follow #LeadFreeKidsNJ on Twitter for updates

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How many children in NJ are affected by Lead?
Each year, more than 3,000 children in New Jersey are poisoned due to lead exposure.

 

Q: What are the affects of lead exposure in children?
Lead is known to cause permanent neurological damage in children. It lowers IQ levels, negatively affects academic performance, and increases all types of learning disabilities. Lead poisoning, even at very low levels, impairs the development of those parts of the brain that regulate behavior and mood and is associated with attention deficit disorder, impulsiveness, aggression, and higher rates of criminal behavior. Lead is so toxic that it is unsafe at any level.

 

Q: What is the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund (LHCAF)?
In 2004, the State of New Jersey introduced the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund (LHCAF). This fund was created to allocate resources to remove lead from older houses and apartments by offering deferred payment loans or grants to property owners.The Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund spent $16.5 million removing lead from older homes and apartments. It also financed home inspections, emergency relocations for affected families, and efforts to educate the public about the risks of living in homes built before lead-based paints were banned in 1978. 

Unfortunately, by 2014, no funds were appropriated to the LHCAF, eliminating a significant resource for families and property owners trying to address lead hazards. Since 2004, about $53.7 million earmarked for the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund, as required by law, was diverted to the state’s general treasury to balance the budget and provide risky and unproven tax breaks to business. The NJ Assembly and Senate have passed bills in each of the last 3 years to restore at least $10 million to the LHCAF.  Each year, Governor Christie has effectively vetoed the legislation.

 

Q: Why should my tax dollars be used to clean up lead?
In this case, they’re not!  The revenue source for the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund comes from a 50 cent per gallon user fee on paint sold in NJ. 

Financially, cleaning up lead paint hazards for your fellow citizens make enormous fiscal sense.  The choice is between paying $5,000-$12,000 per unit to make a house lead safe, or $32,000 per year for each child who is poisoned by lead paint. These costs are embedded in the cost of crime/criminal justice, delinquency, special education, and lost tax revenues.

Read more FAQs here 
 

Isles’ Experience

Founded in 1981, Isles, Inc. is a community development and environmental organization based in Trenton, New Jersey. With a mission to foster self-reliant families and healthy, sustainable communities, we design and develop effective services that support this mission and share what we learn with others who can make a difference.

Since 1999, Isles has been engaged in environmental health and policy work from many angles. In our role as a leader in environmental health, Isles has:

• Tested more than 2,000 homes for hazardous lead levels and found that more than 60% had enough lead present to affect a child’s IQ.
• Created the nationally-recognized ReHEET service that combines lead safety, energy efficiency and healthy homes retrofits as one “case.” We have provided retrofits to more than 170 Trenton homes over the past 4 years.
• Established the NJ Healthy Homes Training Center, one of 17 satellite training centers of the National Center for Healthy Homes, to train community health workers, social workers, building inspectors, etc.  We have trained or been responsible for training more than 800 home- or child services- related professionals. 
• Trained multiple teams of peer educators to visit homes and identify environmental asthma triggers and conduct sampling for lead.
• Compiled data for an environmental health profile of Trenton with comparisons to county and state data.
• Completed a survey in partnership with Rutgers Eagleton Institute to better understand Trenton residents’ knowledge, attitudes and practices related to the home environment.
• Created a tablet-based healthy homes assessment that links to a master database, enabling us to characterize the state of Trenton’s low income housing.

Contact
Elyse Pivnick
Director of Environmental Health
Isles, Inc. 
[email protected]
609.341.4723 
 

Isles & Lead in the News:

• Asbury Park Press- 4 Plans for Making Lead Poisoning a Priority in NJ (2.1.16)
• NJ.com- Why 11 NJ Cities Have More Lead-Affected Kids Than Flint, Michigan (2.3.16)
• Washington Post- Untold Cities Across America Have Higher Rates of Lead Poisoning than Flint (2.4.16)
• Mother Jones- Flint Probably Has Bigger Problems Than Lead Pipes (2.4.16)
• WHYY Radio- Lead Poisoning in Pa. and NJ (2.24.16)
• Living with Lead- Investigative Report with Mitch Blacher (3.28.16)
• Prevention is Key to Combating Lead Poisoning, Expert Says (3.31.16)

Dear Friends,

We did it! We met our TINY Challenge. A BIG thank you to our friends and donors for making it possible for an additional $10,000 to flow into Isles’ work. It will make an important impact, continuing the good work Isles does to foster self-reliant families and healthy, sustainable communities.

Thanks to your support, 2016 will be another action-packed year for Isles. It’s our 35th year, and it’s time to take a moment to be grateful and celebrate old and new. 

Take a look at our staff reflections here:

We here at Isles know that our work makes a difference, and we look forward to sharing our next year with you.