What Is Lead Poisoning?
Who Does It Affect And How Do You Get
It?
How Do I Know if My Child Has
Lead Poisoning?
Who Pays for the Lead Poisoning Tests?
Does The
Landlord Have To Tell Me If There Is Lead In The Apartment?
What
Happens When My Child's Case is Referred to the Health Department?
What
Can I Do To Make My Landlord Remove the Lead Paint From My Apartment?
Should
I Still Pay My Rent If There Is Lead Paint and the Landlord Won't Remove It?
Should I Move Out
While the Lead Paint Is Being Removed?
Can Anyone Remove the Lead Paint?
If I
Want to Move Out Because of Lead Paint, Can I Get Any Help to Move?
Can
A Landlord Refuse to Rent to Me Because I Have Children Under Age Six?
What
If I Am Living in an Apartment Subsidized by Section 8, RAP or the Housing Authority That
Has Lead?
How Does Lead Poisoning
Affect My Child's Education?
If
My Child Is Disabled Due To Lead Poisoning, Is My Child Entitled To Any Kind Of Financial
Assistance?
Is
My Landlord Responsible for the Harm that Lead Paint May Have Caused to My Children?
Where Can I Go For More Information?
Lead poisoning happens when a person has dangerous levels of lead in his or her blood stream. Lead poisoning can cause
Children under the age of 6 are at the greatest risk for getting lead poisoning. That's because much of the growth and development of the brain occurs by the time the child turns 6. Pregnant women and their fetuses also face health risks from exposure to high levels of lead.
One of the greatest causes of lead poisoning is from lead based paint. Children often get lead poisoning from
For more information about lead poisoning and how it can affect children, contact your pediatrician, Infoline at 2-1-1, or see below for other resources.
Children under the age of 6 should be tested for lead poisoning. You may ask your child's doctor to test your child for lead poisoning. A simple finger prick blood test is used to screen for lead poisoning. If the screening test shows your child may have lead poisoning, the health practitioner will take another test. If tests show a blood lead level greater than "20," then the child should receive further medical attention and the case will automatically be referred to the Department of Health to figure out where the lead poisoning is coming from.
If your child receives Medicaid (also called Title 19 or HUSKY Part A) or HUSKY Part B, testing and any necessary treatment must be paid for by Medicaid or HUSKY. If Medicaid refuses to pay for, or your medical provider refuses to provide the test for lead poisoning, or any medical treatment your child needs due to lead poisoning, contact Statewide Legal Services.
If you have private insurance, most pediatricians will do a lead test as a regular part of their check up. If your doctor doesn't do the screening test, ask him or her to do so.
If your child is not on Title 19 or HUSKY and you do not have insurance, you can have your child screened for lead poisoning for free by calling your local Health Department. You can also be referred for free lead testing through a Head Start program. Other primary care health clinics will probably also do the finger prick test for a small fee.
All landlords are required to tell both their new and old tenants if they know of any lead based paint in the apartment. The landlord also must give tenants any reports that s/he may have concerning any tests for lead paint in the apartment. Landlords are also supposed to provide tenants with an information pamphlet and attach to the lease a warning about the dangers of lead paint. Landlords who don't supply this information can be liable for triple damages.
The Health Department must send out an inspector to find the source of the lead poisoning and order the landlord to correct the problem. The inspector will usually take samples of the paint from various places in your apartment, especially areas that are chipped or peeling, easily chewable, or "friction surfaces" where one painted surface rubs against another and creates dust (such as windows). If illegal levels of lead paint are found, the health department will order your landlord to correct the problem, called "abatement."
Lead abatement can be done in one of three ways: by stripping the lead paint from the painted surface, removing the surface that has the paint on it, or covering the area that has the lead paint.
If the Health Department finds dangerous levels of lead in your apartment, it will order your landlord to fix the problem within a reasonable time. The length of time each landlord has to remove the lead paint may vary depending on the circumstances. If your landlord does not remove the lead paint or get rid of the health hazard within the given time, or show that s/he is making reasonable efforts but needs more time, the Health Department can get a warrant to arrest your landlord on criminal charges, and s/he can be prosecuted by the housing code prosecutor.
The prosecutor can ask the judge to impose fines, or send the landlord to jail. Sometimes the threat of what the judge might order in a criminal prosecution is enough to get the landlord to do the work. You can also call the housing code prosecutor yourself to make a complaint if the landlord has not complied with the health department's orders.
You can take legal action by bringing a civil lawsuit against your landlord. You can ask the judge to order the landlord to immediately remove the lead paint, (this is called an injunction), and you can ask for a refund of the rent you had paid during the time there was illegal lead paint in the apartment which the landlord refused to remove. If you want to bring such a case, you should consult a lawyer.
If your landlord says that s/he cannot afford to pay for the lead paint removal, your landlord may be eligible for a loan or grant of federal funds to help pay for the work. Your landlord should contact your town or city officials to find out about lead abatement programs.
Yes, if you want to avoid the risk of an eviction. But if you start a lawsuit against your landlord to make him or her remove the lead paint, you may be able to pay your rent into court, instead of to the landlord, and ask the judge to order that the rent you've already paid, be returned to you. You can start a "payment into court" action by going to the housing court in your area and asking the clerk to help you. You can also call Statewide Legal Services for help (1-800-453-3320 or 860-344-0380).
Because lead paint removal can create more lead dust, it is safest for your children if they are not living in the apartment during the lead paint removal, and do not return until the lead is totally removed, the apartment cleaned, retested and found to be free of illegal levels of lead.
Some local Health Department currently permit landlords to remove the lead while the family is still living in the apartment. This is done by working on one room at a time, removing or covering all furniture and sealing the room off with a double layer of plastic that is taped over the door to the room, and not removing the plastic until the work is done and all surfaces washed with a special high phosphate cleaning solution.
Local Health Departments may also recommends that children under the age of 6 be out of the apartment while the work is being done. Depending on the lay out of your apartment, and which rooms have lead, it may or may not be possible for the children to live in the apartment while the lead paint removal is occurring.
Some lead abatement grant and loan programs require that the tenant be temporarily relocated out of the apartment while the lead abatement work is being done.
Connecticut law says that anyone who performs lead abatement (removal) activities must be certified by the Commissioner of Public Health. Lead abatement supervisors and lead consultants are also required to have certification.
You may be eligible for relocation assistance from the town in which you live. This assistance can include temporary emergency housing, as well as assistance in locating and possibly paying for permanent replacement housing. You should get legal assistance for help in getting relocation assistance.
If you are not able to get relocation assistance and you receive Temporary Family Assistance benefits from the Department of Social Services (DSS), if your child has a blood lead level of at least 20 micrograms per deciliter or "any other abnormal body burden of lead", ask your DSS worker for any of the following assistance you need:
It is illegal for landlords to discriminate against families with children. If you are denied housing because you have children under the age of 6, you should contact Statewide Legal Assistance, or a private attorney, for advice about your rights under the fair housing act.
If you are living in an apartment in which your rent is subsidized under the Rental Assistance Program (RAP), or the Section 8 certificate or voucher programs, you should report your child's condition to your worker and provide written documentation from your child's doctors, if you discover there are illegal amounts of lead in your apartment.
Section 8 rules now require the inspector, at the first and once a year inspections, to look for chipped, peeling, cracking or loose paint, if the apartment or house was built before 1978 and has children under the age of 6 living there. If there is such chipping or peeling paint, the landlord must either produce an inspection report showing that the paint is not lead paint, or abate the defective paint within 30 days.
If there is a child with a high blood lead level, then during the initial and annual inspection, the inspector must also test for lead paint on all chewable surfaces (like window sills and frames, or any other woodwork that sticks out). If lead based paint is found, it must be abated within 30 days.
If the landlord does not abate the lead paint problem within 30 days, Section 8 or RAP can order your landlord to make the repairs, and, if he or she does not do so, Section 8 or RAP can withhold their portion of the rent. You should still continue to pay your portion of the rent unless you have gotten legal advice and your lawyer has told you not to pay. You should then be given another certificate or voucher, to help you move to another apartment.
The Housing Authority and other federally subsidized housing projects are required to evaluate their properties to find out where there is lead paint, notify tenants of the results of their inspections, and perform lead paint abatement when illegal levels of lead paint are found.
Many children who have been poisoned by lead can have problems in school, such as behavior problems, short attention span, problems in language or speech development, hearing and visual impairments, or developmental delays that can make them entitled to special education services.
If your child has a disability which affects his or her ability to learn or function in school, your school district must provide him or her with an appropriate special education program. Even infants and toddlers who are not yet school aged and who have developmental delays or are at risk of having developmental delays are entitled to special education services. An appropriate special education program must be provided for free by your school district.
Parents or guardians of all children who have had lead levels above 20 should discuss with their doctor whether the children should undergo testing to see if they have any problems caused by the lead that will affect their ability to learn or function in school. If you or your child's doctor think your school-age or pre-school child needs special education services, you should contact your local school district. You can ask for a Planning and Placement Team meeting to discuss an appropriate educational placement for your child. If you are not satisfied with the school district's decisions, you should seek legal help. See the Legal Aid pamphlet, Special Education: Protecting Your Child, Protecting Your Rights.
If your child has become severely disabled due to lead poisoning, s/he may be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). If your child has been denied SSI, you can seek legal help.
You may be able to sue your landlord or former landlord for the harm that the lead paint has caused to your child. If you have a strong legal claim, many private attorneys will agree to take your case without payment of much money up front, in exchange for a percentage of what you win (called a "contingent fee" arrangement).
Check your local phone book for a Lawyer Referral service which can give you the names of those who are experienced in lead paint cases.
Where Can I Go for More Information?
Statewide Legal Services 1-800-453-3320 or (860) 344-0380
This document was produced by the Legal Assistance Resource Center of CT in cooperation with Connecticut Legal Services, Greater Hartford Legal Aid, New Haven Legal Assistance Association, and Statewide Legal Services.
The information in this document is based on
the laws in CT as of August 2007. We hope that the information is helpful. It is not
intended as legal advice for an individual situation. If you need further help and have
not done so already, please call Statewide Legal Services (see above) or contact an
attorney.
Copyright: August 2007