No child left poisoned
State bill would expand tests for lead ‘Dakota’s Law’ aims at NYCHA outrage
Dakota Taylor, 12, who at age 4 registered alarming blood-lead levels while living in a NYCHA apartment, and her mother, Tiesha Jones. The family hopes new legislation will prevent other kids from going through what Dakota did.
A bill set to be introduced in Albany on Monday would greatly expand screening for lead poisoning in children living in both public and private housing.
The bill, to be filed by state Sen. Gustavo Rivera (DBronx), would significantly broaden the categories that prompt an aggressive investigation of the source of lead in housing both public and private.
If enacted, the legislation will be known as Dakota’s Law, named after Dakota Taylor, who at age 4 registered alarming blood-lead levels while living in a NYCHA apartment in the Bronx.
“I don’t want a child in our state to go through what Dakota did, and this law will prevent precisely that,” said Tiesha Jones, Dakota’s mother.
Rivera said he worked with Jones to fashion a law that would “create stronger requirements to protect all New York children from lead poisoning and to address lead exposure in homes across our state.”
Since 2012, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised health officials to initiate an investigation for the source of lead and remediate if necessary if a child younger than 6 registers a blood-lead level of 5 micrograms per deciliter.
But currently in New York, an investigation isn’t triggered until a child younger than 6 registers a much higher level of lead — 10 micrograms.
Dakota’s Law would require all health officials statewide to take action for all children younger than 18 living in public or private housing who register the federal standard of 5 micrograms or more.
Last week, the Daily News revealed that despite Mayor de Blasio’s claim that only a handful of children living in public housing have registered elevated levels of blood lead, more than 800 children younger than 6 living in public housing registered levels between 5 and 9 micrograms from 2012 through 2016.
Though the federal government considers these levels to be of concern, the city didn’t count those children when discussing the scope of the problem, nor did it initiate investigations to discover the source of lead for any of these children.
After The News’ exposé, the city revealed that in January it had quietly reversed course and adopted the 5 microgram standard for public housing. De Blasio also promised to use that standard going forward for all nonpublic housing as well.
Rivera’s bill follows months of revelations about the New York City Housing Authority’s lying about its failures to perform required lead paint inspections in its aging apartments and covering up the scope of the problem from tenants and the public.
One of those tenants is Jones. In January, a Bronx jury awarded her $57 million in her lawsuit against NYCHA. Since then, NYCHA has been in talks to agree on a lower payout.
Jones’ daughter Dakota tested at a dangerous level of 45 micrograms in January 2010. City Health Department X-rays showed lead paint in her Fort Independence Houses apartment, but NYCHA said its tests showed there was no lead.
On Saturday, Jones recalled in an interview with The News how NYCHA resisted cleaning up her apartment, at first claiming it could merely paint over the problem. She says the Health Department told NYCHA that was unacceptable and ordered a full abatement.
Elevated blood-lead levels can cause developmental delays in young children, and when Dakota entered the city’s public school system she was placed in special education classes. She’s now 12 and back in general education classes while receiving special education support.
“I don’t think they (NYCHA) handled it correctly,” Jones said. “They were like, ‘This is all politics. We don’t know how this is going to get done.’ And I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? This is my child!’ ”
Jones hopes that the law named after her daughter will prevent other parents and children from going through what she and Dakota endured.
The law would also create a hotline for doctors statewide to report elevated blood-lead levels to trigger inspections and lead paint abatement in homes where lead-poisoned children live; require private insurers and Medicaid to cover lead screening tests, and mandate that the state assist local health officials with inspection and remediation of lead paint if necessary.