NLIHC and National Housing Law Project held a Capitol Hill briefing on Healthy Housing solutions on October 23.
NLIHC Vice President of Public Policy, Sarah Saadian gave opening remarks and introduced Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) who recently introduced with Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) S. 2160, the “Carbon Monoxide Alarms Leading Every Resident to Safety Act” (CO ALERTS) and with Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) S. 1583, the “Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act.” Senator Menendez spoke about the importance of these bills and how they would help protect residents in federal housing programs from the dangers of carbon monoxide and lead poisoning.
Ms. Donna Black spoke about how two of her children experienced lead poisoning while living in federally assisted housing. She had trusted the federal government to keep her family safe, only to learn her children would face life-long consequences due to lead poisoning. Under current law, HUD does not require property owners to test for lead prior to occupancy by Housing Choice Voucher recipients.
Dr. Sean Palfrey, medical director of the Lead Poisoning Prevention Program at Boston Medical Center; Deborah Thrope, deputy director of the National Housing Law Project; Emily Benfer, visiting associate clinical professor of law at the Columbia Law School; and several of Ms. Benfer’s students at the Columbia University Health Justice Advocacy Clinic shared information about the dangers of carbon monoxide and lead-based paint. Carbon monoxide, dubbed the “silent killer,” is particularly dangerous for children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Lead poisoning has irreversible and devastating effects on children. Current data indicates that one-fifth of all children with lead poisoning in the U.S. - or 90,000 children - participate in HUD's Housing Choice Voucher program.