NEW YORK CITY, NY –
New York is putting settlement money into two Finger Lakes counties where fewer than half of young children received required blood lead tests, leaving families without answers about exposure that can damage a child’s health and development.
Attorney General Letitia James announced Friday that $100,000 will fund an 18-month lead-screening project in Yates and Seneca counties. The money comes from a $559,250 settlement with Dollar Tree over the company’s continued sale of lead-contaminated applesauce after a nationwide recall.
State law requires health care providers to test or refer children for blood lead testing at about ages one and two. The counties’ 2025 rates show the mandate did not translate into consistent screening.
In Yates County, 41 percent of one-year-olds and 42.7 percent of two-year-olds were tested, according to the Attorney General’s Office. Seneca County’s rates were 49.5 percent for one-year-olds and 49.1 percent for two-year-olds. Every figure was below half.
Low screening rates do not prove that children were exposed to lead. They do mean many families may not know whether exposure occurred. Lead poisoning can be difficult to detect without a blood test, and delayed identification can postpone medical follow-up and efforts to remove the source.
Pivital Public Health Partnership will run the project. The nonprofit affiliation of seven county health departments plans small-group education and listening sessions, grocery-voucher incentives for families who complete a child’s test, and a messaging campaign shaped by caregiver feedback.
The program will prioritize state-designated disadvantaged communities and work through county health departments, the Women, Infants and Children program, Early Intervention services and primary care offices. Organizers say they will track which methods increase testing and whether the model can be used in other rural communities.
The funding responds to a clear failure point but leaves larger questions open. The state has not said how many providers missed required screening or referral steps, how many children remain untested, or whether any enforcement followed. The 18-month project is designed to identify barriers, which means officials still do not have a complete account of why the legal requirement is producing such low participation.
The source of the money also carries an accountability thread. The Attorney General’s Office investigated Dollar Tree for continuing to sell recalled lead-contaminated children’s food. Settlement dollars are now being redirected to prevention and early detection in communities with limited testing access.
The measure of success will be more than outreach events or social-media impressions. Families need completed tests, timely results, follow-up care and help identifying environmental hazards. The state says it will evaluate which strategies work. It should also publish the results, including whether the counties finally move beyond the halfway mark.
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