ad info

 
CNN.comTranscripts
 
Editions | myCNN | Video | Audio | Headline News Brief | Feedback  

 

  Search
 
 

 

TOP STORIES

Bush signs order opening 'faith-based' charity office for business

Rescues continue 4 days after devastating India earthquake

DaimlerChrysler employees join rapidly swelling ranks of laid-off U.S. workers

Disney's GO.com is a goner

(MORE)

MARKETS
4:30pm ET, 4/16
144.70
8257.60
3.71
1394.72
10.90
879.91
 


WORLD

U.S.

POLITICS

LAW

TECHNOLOGY

ENTERTAINMENT

 
TRAVEL

ARTS & STYLE



(MORE HEADLINES)
 
CNN Websites
Networks image


Morning News

CNN & TIME: Families in Subsidized Housing Deal with Lead Poisoning

Aired August 25, 2000 - 10:47 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now a story about a multibillion-dollar government program with great intentions: to provide safe, subsidized housing for low-income families. Five hundred thousand children live in those homes, but what is meant to be a safe haven too often is not. An eight-month nationwide investigation by "CNN & TIME" has revealed that many homes certified as safe by government inspectors are, in fact, full of lead-paint hazards, putting the young children living there at risk of serious illness.

This report now by Linda Pattillo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LINDA PATTILLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rhonda Foxworth (ph) was homeless for months before she and her family moved into this government subsidized apartment in New York City.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Me and my husband, we'd just got married. We was really young. We didn't have anywhere to live. We was in the shelter, and when we got it, we was real happy, yes.

PATTILLO: But a year later, after their son Leonard was born, the Foxworths began noticing problems with the apartment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son, I would, you know, give him baths and all of a sudden I'd see chips of paint in the tub and then the chips from the wall, from the bathroom back wall, was falling into the tub. And when you take a shower, it would come off.

PATTILLO: Then, during a routine childhood exam, a blood test revealed that Leonard had lead poisoning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought it was a mistake.

PATTILLO: A mistake because the Foxworth's apartment had passed a safety inspection by the New York City Housing Authority.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They inspected it like a week before we moved in. We got the keys and everything was fine.

PATTILLO (on camera): What did they tell you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can move in. They said everything was fine.

PATTILLO (voice-over): It was not, health records show that Leonard, as well as his sister Lynee (ph), were exposed to high levels of lead from the chipped and peeling paint throughout the apartment. A 2 1/2 Leonard could speak only a few words.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's not really up to where he's supposed to be as in speech and understanding.

PATTILLO: In fact, Leonard may be permanently learning disabled as a result of lead poisoning, according to his doctor, John Rosen (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It produces physical organic brain damage, which is irreversible and which has a dramatic impact on a child's future.

PATTILLO (on camera): These families thought these apartments were safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it's the dream that turned into a nightmare.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PATTILLO: But Leonard Foxworth is just one example of a widespread, national problem. Half a million children are living in government subsidized apartments, and we have found in city after city, inspectors have declared homes safe that were in fact poisonous to the children living there -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Linda, I thought that lead-based paint had been banned? So you wouldn't expect to find it in this or any other apartment.

PATTILLO: Exactly, it was banned over 20 years ago, but it still exists on the walls of over 60 million homes in America. It is estimated that 80 percent of all homes built before 1980 have some lead paint in them, and really all a child has to do is ingest even the tiniest amount to be in danger of lead poisoning.

KAGAN: Definitely going to want to hear more about this. We will look forward to it. Linda Pattillo, thank for stopping by.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

 Search   


Back to the top  © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.