Funding From OAG’s Dollar Tree Settlement Will Support Innovative Approaches to Increasing Blood Lead Screening for Young Children in the Finger Lake
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a $100,000 investment to expand childhood lead testing in rural New York, using funds secured through the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) settlement with Dollar Tree over the sale of recalled, lead-contaminated children’s food. Attorney General James’ investment will fund an 18-month project led by Pivital Public Health Partnership to model innovative approaches to increasing blood lead screening among one- and two-year-old children in Yates and Seneca counties, where fewer than half of children are currently screened for lead poisoning by age two. The project will combine community education sessions, grocery voucher incentives, and targeted outreach to help families complete lead screenings for their children.
“Lead poisoning can cause serious and lasting harm to children, and the best way we can protect young New Yorkers is by ensuring families know when their kids have been exposed,” said Attorney General James. “Every New York family should have access to the testing and resources they need to keep their children safe. We are putting money secured from Dollar Tree to work in communities where too many young children are going without this critical screening and building a model that can be brought to rural communities throughout New York.”
“We’re deeply grateful to Attorney General James for this investment in the health of children and families in Yates and Seneca counties,” said Michele Foster, Executive Director of Pivital Public Health Partnership. “This project helps us to hear directly from parents and caregivers about their experiences with blood lead testing and better understand why testing rates remain low among children ages one and two. Together with education, outreach, and direct support for families, our goal is to increase blood lead testing in these counties.”
New York law requires health care providers to screen or refer every child for blood lead testing around ages one and two, but testing rates in Yates and Seneca counties have lagged well behind the state average, potentially leaving many cases of lead poisoning undetected. In 2025, just 41 percent of one-year-olds and 42.7 percent of two-year-olds in Yates County received blood lead testing, while testing rates in Seneca County were 49.5 percent and 49.1 percent, respectively.
Attorney General James is now awarding $100,000 to Pivital Public Health Partnership, a nonprofit affiliation of seven county public health departments in the Finger Lakes region, to address these disparities. Under the new program, Pivital will hold small-group listening and education sessions with caregivers in trusted community settings, offer grocery voucher incentives to families who complete their child's blood lead test, and run a messaging campaign informed directly by caregiver feedback. The campaign will include social media messaging to more directly reach families.
The project will prioritize outreach in state-designated Disadvantaged Communities within both counties, including information sessions and targeted marketing in neighborhoods that face the greatest barriers to preventive health care. The initiative will work through systems families already rely on, including county health departments, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Early Intervention, and primary care providers, so that successful strategies can continue beyond the 18-month pilot. The project will identify barriers to testing and evaluate which strategies are most effective at increasing testing rates. If successful, OAG hopes that the model can be shared with other rural communities in the Finger Lakes and across New York.
The funding for this project comes from Attorney General James’ $559,250 settlement with Dollar Tree following an OAG investigation into the company’s continued sale of lead-contaminated applesauce following a nationwide recall. The settlement funds were intended to be used for lead poisoning prevention and response programs and efforts to improve access to healthy and affordable food in underserved communities.
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