Bill > S233

Introduced Session

This bill would strengthen the existing State requirements for childhood lead screening by: (1) codifying, in the statutory law, the existing schedule for childhood lead screening that appears in regulations adopted by the Department of Health (DOH); (2) requiring a child to undergo three screening tests, as opposed to the two that are currently required by the DOH; (3) allowing health care professionals to perform lead screenings at the point-of-care, in the regular course of a well visit; and (4) requiring a child's parent or guardian to provide the child's school with documentation showing the child's lead screening results, as a precondition of the child's initial entry into the school system. The bill would specify, in particular, that every physician, registered professional nurse, or health care facility, agency, or program that is subject to the State's childhood elevated blood lead level prevention laws will be required to perform a lead screening on each patient between six months and six years of age to whom services are provided, during the course of a well visit, in accordance with the following schedule: 1) when the child is between nine and 18 months of age; preferably on the date of, or as close as possible to, the child's first birthday; 2) at least six months after the first lead screening test, when the child is between 18 and 26 months of age; preferably on the date of, or as close as possible to, the child's second birthday; and 3) immediately prior to, and as a precondition of, the child's initial enrollment in school. "Initial enrollment in school" is defined to mean the enrollment of a child in a public or private pre-kindergarten class, or the enrollment of a child in a public or private kindergarten class, whichever occurs first. A physician, registered professional nurse, or health care facility, agency, or program performing a lead screening in accordance with this schedule will be authorized to perform the screening on-site, at the point of care, during the course of a well visit. The physician, registered professional nurse, or health care facility, agency, or program performing lead screening will be required to record in the child's permanent health record the date on which the lead screening test was administered and the results of the test. This same information will also need to be noted on any physical examination form that a public or private school or school system requires parents or guardians to submit as a condition of school admission or enrollment. Commencing with the 2024-2025 school year, the principal, director, or other person in charge of a public or private school in this State will be prohibited from knowingly admitting or enrolling in a pre-kindergarten or kindergarten class any child whose parent or guardian fails to submit acceptable documentation showing the child's test results for lead screening. If the documentation submitted by the child's parent or guardian indicates that the child has not yet been screened for elevated blood lead levels in accordance with that testing requirement, the child's initial enrollment in school is to be deferred until such time as the child has been screened, and acceptable documentation showing the results of that screening test have been submitted to the school. The bill requires the DOH to modify its existing lead screening public information campaign to inform the parents and guardians of small children, as well as physicians, registered professional nurses, and other health care providers, about the lead screening schedule and requirements, and the conditions for initial school enrollment, established by the bill. The bill additionally requires the DOH to establish an educational outreach campaign providing the same information to the same populations. Any information or documentation that is prepared for the public information and educational outreach campaigns is to be posted at a publicly accessible location on the DOH Internet website. The bill clarifies that any DOH regulations adopted pursuant to P.L.1995, c.316 (C.17:48E-35.10 et al.), concerning the provision of insurance coverage for lead screenings, are to be consistent with the revisions to the State's lead screening laws adopted under the bill.

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Shirley Turner (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee (on 01/13/2026)

Official Document