Posted on November 1, 2018
In a recently published article by The New York Times, reporter Liz Leyden highlighted ACNJ’s Newark Kids Count data: about a quarter of the more than 14,000 children under 6 who were tested in 2016 had measurable levels of lead in their blood. “This suggests a pervasive problem throughout the city coming from a variety of sources, and water could easily be one of them,” said Peter Chen, ACNJ policy counsel. Click here to read article.
Posted on October 26, 2018
In September, David Goodman, a New Jersey-born actor who graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden, spoke to the state Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC) Class of 2018 about facing hardships and not giving up. The ceremony had all the making of a traditional high school graduation, complete with six graduates receiving academic awards, family and friends celebrating with lots of photos, and even government officials Attorney General S. Gurbir Grewal, Lieutenant Governor Sheila Y. Oliver, JJC Executive Director Kevin M. Brown, and JJC Director of Education Tremaine Harrison in attendance.
The main difference? This graduation was taking place at the state’s largest youth facility for juvenile offenders, the New Jersey Training School for Boys, otherwise known as Jamesburg.
Listening to the speakers share statistics about ongoing juvenile reform efforts, and the cheers of the audience as smiling graduates tossed their caps in the air, congratulating each other, gave me some hope that we are on the right track.
In addition to the 60 students participating in the graduation, 72 students received their diplomas or their High School Equivalency Diplomas (HSEDs) earlier in the year and have since been released from JJC supervision or did not participate in the ceremony.
During his remarks, Attorney General Grewal explained that since 2003, there has been an 85 percent reduction in the number of youth committed to the care of the JJC by the courts, from 1,200 annually in 2003 to approximately 176 statewide in 2017. Youth of color account for 85 percent of this reduction. While there is still an overrepresentation of youth of color in county detention centers, the JJC and its partners through the New Jersey Council on Juvenile System Improvement (Council) continue to have data-driven conversations to identify strategies to address this serious problem.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation recently commended New Jersey for its success under the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), an effort to reduce the number of youth unnecessarily or inappropriately placed in detention, while protecting public safety and helping troubled youth address issues that led to criminal behavior. Since its nationwide implementation, JDAI has helped more than 300 locations safely reduce their juvenile detention populations.
New Jersey, a national model in JDAI, has decreased its average daily juvenile detention center population statewide by almost 80 percent between 2003 (pre-JDAI) and 2018 without impacting public safety, and has closed eight county-operated detention facilities since JDAI reforms began, resulting in an annual savings of $21 million. Research by the Casey Foundation has also demonstrated that in addition to the large reduction in daily detention populations, jurisdictions participating in JDAI, including New Jersey, have seen an equally steep decline in the number of youth committed to state juvenile correctional facilities.
But there is more to be done.
The JCC has been working to safely and significantly reduce out-of-home placements and incarceration, particularly for youth of color, who are still overrepresented within the system and remain in care longer than white youth, despite the positive impact of JDAI. Stakeholders, including the Casey Foundation and other national experts, are working together with officials in Camden County to determine why the racial disparities exist and how to solve them. The lessons learned in Camden County will then be shared throughout the state. Though difficult and time-consuming, the work is needed if New Jersey wishes to achieve better outcomes for our youth.
The most recent report of their progress was given at the last Council meeting. I was impressed by the effort and commitment of the judges, court staff, probation staff, prosecutors, public defenders and mental health professionals in transforming the culture and practices in Camden County. Families, schools, law enforcement and members of the community are all being engaged to build relationships that can help our neediest youth.
The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice led the charge to close Jamesburg and Hayes, the secure youth facility for girls, a goal that ACNJ supported and advocated for as well. The former Christie administration committed to the closure in December 2017, planning to replace existing large secure facilities with smaller, state-of-the-art regional facilities that are closer to the homes of these juveniles. Smaller, treatment-intensive, developmentally appropriate facilities, will allow for the delivery of therapeutic wrap-around services in a non-institutional environment, as recommended by national experts such as the National Institute of Justice and Casey Foundation. Closing Jamesburg is projected to save approximately $20 million a year, which should be applied to therapeutic and delinquency prevention services. We need to make sure that investment happens!
For more information, contact Mary Coogan at mcoogan@acnj.org
Posted on October 24, 2018
Last week was a fantastic week for babies!
We had some big wins recently, thanks to your advocacy. I could not let another day go by without recapping what happened and thanking all of you for everything you did to produce the results for New Jersey’s littlest residents.
First, Governor Murphy, First Lady Tammy Murphy and Department of Human Services Commissioner Carole Johnson issued a joint announcement about how $38 million in new federal funds will be used. $30 million is targeted to raise child care subsidy rates, the first meaningful increase in more than 10 years, with the greatest increase – 25 percent – for programs caring for babies. Infant programs will also receive a higher rate for quality improvements through Grow NJ Kids. While this does not bring infant programs into full parity, it is a great step forward in addressing some of the disincentives that have made high-quality child care for babies in such short supply.
The remaining $8 million is targeted to help programs come into compliance with licensing requirements and/or to improve quality. I am particularly excited by the $1.2 million that was set aside to develop more child care for babies. Since completing our 2017 reports on the cost of child care quality and the lack of capacity for infant care, ACNJ mounted a targeted campaign to develop more options for infant care, particularly for families relying on child care vouchers. Now, more babies will get the quality and affordable care that they deserve. This is a win!
On Wednesday, the 17th, ACNJ brought independent consultant Louise Stoney to NJ to meet with a number of policymakers and advocates. A national expert on child care financing, Louise engaged her audiences with new approaches to child care funding. She met with foundations, legislative staff and representatives from the governor’s office, as well as our Think Babies Coalition.
On Thursday, the 18th, Louise testified at a hearing on child care before the Assembly Women and Children’s Issues Committee (AWI). Her ideas about shared services, tax credits and other strategies generated a lot of interest. ACNJ helped organize the hearing on child care, which featured parents, child care providers and other advocates, as well as DHS Commissioner Johnson. Monique Baptiste, a parent and great advocate from Newark, provided very compelling testimony on the challenges of finding child care, bringing the room to tears. Thanks go to Assemblywoman Mosquera, chair of the committee, for her leadership.
On Saturday, the 20th, ACNJ participated in the 1st Annual Essex County Prenatal to 3 Summit, which was sponsored by several legislators and featured Lt. Governor, Sheila Oliver. Pictures from these events are on the ACNJ Facebook page.
Finally, we are gearing up for our 3rd annual breakfast celebration! Supporters, advocates and staff are gathering at the Clubhouse at Galloping Hill Golf Course in Kenilworth on December 5th to celebrate big wins for kids, reminisce about the past 40 years ACNJ has been in existence, and look ahead to our future. Reserve your seats today!
We are already planning our next steps – we don’t want to lose momentum – but I want to celebrate these wins and to acknowledge the remarkable ACNJ staff for their dedicated advocacy. Right from the Start NJ/Think Babies team – Diane Dellanno, Cynthia Rice, Patricia Canning and Hannah Korn-Heilner – you guys rock!
Posted on October 16, 2018
For years, ACNJ has focused on improving the availability and quality of child care for New Jersey’s youngest and most vulnerable children. Child care is the first education experience most children have, but for too long, it has been underfunded and underinvested, especially for babies. ACNJ’s advocacy efforts have paid off! The Department of Human Services announced today an expansion of funding for child care by $38 million, with infant care as a priority. This is a great step forward in building a strong, high-quality child care system in our state. Read press release.
ACNJ would like to thank Department of Human Services Commissioner Carole Johnson for her leadership. Commissioner Johnson has listened to the concerns of child care stakeholders throughout the state and made it a top priority for the Department.
The new proposal will help move the state forward on three key issue areas that ACNJ has highlighted:
From the #NJVotes4Kids campaign to Strolling Thunder to our Right From the Start NJ campaign, ACNJ and our partners have advocated to make the lives of babies a priority for our lawmakers. Thanks to the efforts of our Think Babies coalition partners, the NJ Department of Human Services, and parents and families throughout the state, New Jersey is on the path to a sustainable child care system that fully supports babies and their families.
There is much work ahead for us, and this plan is only a partial solution. But we should take time to celebrate this huge win for New Jersey’s youngest children and their families.
Posted on October 5, 2018
This summer, ACNJ began a series of advocacy trainings to teach parents and providers the skills they need to become effective advocates for affordable high-quality child care. We held three trainings across the state in Newark, Trenton and Camden. The trainings were so popular, we have begun to expand our reach this fall, offering another training in Paterson last week and one in Toms River next week. We have had such an overwhelming response to the trainings, participants are excited to become involved in our campaign advocacy efforts! Read stories from two of our amazing advocates sharing their experiences.
Meet Ashanti Jones, mother of a 1-year old boy. As a first-time mother, Ashanti wanted to find a high-quality child care center to send her son where she felt he would be in a safe environment to learn and grow. When she started visiting child care centers, she realized the high cost of quality — one center cost $337 a week! Ashanti visited more affordable child care centers, but they were just not up to par. In the end, she and her husband made the difficult decision for her husband to leave his job and stay home with their baby.
Ashanti knew she had to do something to address the lack of affordable high-quality child care in New Jersey. This past May, she attended Strolling Thunder NJ, along with parents and babies from the South Ward Children’s Alliance in Newark where she works, to bring attention to this issue. Afterwards, she attended ACNJ’s advocacy training in July and accompanied ACNJ staff to a meeting with Congressman Donald Payne in August to share her story and advocate for more affordable high-quality child care.
Ashanti said that ACNJ’s advocacy training helped prepare her for the meeting with Congressman Payne. She said, “The material was easy to understand and it allowed us to finally identify what our issues were. It allowed parents to identify their voice and how to make sure what they have to say does not fall on deaf ears. I loved how applicable the material was for anyone in any facet of childcare, whether they were parents, advocates or providers, the material was streamlined to address each view. I left the training empowered and equipped to become a change agent for our babies and kids.”
Meet Keisha Wright-Daniel, director of child care center in Pennsauken. She attended ACNJ’s advocacy training in Camden in August along with a few of her staff members. Keisha loves her job and is passionate about providing affordable high-quality child care for babies. About 98% of her families receive subsidies to help pay for their child care costs, however the subsidies do not cover the cost of high-quality care. To ensure she is still providing the best care for the children, as well as retaining her staff, Keisha took less money for herself. Eventually, she had to take on a second job since she has kids of her own that she has to take care of. Keisha accompanied ACNJ staff to a meeting at Congressman Donald Norcross’s office in September to share her story. She shared that through these experiences, she is “hopeful that early childhood education will become a priority. Children are entitled to quality environments where parents and teachers are less stressed. Only then will they thrive.”
ACNJ wants to thank all of our wonderful advocates for participating in our advocacy trainings. While we have data, we need your stories to help enhance our advocacy efforts!
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