What’s New?

New report: Critical supports lift kids out of poverty

Posted on February 25, 2015

Food stamps, school breakfast, tax credits and other anti-poverty supports make a critical difference in the lives of nearly 250,000 New Jersey children who would otherwise grow up in poverty, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

2015_measuring_access_ to_opportunityWhen measuring child poverty based on the real needs of families, 31 percent of New Jersey children would be living in families who lack the resources to meet their children’s basic needs. However, when supports are factored in, that percentage drops to 19 percent, according to the KIDS COUNT® Data Snapshot, Measuring Access to Opportunity in the United States.

Read the release.

Download the report.

NJ Achieves Highest Increase in Nation for School Breakfast

Posted on February 10, 2015

The Food Research and Action Center found that New Jersey’s participation rate jumped nearly 13 percent from the 2012-13 to the 2013-14 school years. The state now ranks 28th in the nation for breakfast participation – up from 37th last year and 46th a few years ago. The average national increase was about 3 percent.

Read press release.

Learn more about FRAC’s reports.

Visit NJschoolbreakfast.org.

NJ Child Care Efforts Advance

Posted on February 5, 2015

ACNJ recently learned that two of our key recommendations on the child care front are moving forward. The New Jersey Department of Children and Families recently hired 16 additional inspectors to ensure the health, safety and quality of care for children across the state. In our December 2013 report, Meeting the Child Care Challenge, we noted that New Jersey was nearly last in the nation for oversight of child care centers and that inspectors had heavy caseloads that may prevent them from conducting thorough inspections. We commend DCF for addressing this important issue.

In addition, the department now has a searchable online directory of child care providers, giving parents a central place to get basic information, including center location, size and the ages of children served. This information had previously been available only in pdf format.

View the new directory here.

State officials say they are still working on posting inspection reports and violations online in a user-friendly format for parents. We’ll keep you posted of their progress.

News: Pre-K Our Way kicks off

Posted on January 27, 2015

With tens of thousands of New Jersey children still lacking access to high-quality preschool, a new campaign has launched to change that. Pre-K Our Way is a nonpartisan, community effort aimed at bringing quality preschool to children in towns throughout New Jersey. Advocates for Children of New Jersey is proud to be part of this effort. ACNJ has long championed preschool expansion as mandated in New Jersey’s 2008 school funding law.

Learn more about Pre-K Our Way

Learn about ACNJ’s efforts to build a strong early learning system in NJ.

Give Kids a Smile Friday Feb. 6

Posted on January 26, 2015

OralHealthPic2 (640x565)The New Jersey Dental Association will sponsor its annual Give Kids a Smile NJ day Friday, Feb. 6. Each February, New Jersey’s dental community comes together to ensure the delivery of care to thousands children under age 13 who otherwise may not be able to afford or access oral healthcare. Give Kids a Smile NJ has grown to be the largest, single-day program of its kind in the state.

For more information, visit the New Jersey Dental Association’s website at www.njda.org.

To sign up your child for GKAS, you must make an appointment at one of the participating GKAS locations in order for your child to be seen. View list of participating locations.