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Child Care in New Jersey: Why Everyone Should Care

Posted on June 23, 2025

Child Care is Everyone's Business

winifred headshot
Winifred Smith-Jenkins
Director of Early Childhood Policy and Advocacy

For more information on this topic, contact Winifred at wsmith-jenkins@acnj.org.

Child care is not just a concern for families with young children–it’s everyone’s concern. Every child deserves a strong start in life. Every parent deserves the opportunity to work, go to school, and build a stable future knowing their child is being cared for in a safe and nurturing environment. But in New Jersey, child care is out of reach for far too many families, and it's costing us all.

This election year, voters have the power to demand action. It’s time to ask: What’s your plan to provide safe and stable care for all our babies?

The Real Cost of Inaction
Inadequate child care isn’t just a burden on families. It’s a billion-dollar public economic challenge:

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  • Multiple studies have shown that high-quality child care for young children yields significant long-term economic benefits. New Jersey loses $3.6 billion every year in lost earnings, productivity, and tax revenue due to child care challenges (ReadyNation, 2023).
  • Without reliable child care, parents miss work. Businesses suffer absenteeism, lose workers, and lose their investments in worker training. The economy measurably suffers, and New Jersey is less prosperous. 
  • Parents who cannot work because of lack of child care place additional, costly burdens on the social welfare system.
  •  Without reliable high-quality child care children are less safe and miss out on early learning that prepares them for school and adult life as citizens and contributors to the state’s prosperity.

What Families in New Jersey Need
New Jersey families need leaders who will:

  • Expand access to affordable, high-quality child care.
  • Invest in the child care workforce so providers can stay open and staffed
  • Support family choice: from centers to in-home providers.
  • Ensure funds reach those who need them most.

What Are the Types of Child Care in New Jersey

  • State-funded preschool.
  • Free, full-day programs for 3- and 4-year-olds in participating districts.
  • Head Start and Early Head Start
    Comprehensive early learning and family support programs for low-income families, serving children from birth to age 5 and pregnant women.
  • Child Care Centers
    Licensed care for six or more children, typically offering structured learning environments for infants through school-aged children.
  • Family Child Care (Home-Based)
    Small group care in a provider’s home. Some are registered and subsidy-eligible; others operate privately.
  • In-Home and Family, Friend, Neighbor (FFN) Care
    Trusted individuals who provide care in the child’s home or their own. Some may be eligible for subsidies under specific requirements.
  • Summer Youth Camps
    Seasonal care for school-aged children. Certified camps may qualify for subsidies.

Why Should Everyone Care?
Consider the impact on:

  • Children
    • Builds early brain development, social-emotional skills, and school readiness.
    • Lays the foundation for lifelong success.
  • Parents
    • Supports participation in the workforce or higher education.
    • Reduces stress and supports family well-being.
  • Grandparents
    • Allows older adults raising or helping raise grandchildren to pursue their own personal, health, or financial goals.
  • Employers
    • Increases employee retention, reduces absenteeism, and improves productivity.
    • Strengthens the local workforce.
  • Community and Economy
    • Reduces future costs for education, health, and social services.
    • Builds a stronger, more inclusive economy by supporting working families
      Ensures all children, regardless of background, have a chance to thrive.

Why Public Investment Matters Now

  • High-quality child care is too expensive for most families and unsustainable for most providers. 
  • On average, most centers in NJ operate around 70% of their licensed capacity. Many programs are operating below capacity due to workforce shortages and underfunding.
  • New Jersey loses $3.6 billion every year in lost earnings, productivity, and revenue due to the lack of accessible child care (ReadyNation, 2023).
  • Without public investment, parents, providers, and the economy will continue to suffer.

What You Can Do

  • Partner with us and engage with candidates. 
  • Ask candidates:
    “What is your plan to expand access to affordable, quality child care in New Jersey?”
  • Share your story to help others understand what’s at stake. Use #NJVotes4Kids on social media to join the conversation on making children’s issues a priority in the state elections.
  • Support public funding for child care as part of a thriving, equitable New Jersey.

Need help finding child care or applying for financial assistance?
Visit www.ChildCareNJ.gov or call 1-800-332-9227.

The Missing Curriculum: Why Social Emotional Character Development (SECD) Matters

Posted on June 19, 2025

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Authored by:
Adriana Bland
Deborah T. Poritz Summer Public Interest Legal Fellowship Program, LSNJ

For more information on positive youth development efforts, contact Isaiah Fudge at Ifudge@acnj.org.

Social Emotional Character Development is a Whole-Child Approach to Youth Success

Social Emotional Character Development (SECD) is a whole-child approach designed to help youth form strong, healthy relationships, manage emotions effectively, and develop the necessary skills to thrive in life. Rather than cultivating entirely new skills, SECD extracts and strengthens the emotional and interpersonal skills that youth already possess, helping them navigate their positive life purpose with confidence, compassion, and control. Key competencies such as emotional awareness, self-regulation, and collaboration are at the heart of SECD. Encouraging and inspiring these abilities not only supports youth in academic success, but also empowers them to make thoughtful and positive choices about their futures. Without this clear sense of purpose, many youth make poor decisions that can have lasting negative effects. This is why SECD is so critical–it builds resilience and emotional well-being.

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Maurice Elias quote

SECD is a powerful strategy for youth success but, it is important to understand that this method is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Each youth is unique. As such, the approaches used must be flexible and meet youth where they are.

Watch our Lunch and Learn on Social Emotional Learning featuring Dr. Maurice Elias, Professor of Psychology and Director of The Collaborative, Rutgers Center for Community-Based Research, Service, and Public Scholarship

While academic achievement often takes center stage in youth development, social and emotional skills are embedded in everything we do, further underscoring the need to incorporate SECD before problems arise, not after. As Dr. Maurice J. Elias notes in his recent Lunch & Learn Webinar, “A test score does not give a kid a future, but a future can motivate a kid to improve a test score.” By prioritizing SECD, we are not just equipping young people for academic success, we are preparing them for life. 

SECD Key Takeaways: 

  • Success in school and life is dependent on healthy social and emotional development.
  • Strong relationships with trustworthy adults can aid in young people’s development of important skills.  
  • A unified SECD approach addresses five core competencies in young people: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness.
  • While SECD programs exist, adults often do not have adequate training to effectively lead and maintain them.
  • Social emotional character development often begins at home, where its influence is both earliest and strongest.
  • Mental health depends largely on one’s social emotional competencies. 
  • It does take a village to raise a child. 

Check Out Who’s Running for NJ Governor

Posted on June 5, 2025

Last Updated: June 11, 2025

Be an informed voter. Click on the profiles of the gubernatorial candidates to check out their websites and find out where they stand on issues that matter to you. In addition, all 80 seats in the state Assembly are also on the ballot.

Want to do more? Join us in the #NJVotesforKids Campaign. Whether attending community event or engaging candidates on social media, your advocacy matters. Together, we can ensure that New Jersey's children aren't just part of the conversation—they're at the very center of our lawmakers' priorities.

NJ Gubernatorial Candidates

Jack Ciattarelli
(Republican Candidate)

Website and Social Media
Jack Ciattarelli

99 Grayrock Road, Suite 202
Clinton, NJ 08809
Email: jack@jack4nj.com
Website: https://www.jack4nj.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jack4NJ/
Twitter: https://x.com/jack4nj?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jack4nj?igsh=OXl3cW1rNDF2d3N4
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jack4nj

Mikie Sherrill
(Democratic Candidate)

Additional Party Candidates

  • Joanne Kuniansky (Socialist Workers Party): njswpcampaign@gmail.com
  • Gerardo Cedrone (Independent)
  • Karen Zaletel (Independent)

Various news organizations have surveyed candidates on a range of topics. Here's what candidates have said:

  • NJ Spotlight News' voter guide includes responses from the gubernatorial candidates from the Q and A's.
  • Check out NJ.com's election chat that enables votes to see where candidates state on issues by combing through content from NJ.com and candidate websites.

NJ Ranks 7th in 2025 National KIDS COUNT Data Book

Posted on June 9, 2025

NJ Ranks 7th in 2025 KIDS COUNT Data Book as Advocates for Children of NJ Urges Focus on Supporting Thriving Kids and Families
Data shows that NJ leads nation in education but economic instability persists & housing costs burden one-third of families, affecting child well-being, the Annie E. Casey Foundation finds

NEWARK, N.J. — New Jersey ranks seventh in child well-being, according to the 2025 KIDS COUNT Data Book, a 50-state report of recent data developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation analyzing how kids are faring in post-pandemic America. Although the state leads the nation in eighth grade math proficiency and boasts the highest school enrollment rates for 3- and 4-year-olds, the state's graduation outcomes tell a different story. With 15% of students not graduating on time, New Jersey ranks 31st nationally in graduation rates — a concerning gap that underscores the need for state leaders to strengthen educational equity and ensure all students have access to quality learning opportunities from early childhood through high school.

Each year, the Data Book presents national and state data from 16 indicators in four domains—economic well-being, education, health, and family and community factors—and ranks the states according to how children are faring overall.

New Jersey ranks second nationally in fourth grade reading proficiency, trailing only Massachusetts. Still, 62% are not reading at grade level by fourth grade, when they are expected to have already transitioned from learning to read to reading to learn in third grade.

Key indicators reveal a number of setbacks across multiple measures of economic stability since 2019.

  • Child poverty has increased, with New Jersey dropping from 8th to 14th nationally—an 8% increase in 2023 since 2019. Poverty is considered income below $30,900 for a family of 2 adults and 2 children in 2023.
  • Employment instability affects nearly half a million children. Currently, 475,000 New Jersey children (24%) live in families where no parent maintains full-time, year-round employment. The state's ranking slipped from 10th to 17th place—a 9% increase between 2019 and 2023
  • The high cost of housing burdens one-third of families. Roughly 665,000, or 33%, of New Jersey's children live in households spending more than 30% of their income on housing. Although the state's national ranking improved slightly from 45th to 42nd place, the underlying affordability crisis persists.

"The data tells a clear story: when families struggle, children's educational outcomes suffer," says Mary Coogan, president and CEO of ACNJ, New Jersey's member of the Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT network. "We can't address educational challenges in isolation from housing affordability, employment stability, and poverty. Our state leaders have an opportunity to tackle these interconnected issues with coordinated policies that support both immediate family needs and long-term success for New Jersey's children."

Other key findings:

  • In 2023, 23,000, or 5%, of teenagers ages 16 to 19 were not in school and not working, a 17% decrease since 2019.
  • The teen birth rate fell by 20% between 2019 and 2023.
  • The share of children living in high-poverty areas dropped by 13% between 2014–18 and 2019–23. However, in 2019–23, 7%, or 136,000, children were still living in high-poverty areas.
  • In 2023, only 4% of children were without health insurance—a figure that has remained the same since 2019.
  • In 2022-2023, 28% of youth, ages 10 to 17 were overweight or obese, ranking 11th-best nationally.

“We know what kids need to grow up healthy and connected so they can thrive as adults: Stable homes, strong schools, nutritious food, meaningful relationships and opportunities to learn, play and grow. Programs that meet these needs are smart investments, fostering long-term gains like employment and economic growth,” says Coogan.

In its 36th year of publication, the KIDS COUNT® Data Book provides reliable statewide numbers to help leaders see where progress is being made, where greater support is needed and which strategies are making a difference. Advocates for Children of New Jersey encourages lawmakers and officials in New Jersey to use this detailed information to unite across party lines and respond with initiatives that invest in young people. By offering a local road map, the Data Book equips policymakers, advocates and communities with the information they need to make decisions that help kids and young people thrive.

“With the state budget deadline of June 30 approaching, now is the time for community members and advocates to urge lawmakers to prioritize investments in children and families," Coogan says. "These budget decisions will have a ripple effect on our economy, our education and our future. Together, we can ensure that New Jersey's children aren't just part of the conversation — they're at the very center of our lawmakers' priorities," she says.

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RELEASE INFORMATION

The 2025 KIDS COUNT Data Book will be available at www.aecf.org/databook.Journalists interested in creating maps, graphs and rankings in stories about the Data Book can use the KIDS COUNT Data Center at datacenter.aecf.org.

 

ABOUT THE ANNIE E. CASEY FOUNDATION

The Annie E. Casey Foundation creates a brighter future for the nation’s young people by developing solutions to strengthen families, build paths to economic opportunity and transform struggling communities into safer and healthier places to live, work and grow. For more information, visit www.aecf.org. KIDS COUNT is a registered trademark of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.