What’s New?

Celebrating New Jersey’s New Universal Home Visiting Law

Posted on August 4, 2021

By Cecilia Zalkind, ACNJ President/CEO

Cecilia Zalkind (R) with ACNJ Parent Advocate Alice Lu (L) at the bill signing event

It's official! Last week, Governor Murphy signed the universal home visiting bill (S690/A4530) into law, guaranteeing new parents at least one free home visit from a nurse within two weeks of their child’s birth, with the option of receiving two more within the next three months. This is thanks to new legislation sponsored by Senators Ruiz and Vitale, and Assemblymembers Armato, Huttle and Speight.

I wish you could have been at the bill signing. There were so many compelling stories from parents, legislators and others in attendance, including a parent advocate from ACNJ’s Parent Leadership Council. The universal home visiting law brings together so many systems that serve families with young children. For me, the most exciting result was the connection between early care and child protection. The state Department of Children and Families (DCF) will be responsible for implementing the law, as it already oversees an existing home visitation program that serves higher-risk families. As DCF Commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer noted,“Through the provision of universal home visiting, we can offer education and support, identify potential challenges early and refer out to additional services if needed. The universality ensures that all families have equal access to the same critical resources and supports, without stigma, that will enhance the health and well-being of the entire family."

Creating an infrastructure for a universal home visiting system was one of the key goals in ACNJ’s 2020 Unlocking Potential prenatal-to-three plan, but home visiting has actually been a part of our infant-toddler agenda since we began focusing on this work in 2012. Recognizing that the existing voluntary statewide system of evidence-based home visiting reaches just two percent of families that could benefit from these services, ACNJ, along with our home visiting partners, began strategizing on how to expand services to reach more families.

Over this past year, we worked with Senator Ruiz and her staff to strengthen the bill.This included facilitating a meeting with Ruiz and Senator Steiner Hayward from Oregon, a state that passed the first statewide home visiting law, to learn how they designed, funded and advocated for their legislation. ACNJ and several of our partners testified before the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee in March 2021. In addition, several of our partners submitted written testimony, including the NJ Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the NJ Association for Obstetrics and Gynecology and the NJ Hospital Association.

Key recommendations that were incorporated in the final legislation included:

  • the home visitor should be a specially trained nurse,
  • the program should offer more than one visit,
  • the model utilized should be based on criteria established by the US Department of Health and Human Services for an evidence-based early childhood home visiting service delivery model that has been rigorously researched

The passage of this legislation happened much faster than any of us had anticipated and we are so excited for what’s to come. I want to acknowledge the work of ACNJ policy analyst Diane Dellanno in making this possible. In her earlier role at Prevent Child Abuse NJ, Diane actually helped to bring the first home visiting program to the Garden State. Her expertise and her strong relationships with the home visiting community were instrumental in removing barriers and securing support for this legislation. Her advocacy also included working with the existing home visiting programs to ensure they received additional funding in the FY 2022 state budget, so that we can have a true continuum of home visiting services for families. It’s important to note that this new program is not a replacement for these existing programs that provide more visits over a longer period and are targeted to higher-risk families but rather a complement to these programs, providing the missing link that can help identify what all families of newborns need and want from local resources and provide referrals to a variety of supports, including these more intensive home visiting programs.

There is a lot ahead to do as the state now plans for implementation but I felt it was important to pause for a moment to reflect on this success for our youngest children and their families. Thank you to our state leaders, our home visiting partners and advocates for your support in making this possible.

Learn More about the New Universal Home Visiting Law

All Positive About DCF Progress in Federal Court Hearing

Posted on August 4, 2021

By Mary Coogan, Vice President, ACNJ

At the federal court hearing in the Charlie and Nadine H. v. Murphy lawsuit on August 4th, the Honorable Stanley Chesler congratulated New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF) Commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer and her staff, plaintiffs’ attorney Marcia Lowry, and federal court monitor and president of the Center for the Study of Social Policy Judith Meltzer and her staff, for their remarkable work in reforming New Jersey’s child welfare system. Judge Chesler said he has no doubt that the state will meet the remaining four performance measures required under the Sustainability and Exit Plan (SEP), which details the benchmarks the state must meet in order to end federal court oversight. At today’s hearing, the judge stated he is open to proposals to further modify or even dissolve the Court’s oversight, allowing the state to proceed on its own. The Court’s concern remains that the progress made does not dissolve because of a change in administration or state priorities, and again acknowledged the need for continued adequate funding by both the Legislature and Governor.

Ms. Meltzer presented her most recent report for the monitoring period from July 1 through December 31, 2020. This report, like the prior one, acknowledges the extraordinary challenges DCF faces as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite those challenges, the report notes, “DCF continues to maintain progress already achieved as part of the Charlie and Nadine H. lawsuit and has taken additional steps to improve supports and services for the children, youth, and families of New Jersey.”

According to the Monitor’s report, the state has met 44 of the 48 measures in the SEP approved by Judge Chesler in November 2015 and has “sustained progress on most of the outcomes already achieved.” The outcomes and performance measures cover areas of child safety and well-being, service planning, permanency, staffing and caseloads. For a few measures, a decline in performance noted by the monitor was attributed to challenges caused by the pandemic. DCF may seek to exit federal monitoring by demonstrating it has achieved compliance with the SEP for a continuous period of at least 12 months. Click here to read prior monitoring reports.

The report recognized DCF’s efforts to set up virtual settings for meetings and visits that enabled the state to improve on some indicators related to family team meetings. All measures related to the placement of children in out-of-home care were maintained or exceeded. However, DCF is still struggling with the performance measures related to older youth ages 18-21, exiting care without being reunited with a parent, or placed with a relative, legal guardian or in an adoptive home. Lack of housing, or having employment or enrolled in or recently completed a training or an educational program are challenges likely to have been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Three of the remaining four SEP Outcomes To Be Achieved, including the quality of case plans, the quality of family team meetings and services to support the transition of older youth, could not be measured because the state’s quality review process was suspended due to the pandemic. DCF is in the process of redesigning many of its quality improvement processes to integrate its Solution Based Casework approach with its Case Practice Model. The remaining Outcome To Be Achieved is that workers visit parents twice monthly when a child is in the state’s custody with a permanency goal of reunification.

Maintaining bonds and contact through visits between children in foster care and their workers, parents and siblings, an essential element of successful child welfare practice, continued to be challenging during this monitoring period as a result of the pandemic. In-person visits between parents and children living in foster care, as well as between siblings not residing together, began again during this monitoring period, though some visits still occurred virtually. The requirement that siblings not placed together visit each other at least once monthly was not met.

At the hearing, Ms. Meltzer reported that the progress made is a result of the efforts of steady and committed leadership and staff at DCF. She acknowledged the other initiatives of the department, including its efforts to prioritize race equity and promote equitable outcomes, prioritizing safety for both staff and families, efforts to limit critical and life-threatening incidents, efforts to increase placement with relatives and kin, as well as the department’s continued work to develop its primary prevention model, all despite addressing the challenges brought by the pandemic. Details of these efforts can be found in the Monitor’s report.

Commissioner Beyer acknowledged the efforts her staff and partners, the support of the Legislature and Governor, and former DCF staff and prior administrations who have contributed to making New Jersey’s child and family serving system one of the best in the nation. Today, DCF is focused on doing what is best for children and families and the desired outcomes will follow. Ms. Lowry acknowledged that DCF is currently one of the leading child welfare agencies in the country.

Clearly, it was a good day for those who work at the Department of Children and Families.

Report on Progress Being Made by NJ Department of Children and Families

Posted on August 3, 2021

By Legal Intern Kelly Monahan

During the virtual 2021 Summer Forum hosted by ACNJ and New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF) on July 14th, DCF Commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer discussed a number of key initiatives aimed at promoting the safety and well-being of children and families in the Garden State. While Commissioner Beyer lamented that these reform efforts were borne out of tragedy, the resulting Modified Settlement Agreement and Sustainability and Exit Plan continue to act as a catalyst and guiding post for positive systemic changes.

As part of the ongoing efforts to address the critical gaps in casework practices, DCF’s Office of Quality began working with consulting firm Collaborative Safety, LLC and adopted and implemented Collaborative Safety in 2019-2020. The Collaborative Safety approach is uniquely tailored for the child welfare sphere by integrating Behavior Analysis science into casework, as well as critical incident review to understand staff’s decision-making and how leadership influences case practices.

According to Collaborative Safety, child welfare agencies need to make three key transitions:

1)  From a culture of blame to a culture of accountability;
2)  From continuously applying quick fixes to addressing underlying systemic issues; and
3)  From seeing employees as a problem to control to a solution to harness.

In its 2021 Annual Progress and Services Report (APSR), DCF outlined its Year 1 updates of its Collaborative Safety implementation efforts during which they:

  • Developed and implemented a safety review tool to monitor the results of the behavior analysis conducted after critical incidents;
  • Established statewide committees to support the critical incident review process; and
  • Implemented the Collaborative Safety approach to review critical incidents in January 2020.

DCF is in the process of collecting additional data needed to identify system components that consistently impact the safety of children and families. The Department is also working to create a database to track and analyze the results of the critical incident reviews to identify specific factors that impact safety outcomes. This effort will increase accountability and enable caseworkers at the Division of Child Protection & Permanency to pivot from a reactive to proactive approach to critical incidents to enhance the safety and well-being of children and families served by the department.

NJ Becomes Second State in the Nation to Establish Statewide Universal Home Visiting Program

Posted on July 29, 2021

Within a year, every New Jersey parent welcoming a newborn into their home will have the opportunity to receive at least one home visit from a nurse within two weeks of their child’s birth at no expense. This is thanks to new legislation sponsored by Senators Ruiz and Vitale, and Assemblywomen Speight and Huttle.

New Jersey is only the second state in the country to offer a voluntary home visiting program for all parents of newborns. Oregon passed similar legislation in 2019. Creating an infrastructure for a universal home visiting system was one of the key goals in ACNJ’s 2020 Unlocking Potential prenatal-to-three plan.

According to ACNJ President and CEO Cecilia Zalkind, “I think back to when I was a new mother and had a community nurse come out, it was very helpful. It really is to see how the family is doing, to offer assistance and to give the parents some assurance that the baby is doing well.”

A universally offered home visiting program for all families will allow new parents to access individualized advice, expertise and support to ensure both parent and child get off to the right start. During such visits, home visitors can assess the health of both the newborn and parent and identify potential health concerns and connect them to appropriate services, provide valuable parenting information and link families with available community services. This strength-based approach to supporting all families will address the period-of-time between the birth of the newborn and the mother’s first visit to the obstetrician at six weeks. Such a proactive approach to supporting new families will reduce potential maternal and infant issues that may arise during this extended period. This legislation is the beginning of a pathway forward that connects every caregiver and child to the healthy future that they deserve.

The Universal Home Visiting Program legislation passed unanimously through both the Senate and Assembly on June 24th and was signed into state law on July 29th. The program will be housed within the NJ Department of Children and Families.

Home Visiting has Served as a Lifeline for Families During the Pandemic and Beyond. Read More.

BLOG: Finally, Health Insurance for All NJ Kids!

Posted on July 27, 2021

In order to build the necessary foundation to thrive and become healthy, productive adults, children and youth need to have access to physical, social and emotional supports. Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) has long acknowledged the need for all children to have affordable health care coverage to help make this happen.

Through a public-private partnership, uninsured children have been enrolled in NJ FamilyCare, our state’s public health insurance program funded with federal and state dollars. Through these efforts, there has been a steady decline in the number of uninsured children. Recently, Governor Murphy signed the Cover All Kids bill, which had nearly unanimous, bipartisan support. Once fully enacted, this bill will remove the final barriers to cover all kids.

During Phase 1 of the bill passage, the 90-day waiting period for coverage to children will be eliminated. Premiums for income-eligible families, which have not been required since the COVID-19 shutdown as a result of the federal American Rescue Plan, will be eliminated as well. The bill also provides funding for targeted outreach to children who are currently eligible for coverage, but not enrolled. Nearly 53,000 children will benefit from these efforts alone. The FY2022 budget includes $20 million towards this phase of the two-year campaign.

Phase 2 of the Cover All Kids Campaign includes providing coverage options for children of undocumented status and those whose families’ incomes exceed NJ FamilyCare eligibility but still find coverage to be unaffordable. Currently, NJ FamilyCare covers children in families with incomes up to 355 percent of the federal poverty level ($7,840/month for a family of four).

At the end of the Cover All Kids Campaign, the Murphy Administration predicts that nearly 90,000 children will have access to medical coverage.

When children have health coverage, their parents also gain the peace of mind of knowing that minor problems are less likely to become serious conditions. That’s because children with health coverage are more likely to have “medical homes” where they receive regular, ongoing treatment for chronic conditions, such as asthma.

New Jersey and the federal government are offering more assistance to help lower the cost of health insurance. Families without health insurance should visit www.njfamilycare.org to check if they are eligible for coverage. NJ FamilyCare also provides coverage for very low-income parents and single adults. Those not qualifying can learn about other options at www.GetCovered.NJ.gov.