What’s New?

Check our accomplishments in the 2021 ACNJ Annual Report

Posted on November 19, 2021

View our 2021 Wins for Children 

Download 2021 Annual Report

As we reflect on this year’s achievements, and look to opportunities ahead, we know our wins for children would not be possible without our many supporters and partners. Please consider making a donation to help us continue our work to ensure every child has the chance to grow up safe, healthy and educated.

Donate
2021_11_17_acnj_annual_report_2021

How Counties and Towns Can Use ARPA Funds to Support Stronger Families

Posted on November 17, 2021

RECORDING

Share with your county and town officials how they can maximize ARPA funds for kids!

With just one click you can send an email to invite your town and county officials to watch the webinar and view these resources.

Send and an email now!

SLIDES

RESOURCES

Bipartisan Policy Center

BUILD Initiative

  • Supporting Prenatal-to-Three with Federal Relief Funds – This planning tool showcases how to support infant, toddler and family well-being through strategies to expand, improve, target and make early care and education, family support and maternal and infant/toddler health services more accessible and more responsive.

National Association of Counties (NACo)

  • In partnership with the National Collaborative for Infants and Toddlers (NCIT, NACo has created the Counties for Kids neighborhood to allow county leaders to ask questions, share best practices and virtually learn from experts and each other. To join the neighborhood, please click this link and create your username and password. You can then request to join the Counties for Kids neighborhood.
  • State and Local Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Funds County-by-County Allocations
  • Prenatal-to-Three County Leader Toolkit – This toolkit contains resources and strategies to build awareness, demonstrate commitment and bolster supports for infants and toddlers at the county level and includes community engagement tips, building awareness talking points, next steps talking points, an open letter and press release template.
  • Opportunities to Invest State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds in Prenatal to Three, by Arabella Pluta-Ehlers – September 2021
  • Peer Learning Network: Leveraging County ARPA Funds for Infants, Toddlers and Families – In July 2021, NACo convened the Prenatal to Three Peer Learning Network to discuss and brainstorm strategies for prioritizing infants and toddlers in these recovery efforts with national experts and peer counties. Click here to watch the recordings.
  • Government in Action: Leveraging ARPA Funds for Infant and Toddlers through State and Local Coordination – Through the historic American Rescue Plan Act, states, counties, and cities are receiving direct, flexible aid to address the impacts of COVID-19, strengthen communities and support children and families. This webinar brought together city, county, and state leaders in Washington state to share how they are supporting young children from prenatal to age three. Click here to watch the recording.
  • ARP & Equity: Long-Term Planning for Local Governments – America’s cities and counties are at a pivotal juncture in both short- and long-term planning. ARP provides enough resources to allow many local governments to build toward recovery from the economic impacts of COVID-19 as well as foster long-term shifts toward racial equity in their communities. Through an expert presentation and local government examples, this session will highlight opportunities to ensure equitable planning in ARP spending for both counties and cities. Click here to watch the recording.
  • Counties for Kids Champions –
    • Jefferson County, MT: In response to increased child care demands during the pandemic, the county has allocated $100,000 to support licensed child care providers with sustainment of existing facilities and supporting new programs throughout the county.
    • Hamilton County. OH: As part of its workforce development strategy, the county is working with local and regional experts to determine the best use of SLFRF to expand provider capacity and provide an “on-ramp” for parent reentering the workforce.
    • San Diego County, CA: The county approved $16 million for child care services, an increase over the original $10 million they considered. The money will cover child care grants and vouchers and training programs to increase San Diego’s child care workforce.
    • Oakland County, MI: Oakland County will provide $1,200 child care scholarships to eligible households to support child care costs including co-pays, application feed, and direct care costs. Families under 300% of the U.S. federal poverty guidelines or who meet Oakland County Michigan Works! Agency guidelines are eligible.
    • Snohomish County, WA: The county has allocated $4.6 million to continue providing early learning supports and child care services and provide vouchers to family members who need child care while seeking employment. These vouchers can be used at any licensed facility. The county has allocated an additional $655,500 to cover child care costs for essential workers specifically.
    • Lewis County, NY: In partnership with the Lewis County Childcare Development Initiative, the county is exploring funding a program that would train people to open regulated, home-based child care.

 

National League of Cities (NLC)

 

State of New Jersey, Department of Children and Families, Family and Community Partnerships and The Division on Women

  • The Family and Community Partnerships’ Community Program Directory – the directory provides direct access to statewide resources that are designed to support family success and keep children safe. The directory includes but is not limited to, Family Success Centers, Kinship Navigator Program, Home Visitation Programs, County Councils for Young Children and Central Intake.

 

State of New Jersey, Department of Human Services, Division of Family Development

Send an Email to your local reresentatives to share these resources.

Watch the Recording – ACNJ/NJ DCF 2021 Virtual Fall Forum

Posted on November 12, 2021

On Wednesday, November 10th, Advocates for Children of New Jersey and the New Jersey Department of Children and Families held a 2021 Virtual Fall Forum to discuss advances in DCF’s strategic goals and provide status updates on vital initiatives like the Pritzker grant, race equity, universal home visiting, school-linked services, child care, CSOC rates and mitigating ACEs.

Download the Presentation (PDF)
View the NJ Prenatal-to-3 Policy Roadmap

ACNJ’s Response to Governor Murphy’s Conditional Veto to the Child Care Enrollment Bill

Posted on November 9, 2021

Despite strong support from child care providers, parents and lawmakers, Governor Murphy conditionally vetoed A4746/S3947, which would require the state to make child care subsidy payments based on child enrollment, rather than attendance. Read Governor's statement.

Advocates for Children of New Jersey is very disappointed with the decision. Since learning about this legislation, ACNJ has advocated vigorously along with child care providers, parents and lawmakers. For child care providers, enrollment-based payment provides a critical source of reliable funding to help stabilize programs accepting children of eligible low-income families. During COVID, this temporary measure proved to be the most important policy action to sustain and stabilize New Jersey's child care system. The public health crisis has only magnified the inherent instability of the attendance payment structure and making this policy permanent would have resolved this longstanding problem.

Read about the difference between enrollment vs attendance and how this helps the child care system.

We recognize that New Jersey has made significant investments in our state's child care system, but the increased costs of doing business, such as cleaning and staffing costs to ensure the safety of children and employees, and a growing staffing crisis, caused by programs’ inability to pay competitive wages, keeps this vulnerable industry in jeopardy.

The veto message does recommend extending this payment policy for an additional six months, which continues this temporary support to child care providers, but a long-term payment solution is needed. The conditional veto requires the Department of Human Services (DHS) to conduct a one-year study to compare the costs of payments based on attendance versus enrollment and make recommendations for a more stable approach. ACNJ urges DHS to complete the study as soon as possible and include potential alternatives to ensure the long-term stability of the child care system.

Child care is essential, not only for working families, but to the recovery and growth of New Jersey’s economy. This bill took an important step forward in providing stability to this critical system, treating child care as the public good it is.

ACNJ commends the sponsors of this legislation, Senator Vitale, Assemblywoman Mosquera and Assemblywoman Lopez, for their leadership in supporting child care and the children and families it cares for and educates.