Posted on August 16, 2019
This week, Insider NJ released their 100 Top Policymakers list for 2019. ACNJ’s very own Cecilia Zalkind was recognized as “one of the state’s foremost experts in child welfare, early care and education and health care.” Way to go, Ceil! The staff at ACNJ is proud to call you our leader.
Posted on August 14, 2019
The Newark lead crisis is back in the news, as recent EPA testings show that the city-distributed water filters may not be working as they should. In response, Mayor Ras Baraka and Governor Murphy are working to get the word out about the issue, as well as provide bottled water to affected residents and determine why the filters are not removing as much lead as previously thought.
Policy counsel Peter Chen gives his thoughts on the lead issue in a recent NJTV broadcast:
Back in 2018, ACNJ reported on the lead levels in children in its Newark Kids Count report, highlighting the successes the city achieved while also cautioning that there is still work to be done for every child to have zero lead in their systems. While the percentage of Newark children with high lead levels in their system has been on the decline since 2006, levels are still higher than the rest of the state, and small levels of lead remain a pervasive issue.
Click here to see if you are in an area affected by the lead levels.
If you are in an affected area, find where you can obtain bottled water here.
Posted on August 8, 2019
Summer intern Kate Evans surveyed 100 individuals involved in New Jersey’s juvenile justice system, including members of youth services commissions, staff members of juvenile justice-related agencies, parents and youth. Her findings show where New Jersey is succeeding in juvenile justice, the positive impact of the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) and where we can improve and move forward for our youth.
Posted on August 1, 2019
Senior Policy Analyst
Since early this year, ACNJ and its partner, the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) have been criss-crossing the state working to prepare school districts, Head Start
and child care providers to expand preschool in more New Jersey communities. Although expanding high quality preschool has been part of our state's school funding formula since 2008, additional state funds were not made available until the 2018 budget. Every year since then, more dollars have been earmarked for these expansion efforts, moving slowly towards increased access to more 3- and 4-year-olds living in eligible school districts. But, money isn't everything! A great deal of community planning and work needs to be accomplished before school districts can take advantage of these preschool dollars. In the last two years, ACNJ and NIEER saw that districts were less inclined to apply for the funding because of the short time-frame between when the money became available in the budget and when the preschool classrooms needed to be up and running. We wanted to make sure that as many young children as possible benefited from these additional dollars.
That's where ACNJ and NIEER came in.
By scheduling school district, child care provider and Head Start meetings in nearly every county in the state, ACNJ and NIEER were able to provide supports to educate and prepare these groups , particularly those located in communities most likely to expand. We explained the benefits of both applying for the preschool funds and implementing preschool through partnerships between school districts, child care and Head Start.
Like the two years before, additional dollars--$20 million-- were made available for expansion in the 2020 state budget for expansion. The difference this time, was that more districts had begun planning to apply for the funds, thanks to ACNJ and NIEER's efforts. District plans were due to the Department of Education on August 1st and districts will learn on September 3rd as to whether they will receive funding. New classrooms are required to be up and running no later than October 1st. ACNJ and NIEER anticipate that the early planning will lead to increased district demand for New Jersey's nationally recognized preschool model! Fingers crossed!
Read more: More kids in NJ will have access to Pre-K Oct 1st!
Posted on July 30, 2019
The Burke Foundation, The Nicholson Foundation and Turrell Fund, in collaboration with FSG, released the report, Adverse Childhood Experiences: Opportunities to Prevent, Protect Against, and Heal from the Effects of ACEs in New Jersey. The report details the challenges New Jersey faces in addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the areas of opportunities for a coordinated statewide response to mitigate the lasting effects on children’s health and well-being.
Did you know:
Blog: Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences through a Coordinated Statewide Response in New Jersey
Sana Hashim, MPH, CPH, CHES from the Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc. writes about the New Jersey Funders ACEs Collaborative (the Collaborative) to advance a coordinated statewide response to tackle this issue. This unique collaboration is committing significant resource to reduce early life stress and promote positive life trajectories for all children in the state. Although these efforts are New Jersey-based, lessons from the statewide initiative can inform activities in other states.
Webinar: Addressing ACEs in New Jersey
Aug 6, 2019 1:00 p.m.
With the release of the report, join in this webinar focused on local efforts to prevent, protect against, and heal from the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in New Jersey. The webinar will also provide an overview of the science of ACEs and trauma, ways in which a coordinated statewide response can mitigate the lasting effects of ACEs on children and families, and opportunities for local champions to join the Funders Collaborative to address ACEs in New Jersey.
Also, visit our Birth to Three Campaign aimed at making babies a higher state priority. Learn about ACNJ's campaign prioirities which includes ensuring healthy social development of
infants in NJ.
