Please let us know your thoughts on this webinar by emailing advocates@acnj.org.
Advocates for Children of New Jersey hosted a ZOOM discussion with the New Jersey Department of Children and Families and Prevent Child Abuse NJ on child abuse and neglect in New Jersey, how COVID-19 has affected it, and how you can help prevent a tragedy by joining the #WeCan campaign.
Join us as we cohost a ZOOM discussion with New Jersey Department of Children and Families on child abuse and neglect in New Jersey, how COVID-19 has affected it, and how you can help prevent a tragedy by joining the #WeCan campaign.
The New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund is spearheaded by First Lady, Tammy Murphy in collaboration and hosted by the Community Foundation of New Jersey (NJPRF), which has been serving the needs of New Jersey non-profits and philanthropists for more than 40 years. NJPRF will provide grants to existing organizations with a demonstrated track record of caring for vulnerable communities. One hundred percent of every dollar received online by NJPRF will go to organizations that provide essential services to those in need and to assist those on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic — so you can be assured that your contribution will have impact.
Request Amount: This grant is designed to serve as bridge funding for your organization during a 30- to 60-day period. Please ensure that your grant request is in line with your needs over that time period.
Award Amounts: Awards will range from $10,000 to $500,000 for each organization.
Multiple Applications: One application per organization.
Timeline: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. First round of applications are due by April 30, 2020.
Reporting: Recipients of awards will be required to provide a Use of Funds Statement within 60 days of the award.
Questions: Contact NJPandemicRelief@cfnj.org
Eligible organizations must meet the following criteria:
Nonprofit Status – the organization must have 501(c)(3) public charity status or a fiscal sponsor with 501(c)(3) status
Geography – the grant will exclusively be used to benefit New Jersey residents
Focus – the focus of the entity must be on an area covered by the Funding Priorities listed below
Budget – preference will be given to organizations with maximum operating budgets of $5 million. However, national and regional organizations offering critical programs serving needs unmet by other local organizations may be considered, as long as the funds received are all spent exclusively in New Jersey
Nondiscrimination – the organization must not discriminate on the basis of age, race, national origin, ethnicity, physical ability, sexual orientation, political affiliation or religious belief
Funding Priorities
Human services – to address basic needs, especially related to food insecurity for older adults and youth
Healthcare – to provide support for those on the front lines of this crisis or vulnerable populations most likely to see their health impacted by this crisis
Childcare – to provide quality care and connection with caring adults while families are working on recovery efforts
Mental health – to support the emotional impact of living in crisis and returning to stability
Housing – to re-establish safe and stable housing and provide eviction prevention
Education – to support schools, educators, and students amid an evolving learning environment
Re-engaging in workforce – to remove barriers to returning to work, including ensuring jobs are available to return to in local communities
Organizational capacity – to support investments in technology and other infrastructure needs to enable the organization to deliver its mission during the crisis
Funding decisions will be based upon how well each prospective grantee can demonstrate:
Alignment with the funding priorities identified in these guidelines
How grant funding will meet immediate needs that resulted from the coronavirus
The organizational capacity to quickly deploy funds, fill gaps in service, meet community needs, and accomplish the proposed activities
Evidence of coordination between local organizations to help reduce duplication and ensure greater effectiveness in program and project implementation
The impact this grant will have relative to the needs of the organization
The Children’s Bureau of the
federal Administration for Children & Families issued
guidance on March 27th to address how foster care cases should be
handled in the midst of COVID-19. This guidance needs to be followed if states
are to continue to receive federal funding that supports state child welfare
systems. Dr. Jerry Milner, acting director of the Children’s Bureau, presented
in a recent
webinar sponsored by the American Bar Association, where he discussed the
guidance and urged those working within state child welfare systems to view our
current circumstances as an opportunity to be creative and innovative.
Like many
other programs and systems, COVID-19 has changed the foster care landscape. Parents
of children living in foster care are still entitled to spend time with their
children on a regular basis to help establish and maintain a relationship. However,
COVID-19 has interrupted this family time due to health concerns for all
involved: the children, parents, foster parents and caseworkers who attend the
meetings. Many of the services and programs that parents are engaged in to
address the problems that caused the foster care placement in the first place
have either stopped or moved online.
While
there are public health considerations, family time is important for both the child
and parent, and is critically important during these times of crisis.
Thankfully, there are lots of
social platforms available through which people can stay
connected, until in-person visits can be arranged. These platforms can also be
used to facilitate support programs and services necessary for the parents.
Court
hearings are still required at regular intervals so that judges can find out
what progress is being made and what else needs to be accomplished to either
reunify the family or to place the child permanently with a relative or another
family. These cases are difficult under normal circumstances, so attempting to
handle them remotely is a daunting task. The attorneys who represent parents,
children and youth, and the Division of Child Protection and Permanency have
legitimate concerns that need to be addressed to ensure that the legal rights
of all concerned are protected.
Presenters on the webinar urged stakeholders to be proactive problem solvers and for judges to push attorneys to have real conversations to resolve issues. We can take this time as an opportunity to revisit how we handle child welfare cases, and hopefully discover positives outcomes from this pandemic to ensure that children remain safe and families are supported. Any questions should be directed to ACNJ Vice President Mary Coogan at mcoogan@acnj.org.
It’s been several weeks now since Governor Murphy mandated all schools to close and a reopen date is still not in near sight. This pandemic is testing the state’s capacity to fulfill its obligation to educate 1.4 million New Jersey children outside the schools’ brick and mortar. To learn how the state is responding in light of COVID-19, NJ Spotlight held a roundtable discussion on April 7th with the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE), Lamont Repollet, Ed.D., Assistant Commissioner for Field Services AbdulSaleem Hasan and Assistant Commissioner for Academics and Performance Linda Nosan.
New Jersey DOE officials engaged in an open conversation on current plans to ensure that all of New Jersey’s school children continue to receive an education. The department’s top concerns included food security, ensuring equity and meeting the special needs of students while establishing a system of remote learning that would provide flexibility in complying with education regulations.
Commissioner Repollet began by applauding efforts by school staff throughout New Jersey to address the needs of students, including setting up remote learning, finding iPads and Chromebooks and distributing school meals to those in need. He praised the efforts of teachers, staff and administrators that had to quickly learn how to teach and provide necessary supports entirely through remote services while often struggling to help their own children.
As the Department embarked on remote learning, they leaned on existing home instruction guidelines and guidance by the Attorney General to determine how students will be assessed for grade promotion, credit recovery and graduation. The Commissioner assured that children who should and can graduate high school this year will do so. Governor Phil Murphy aided this effort by cancelling all statewide student assessments for the spring 2020. This includes the administration of the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA), ACCESS for ELLs, and the Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) assessment. Further, he reduced the undue burden for seniors to graduate by issuing Executive Order No. 117, waiving the graduation assessment requirement for twelfth graders expecting to graduate this school year. DOE is committed to working with districts to address the credit recovery and graduation requirements.
Commissioner Repollet recognized the efforts needed to address the needs of students with disabilities, students who have limited English proficiency and students who struggle academically and/or who have behavior challenges. School districts have developed flexible plans to provide instruction and to help ensure that children receive education services.He confirmed that recent guidelines from the U.S. Department of Education, state DOE emergency regulations and a bill signed into law by Governor Murphy on teletherapies will allow for students to receive supports at home as needed through telephone/video/email contacts with teachers, guidance counselors, child study team staff and other support staff to help children get promoted this year to the next grade.
As they work to adjust to this new paradigm of providing instruction, DOE recognized the difficulty of providing all the resources that children need to learn in their homes. There are families that still do not have a Chromebook or laptop for each child and some do not have stable internet service or any internet service at home. But Federal and state regulations states that children who do not progress, who regress or who have gaps in their education services due to the school closures have the right to a determination regarding whether they need compensatory education services to make up for loss of education.
Parents play an important role in ensuring their child continues to receive an education. Parents whose children are not able to access classes or school work or whose children are not being contacted by school staff as needed, should contact school staff. If they do not receive a response, they should contact their county education offices for assistance. If there is no internet access in the home, the school should be contacted to determine the best way to communicate with staff (ex. Text/phone call/ mail). Some schools have developed apps for cellphones to enable communication. Parents can also contact Nina Peckman at ACNJ for advocacy assistance via email to npeckman@acnj.org or via telephone at (973) 643-3876, ext. 226.
Parents, having a hard time with this distance learning? Trying to replicate the school setting at home? Well you don't have too. What a relief! According to this blogger, parents have a unique role that can help facilitate learning for kids without having to take on the role of "teacher". Check out these educational resources which include some interactive activities that are fun too!
Join us as we cohost a ZOOM discussion with New Jersey Department of Children and Families on child abuse and neglect in New Jersey, how COVID-19 has affected it, and how you can help prevent a tragedy by joining the 
