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.
Posted on July 8, 2019
Good news! On June 30th, Governor Murphy signed into law the 2020 budget that included $9 million in increased child care funds, so providers can continue to care for children from low-income families, despite increases to the minimum wage. Last May, ACNJ highlighted this funding crisis with a news conference and petition collecting more than 1,100 signatures. Our hard work paid off! The Governor and Legislature has increased funds for human services workers across the board to offset the rising minimum wage. Read more on NJ Spotlight.
The 2020 budget also includes:
Congratulations to all those who took action for children and families! These additional dollars would not have been available without your hard work as advocates! Now let's thank Governor Murphy for helping support programs that make a difference in the lives of children and families. PLEASE, call or email the Governor today!
Click here to send Governor Murphy a message now or call his office at 609-292-6000.
Posted on June 27, 2019
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a victory for census advocates, keeping the citizenship question off the 2020 Census. Read opinion.
Encouraged by this ruling, non-profits and communities across New Jersey will continue our work to ensure maximum participation and inclusion in the 2020 Census — particularly among hard-to-count communities like people of color, urban and low-income households, immigrants, limited-English proficient populations and young children.
"The census clock is ticking. We must continue to remind our leaders of the widespread support of a fair and accurate census that does not include an untested, unnecessary and harmful citizenship question," said Peter Chen, policy counsel at Advocates for Children of New Jersey and coordinator of the Census 2020 NJ Coalition. "We must continue to raise our voices to ensure maximum participation and inclusion in the 2020 census — particularly among hard-to-count communities like people of color, urban and low-income households, immigrants, limited-English proficient populations and young children." Read more.
