Posted on March 13, 2019
The Senate and Assembly FY2020 budget hearing dates were announced. This is an opportunity to speak up on issues affecting New Jersey children and their families. Make your voice heard.
Posted on March 13, 2019
The Senate and Assembly FY2020 budget hearing dates were announced. This is an opportunity to speak up on issues affecting New Jersey children and their families. Make your voice heard.
Posted on March 5, 2019
In his second state budget address today, Governor Murphy expanded on his vision for a “stronger and fairer” New Jersey by increasing supports to both children and families and the growing middle class, including a big expansion in preschool funding. This is money well spent — increasing young children’s readiness skills for kindergarten and beyond!
Highlights of some of the proposed investments outlined in the Governor’s speech:
The budget process is just beginning and details regarding the proposed budget increases are still unknown. ACNJ will continue to provide updates as additional information becomes available. These proposals represent a big step forward for New Jersey’s children and families.
Posted on March 1, 2019
Today, NJ.com reported that for the first time in years, the number of New Jersey kids with too much lead in their blood is up, with Newark showing the highest increase. In 2017, of the Newark children between six months old and 26 months old that were tested, 281 showed elevated lead levels in their blood. That’s 5.9 percent of all tested children in the city, up from 5.3 percent in 2016. It’s Newark’s first increase in the city’s childhood lead cases since 2013.
Newark received wide media attention recently due to the presence of lead in their water infrastructure. However, ACNJ policy counsel Peter Chen emphasized that lead is also found in old homes throughout the city. It’s even in the soil of Newark due to the heavy use of leaded gasoline in motor vehicles decades ago.
“Lead is baked into the infrastructure of the city,” Chen said. “Until we get the lead out, we’re going to continue to see kids exposed to lead year after year.”
Earlier this year, Chen first highlighted Newark’s increase in elevated blood lead levels among the city’s children. Read his blog here.
Posted on February 26, 2019
New Jersey ranks among the top half of all states for infant and toddler well-being, according to a national report released today by the early childhood development nonprofit ZERO TO THREE and children’s research organization Child Trends.
The State of Babies Yearbook: 2019 is a first-of-its-kind resource that provides a national snapshot and comparisons across states of how our youngest children are faring. The Yearbook compiles nearly 60 indicators—specifically for children ages 0 to 3—to measure progress across three policy areas: Good Health, Strong Families and Positive Early Learning Experiences. Read more.
Download State of Babies Yearbook: 2019
Download New Jersey Rankings Fact Sheet
Learn more about ACNJ’s birth-to-three advocacy efforts.
See Us In The News
Feb. 27, 2019 The State Of New Jersey’s Babies is Strong But Lagging in Important Areas | NJSpotlight
Feb. 27, 2019 Report Show Jersey Making Progress For Young Child Welfare | NJ 101.5
Posted on February 21, 2019
Good data
In addition to this year’s data presentation, please join us for a conversation between two of Newark’s young men and Mayor Ras Baraka and Superintendent Roger Leon.
Registration for the event begins at 9:00 AM.