What’s New?

NJ Announces Pandemic Relief Fund

Posted on April 16, 2020

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
FAQs for The New Jersey Pandemic Fund
Portal for Application for The New Jersey Pandemic Fund grant

The Changing Landscape of Child Welfare in the Face of COVID-19

Posted on April 16, 2020

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.

Dr. Millner indicated that the Children’s Bureau does expect stakeholders to “work together to determine how best to balance statutory requirements related to child safety against public health mandates.” Some national groups have provided guidance that stakeholders might find helpful, such as tips for holding remote hearings and advocacy tools for practitioners. For years, stakeholders have struggled with how to make the foster parent and the parent work together with the caseworker as part of a team. Legal Services of New Jersey has given us many examples of successful outcomes from a team approach at its annual reunification days.

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.

New Jersey’s Efforts as it Adjusts to a New Paradigm of Education

Posted on April 16, 2020

Nina Peckman, Staff Attorney
Nina Peckman, Staff Attorney

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.

Visit the New Jersey Department of Education for guidance and resources during COVID-19.

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!

Stay Safe, Healthy and Connected – Preventing Child Abuse

Posted on April 13, 2020

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, a campaign to empower individuals to prevent child abuse and neglect across the nation. Per a recent article on NJ.com, March has seen a 32% reduction in calls to report child abuse and neglect to New Jersey’s State Central Registry (SCR), the child abuse hotline, compared to March 2019 numbers. Other states are reporting similar decreases.

However, though we want to see a reduction in child abuse, this drop in reporting is not necessarily a positive sign. The COVID-19 pandemic has driven people all over the globe indoors, self-isolating to stay safe from the virus, but it has also broken connections to necessary supports and oversights that may prevent potential child abuse cases. DCF Commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer warns, “March is traditionally one of our highest reporting months… The reduction doesn’t necessarily mean that children are experiencing less abuse and neglect, but rather it’s not being seen or heard. And so no response is being taken. It’s not being reported.”

At the beginning of the month, the New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF) launched its Work to End Child Abuse and Neglect, or #WeCan campaign, distributing engaging digital tools to inform New Jersey residents of the resources available to prevent child abuse. Given the stress and anxiety that sheltering at home can cause, the #WeCan campaign has come at an opportune time to encourage everyone to stay safe, healthy and connected.

The DCF website provides helpful digital resources for managing anxiety, stress and offers free supports for people in crisis. ACNJ has compiled resources as well, including links to websites with free reading and educational materials, as well as virtual tour websites and other activities to share with children. The more that families feel supported, the less likely that child abuse and neglect will occur.

The #WeCan campaign uses the slogan, “Social distancing does not mean social isolation.” Check in with other family members and neighbors. The power of the internet makes this possible to do in more ways than ever before, including different social media platforms and even video conferences to see friends and family across the state. Even a simple phone call to talk through a problem may help divert a tragedy. Sharing resources offered by DCF, ACNJ and other advocacy groups can promote healthy mental outcomes and can even strengthen family ties.

For more information on the #WeCan campaign, visit the DCF Facebook page at facebook.com/NewJerseyDCF. In New Jersey, any person having reasonable cause to believe that a child has been subjected to abuse or acts of abuse should immediately call the (SCR) at 1-877 NJ ABUSE (1-877-652-2873) (TTY 1-800-835-5510). If the child is in immediate danger, individuals should call 911 as well as the hotline.