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June  2012 E-news

Morris Leads in New Kids Count Rankings Released; Cumberland Last

Morris County ranked number one out of all New Jersey counties in overall child well‐being and Cumberland County ranked last, according to the New Jersey Kids Count annual rankings released this week.

Following Morris in the top rankings were Hunterdon, Somerset, Bergen and Middlesex, while Atlantic, Camden, Salem and Cape May rounded out the bottom five. The rankings are based on 15 measures of child well-being.

Find out more about what the stats say for kids in your county.

Budget Messages Hitting Home

Thanks to our many supporters who have responded to our budget e-alerts and sent messages to the Governor, commissioners and legislators. The budget negotiations are in full swing and we’re hoping to get some traction on the issues we’re pushing – child care, school breakfast, tax credits and preschool. The Star-Ledger recently ran an op-ed by ACNJ Executive Director Ceil Zalkind on the child care issue.

Please visit our budget page to learn more and send a message to our representatives in Trenton. They need to hear from people like you who support investments in children.

Kids Count inspires famous author to donate books to Newark

We know that many of you use Kids Count data to inform the work you do each day on behalf of NJ’s children. Last week, we were heartened to hear that Newark Kids Count prompted prominent children’s author Mary Pope Osborne, to donate a mini-library of her Magic Tree House book series to every single Newark 3rd grader.

In all, 4,300 students each received a boxed set containing 28 titles – for a total of more than 120,000 books! This is a great result and shows that statistics can result in concrete action to help kids. If you have a story about how you used Kids Count data to help children, please let us know. E-mail us at advocates@acnj.org.

Read Mary Pope Osborne’s op-ed in the Star-Ledger.

NJ Leads Nation in Supporting Kinship Caregivers

More than one-third of children in New Jersey’s foster care system are living with relatives, outpacing the national average of 26 percent, according to a new KIDS COUNT® report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation

Research widely supports that when children cannot live with their parents because of abuse or neglect, the next best alternative is to live with stable relatives. New Jersey has made this a cornerstone of reforms of the child protection system, resulting in a greater number of children being placed with kin.

“New Jersey is ahead of the curve when it comes to providing supports to grandparents and other relatives who are caring for their relatives’ children,” said Cecilia Zalkind, executive director of Advocates for Children of New Jersey. “That’s good news for New Jersey and it is good news for children.”

Read more…

In This Issue

New Kids Count Rankings

Budget Message Hits Home

Famous Author Donates Books

NJ leads support to Kinship Caregivers

Advocates for Children of New Jersey
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(Between Bleeker St. and Central Ave.)
973.643.3876 I Fax 973.643.9153 I www.acnj.org 
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