November 29, 2018
Dear Supporter,
On Wednesday, December 5th, the Department of Human Services (DHS) will be holding its “Budget Listening Session,” at the DHS Offices, 222 South Warren Street, Trenton, from 10 AM-2 PM. This is an opportunity for stakeholders, like you, and the general public to provide oral or written testimony to help shape the FY 2020 DHS budget.
AS NEWLY TRAINED ADVOCATES, WE NEED YOU TO PROVIDE TESTIMONY! Your personal experience about these and any other issues you may want to raise, will be invaluable for DHS staff to hear.
Below are a few bullet points that ACNJ plans to include in its testimony that child care providers and parents can use in their testimony.
Parents:
- Please describe your experience in finding and paying for child care.
Child care providers:
- The recent “across the board” child care subsidy increase is a positive first step towards improving access and quality to child care, particularly for infants, who received the largest subsidy increase. Even with this increase, providing access to all eligible children in a quality setting remains out-of-reach. [Please describe why the increase is not enough. For example, will it allow you to increase salaries/benefits, take on more children or provide additional professional development/additional education for staff? PLEASE EXPLAIN YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES!]
- If you are enrolled in Grow NJ Kids, please describe your experience, whether positive or negative.
- There is currently legislation to increase the minimum wage to $15/hour. [Please describe the impact such an increase will have on your program and families, particularly if the subsidy rate is not also increased.]
Guidelines for testimony: If testifying in person, limit remarks to 3 minutes. Written testimony is encouraged and can be sent to: nancy.Worrell@dhs.state.nj.us. The DHS phone number is 609-292-3703. If you have any questions, PLEASE do not hesitate to contact Cynthia Rice (crice@acnj.org) or Diane Dellanno (ddellanno@acnj.org).
Sincerely,
Hannah Korn-Heilner, MSW
Outreach Coordinator
Advocates for Children of New Jersey
35 Halsey Street
Newark, NJ 07102
973-643-3876 Ext. 216
www.acnj.org
As a lead partner in New Jersey’s Right from the Start campaign and a proud partner of the national ZERO TO THREE Think Babies campaign, ACNJ is working to promote enriching early experiences and a strong foundation for development from the start. Visit us at ACNJ.org to learn more.
