About Us | Donate | Take Action 

June 2011 E-news

ACNJ Calls for Examination of Child Abuse Investigations

Advocates for Children of New Jersey today called on state officials to examine the way DYFS handles child abuse investigations and to release information about the state’s involvement with the family of an 8-year-old Irvington girl who died recently from abuse and neglect.

Read more…

Join Us for ACNJ’s Annual Members Meeting

On Wednesday, June 15 at 10 a.m., ACNJ holds its annual members meeting to recognize outstanding people who have contributed to the welfare of children across New Jersey. This free event will be held in the Theater Square Grill at the Performing Arts Center in Newark.

We will pay tribute to Kit Ellenbogen, who is retiring from ACNJ after years of assisting parents, caregivers and school leaders to safeguard the educational rights of children.

 
Also to be honored are Janet Farrand, former president of the New Jersey Foster and Adoptive Services, Corinne Driver, a founding member of ACNJ and a lifelong advocate for abused children, and The Schumann Fund for New Jersey, which has provided significant support for efforts to improve early learning for children across New Jersey. We’ll also discuss current child-related issues.

View more information about this event.

Or RSVP to toni@acnj.org.

ACNJ Releases County Kids Count Rankings and Pocket Guide

On May 23, ACNJ released the 2011 county rankings, which compares counties on 15 measures of child well-being. We also released our popular Kids Count Pocket Guide, which provides a 5-year comparison of various child and family statistics in various areas, including poverty, health, child protection, education and juvenile justice.

View our Kids Count reports to learn more about how children across New Jersey are faring.

State Should Fund Schools Across New Jersey

The New Jersey Supreme Court ordered the state to send an additional $500 million in the coming fiscal year, which starts on July 1, to 31 of New Jersey’s poorest districts. While this is positive, the court stopped short of ordering the state to fully fund its school funding law, which recognizes what we increasingly see in our Kids Count data – child poverty is not confined to New Jersey’s large cities or southern rural areas. Poor kids live all over New Jersey. New Jersey should fully fund all schools.

Read Ceil Zalkind’s Director’s Message.

Legal Services to Hold Reunification Day on June 27

Building on the success of last year’s inspirational event, Legal Services of New Jersey will once again celebrate Family Reunification Day with a formal reception at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick on Monday, June 27 at 3pm. Part of the nationwide American Bar Association Family Reunification Day effort, the event is an opportunity to acknowledge the success stories of the child welfare program and the people who make those stories possible.

A successful reunification depends on the collective efforts of resource parents, caseworkers, judges, attorneys, support service providers and parents themselves. Family Reunification Day highlights the extraordinary achievements that parents have made to reunite with their children, and honors the efforts of those involved in the child welfare system as they seek to return children to their families.

Registration: E-mail Kellie at kdavis@lsnj.org
Contact and for more information: Please contact Jey Rajaraman at 732-572-9100

In This Issue

ACNJ Annual Meeting

New Kids Count Data

School Funding

Reunification Day

Advocates for Children of New Jersey
 35 Halsey Street 2nd Floor, Newark, NJ 07102
(Between Bleeker St. and Central Ave.)
973.643.3876 I Fax 973.643.9153 I www.acnj.org 
Questions about this newsletter can be directed  to Communications Director.
Not interested anymore? Click here to unsubscribe