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ACNJ Enews

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Advocates for Children of New Jersey



ACNJ Enews
June 2014

What Are Newark Kids Eating?

Our special report explores the nutritional needs of children in New Jersey’s largest cities, supports available to ensure all kids have healthy diets and recommendations to improve the nutritional health of Newark children. Join us for the release of this exciting report on June 24 at 10 a.m. at the YMCA of Newark and Vicinity.

Register today for this free event.

Forums Create Action for Kids

Please join us for a Kids Count forum near you where you’ll learn more about the well-being of children in your own backyard, work with others in your county to identify issues and to formulate responses. The free forums are a great way to connect with others who care about kids and are working on improving the well-being of children in your county.

Register for a forum today!

ACNJ Staff, Board Members Garner Awards

We’ve had an exciting few weeks here at ACNJ. Our Executive Director, Cecilia Zalkind, was named one of the top 100 most influential people in New Jersey by The Star-Ledger. Ceil also was an honoree at the Family Intervention Services, Inc.’s Luncheon Honoring Women Leaders, recognizing her 30 years of advocacy on behalf of children. Check out the pics. Ceil and the entire ACNJ crew were honored by the Paterson Alliance with the Extra Mile Award at the Alliance’s recent luncheon.

ACNJ Assistant Director Mary Coogan completed the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s first Leadership Institute for State-based Advocates, an 18-month program that trains organization leaders in results- based accountability.

And our board members are getting the recognition they deserve, too. Board Member Robert Sterling and his wife, Mary, were recently honored for their decades of caring for dozens of children who were victims of abuse and neglect, adopting six of their former foster children over the years. The couple received the 40th Anniversary Visionary Award from the Foster and Adoptive Family Services at a brunch on May 17 at the Sheraton Hotel in Eatontown.

“Mary and Bob embraced children with very special needs. They forged a path that others followed as a result of their vision that all children in foster care deserve safe, loving and nurturing homes,” according to FAFS.

And last, but definitely not least, one of our most-cherished founding board members, Margaret McLeod, was honored June 5 by the Governor's Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee. Margaret has fought tirelessly and courageously for decades to improve this system so that more youth are put on a path to productive adulthood. That system has improved markedly in recent decades, moving from one that locks up young offenders to one that increasingly keeps them out of detention and connected with services that can keep them from re-offending. A garden, located at the New Jersey Training School, will be dedicated in her name.

Congrats to all!

Legal Services Celebrates Families Reunified

As part of the annual nationwide American Bar Association Family Reunification effort, Legal Services of New Jersey will once again celebrate Family Reunification Day at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick on Monday, June 23, 2014, at 2 p.m.

Each year, LSNJ focuses on one of the critical services and procedures necessary to reunified families whose children have been placed in foster care. This year’s theme will be understanding and treating substance abuse. LSNJ will honor several successfully reunified families from different counties and feature speakers from different parts of the child welfare field.

Learn more.