Spread the word » Facebook Twitter
ACNJ Enews

To view this email in your web browser click here.

Advocates for Children of New Jersey



ACNJ Enews
November 2014


Help Protect Health Insurance for Kids

Thanks to NJ FamilyCare, tens of thousands more New Jersey children have the health coverage that can help them grow up healthy. This progress has been one of New Jersey’s greatest success stories. That progress, however, is threatened, as federal funding for this health coverage program is in jeopardy. Known federally as the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), funding for this program expires next year. If Congress fails to renew this funding, as many as two million kids may lose health coverage, including thousands in New Jersey.

If you would like to speak up in support of this critical program, please take a minute to learn more at Families USA’s new CHIP page, with resources including slideshows, talking points, social media graphics, a list of relevant editorials and  a tool that facilitates sending a letter to the editor to local newspapers.

Child Care Workers Need Training, Education

People caring for New Jersey’s youngest children are often underpaid and lack resources to advance their education and training to attain the unique skills they need to care for infants and toddlers during children’s formative first years. Even when child care workers are able to earn advanced certifications or degrees, they are rarely rewarded for achieving a higher level of care for kids. New Jersey’s requirements for child care workers are lax, leaving in question the quality of care many young children across the state receive during their most critical years. 

ACNJ's new brief report explores development opportunities available to New Jersey's child care workers and the barriers they face in accessing those opportunities.

NJ Featured in New Casey Report on Juvenile Justice Reform

New Jersey’s successful efforts to keep kids out of detention and on the path to productive adulthood is highlighted in a new report from The Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) has safely reduced the number of youth in detention, while continuing to maintain public safety. New Jersey has become the model for states across the country seeking to transform their juvenile justice systems.

Read more. 

Training on important infant/toddler issues

Need training on issues critical to infants and toddlers? Check out ACNJ’s series of online videos that cover topics ranging from fetal alcohol syndrome to reducing trauma for young children to key development milestones. Learn at your leisure! This “On Demand” Training Video Project was funded by a federal Court Improvement Grant. Questions? Need more info? Contact Mary Coogan at mcoogan@acnj.org.

What if we thought of all NJ children as our own?

What would you do if half the children in your family lived in or near poverty? What if some of them couldn't see a doctor when they were sick, and a few of the very youngest weren't safe in their own home?

ACNJ works to ensure our children’s concerns are heard and that our policy makers and leaders make their well-being a priority, but we can’t do it alone.

Speaking up for NJ’s children costs money and as an independent non-profit, we rely on donations from caring supporters like you to make our work possible. Make your gift to ACNJ today and help us make NJ the best place to be a kid!

Click here to unsubscribe