2009 Annual Report

Association for Children What About the Kids? of ACNJ Board of Trustees 2009 ACNJ Staff 2009

Hendricks Davis, President Cecilia Zalkind, Executive Director Richard Trenk, Administrative Vice President Mary Coogan , Assistant Director Robert Sterling, Program Vice President Antoinette Abdelmalek . s t

Jose Gener, Treasurer Beatriz Alcaraz n e d u t

Gail Houlihan, Secretary Amanda Blagman S y c i l

John Boyne o

Maia Davis P c i l

Naim Bulbulia b

Reginald Dorsey u P , e

Stephanie Bush-Baskette H. Kit Ellenbogen g e l l o

Timothy Carden Jennifer Hakim C s ' r e t

Jo Ann Dow -Breslin Eloisa Hernandez-Ramos e P t n Association for Children of New Jersey Corinne Driver i Erin Hughes a S f Louise Eagle o

Thomas King y

35 Halsey Street s e t Maurice Elias r Newark, NJ 07102 Nina Peckman u o c

Adriana Flores Kuhn e Suzanne Poole n i z (973) 643-3876 r Stuart Grant o Sheldon Presser C

Fax: (973) 643-9153 n o Nancy Lauter Cynthia Rice J f o o www.acnj.org Yvonne Lopez t

Alex Violette o h www.kidlaw.org p

Margaret McLeod 9 e

Richmond Rabinowitz, Consultant g a

Jennifer Mermans P .

Eve Schaenen, Consultant s e

David Nash g a m I

Maria Pinho k c o t

Kendall Sprott S l r i G

Gerard Thiers y e s r e Michele Tuck-Ponder J , s d r

Charles Venti a h c i Cathy Wasserman R e l l e i n a D © s h p a r g o t o h P Introduction Dear Friends,

As the impact of the recent economic downturn made itself felt in every area of family life in 2009, the Association for Children of New Jersey stayed true to our core mission of educating , engaging and empowering families, organizations and legislators on behalf of New Jersey’s youngest citizens. Now more than ever, ACNJ’s role as the state’s leading independent voice for children is critical to advancing solutions for our families. Throughout 2009, challenges in the areas of child welfare, education, health care and family economic success presented ACNJ with new opportunities for even more vigorous advocacy both at the state level, and amongst our base of local supporters.

ACNJ’s accomplishments in 2009 reflect our deep commitment to our mission, underscoring an unwavering and successful effort to direct the attention of public policy makers toward families in order to give all our children the bright future they deserve.

Let us keep the bright future for our children in mind as we look back on the successes of 2009, and let it serve as a beacon to guide us through the important work that still lies ahead.

Hendricks Davis Cecilia Zalkind President, ACNJ Board of Trustees Executive Director Throughout the election year 2009, ACNJ asked the question:

What About the Kids? ACNJ Put New Jersey’s Children first by:

I Building our state-wide support base: ACNJ’s Make Kids Count NJ E-Advocacy network engaged a distribution list of nearly six thousand members who join us in working on behalf of New Jersey children and families.

I Promoting local advocacy: ACNJ educated over fifty community advocates in Newark, Trenton and Jersey City through our Community Orientation Courses.

I Advancing universal health care: ACNJ’s assistant director chaired a state task force that implemented measures to increase enrollment in NJ FamilyCare .

I Improving early education: ACNJ’s PreK-3 rd Leadership Training sessions provided two hundred school district administrators strategies allowing them to identify and implement high quality early education programs.

I Empowering through legal guidance: The website of ACNJ’s Legal Center — www.kidlaw.org — includes a keyword search component enabling visitors to find immediate answers to their family legal questions.

I Helping families stay informed: ACNJ worked to initiate the Newark ABC website — www.newarkassetbuild.org — as a means of sharing information about the coalition’s efforts on behalf of low- and moderate-income families.

I Nurturing advocates of the future: 368 elementary and middle school students wrote letters to the future as part of ACNJ’s 2009 election advocacy campaign.

2 What About the Kids? Our 2009 advocacy campaign directly addressed theThree E’s of the ACNJ Mission:

I Education

I Engagement

I Empowerment

3 ACNJ has been EDUCATING… EDUCATING on health care .

In light of the growing number of uninsured children in New Jersey, ACNJ Assistant Director Mary Coogan chaired a state task force charged with increasing enrollment in New Jersey’s child health insurance programs. Members of this Outreach, Enrollment and Retention Work Group collaborated to address identified barriers to successful enrollment and retention of eligible children. The Work Group released a report to the Legislature in 2009 with recommendations for strengthening outreach to eligible low- and moderate- income families, maximizing program enrollment and ensuring retention of enrollees. Already many of the Work Group’s proposed measures have been successfully imple - mented throughout the state.

Results: Last year enrollment in NJ FamilyCare from March 2008 to the end of 2009 increased by more than ten percent — that’s over sixty thousand more children with health insurance .

4 ACNJ has been EDUCATING… EDUCATING on home energy assistance .

In 2008, ACNJ issued a widely circulated report entitled Heat or Eat: Energy Insecurity in New Jersey , that helped lead to a one-time $10 million funding of the state energy assistance program NJ SHARES (Statewide Heating Assistance and Referral for Energy Services.) As a result of ACNJ’s continued advocacy in 2009, the 2010 budget and subsequent appropriation included $5 million to fund NJ SHARES operations, and an additional $25 million of the Societal Benefits Charge (SBC) to be reallocated toward the energy assistance program in 2010.

Results: The number of eligible households served by NJ SHARES has more than doubled since 2005.

5 ACNJ has been EDUCATING… EDUCATING on the state of child well-being.

In 2009, ACNJ’s New Jersey Child Health and Safety Awareness Network informed a broad childcare audience on a number of current child health issues through the Schools and Communities Strengthening Families Child Health and Safety Forums and Tool Kit . Presentations to parents and court volunteers focused on anger management for children, effective discipline techniques as well as mental health issues in adolescents. Written materials in English and Spanish were developed on topics such as diabetes, asthma, immunizations and nutrition. ACNJ’s Healthy Lifestyles: It’s All in the Balance provided regular written updates on a wide variety of child well-being subjects, including automobile safety, Internet safety, water safety and flu information.

Results: ACNJ’s Healthy Lifestyles: It’s All in the Balance and training reached a thousand individuals responsible for child well-being, including parents, school nurses, child care providers and other professionals and volunteers working with children.

6 ACNJ has been ENGAGING… ENGAGING with School Districts.

Recognizing the importance of a strong educational continuum linking New Jersey’s high quality Pre-K programs with subsequent early learning, ACNJ has for the last five years conducted groundbreaking studies into the coordination of an effective preschool through 3rd grade curriculum. In 2009, ACNJ expanded its advocacy role to include the PreK-3 rd Labs Initiative , a unique and innovative opportunity for three very different New Jersey school districts — Orange, Morris and Red Bank — to assess, plan and implement a seamless, well-articulated PreK-3 rd system at the district level.

Results: The PreK-3rd Labs Initiative not only allows the three identified districts to streamline their efforts, but develops “best practices” that will offer guidance and support to PreK-3rd programs throughout other school districts in NJ and the country.

7 ACNJ has been ENGAGING… ENGAGING with Local Communities.

In 2009, ACNJ partnered with government and community organizations in Newark, Trenton and Jersey City to provide monthly Community Orientation Courses. These courses offer an opportunity for community-based agency staff, elected officials and parents to learn about issues affecting children and families in their communities, and to become aware of available programs and services addressing these issues.

ACNJ also serves as managing member of the Newark Asset Building Coalition (Newark ABC). Newark ABC is a broad-based coalition of more than thirty diverse organizations, foundations, service providers, business and faith-based institutions dedicated to identifying and providing resources and programs that enable Newark’s low-income working families to achieve self-sustaining financial independence. A primary goal of Newark ABC is to increase the number of families and individuals who receive the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). In 2009, Newark ABC launched its new website, www.newarkassetbuild.org, and promoted five new free tax preparation (VITA) site locations for a total of twelve sites .

Results: The number of tax returns filed by Newark ABC in 2009 increased to 5,400 — nearly ten times more than in 2005.

8 ACNJ has been ENGAGING… ENGAGING with ACNJ membership and other child advocates.

ACNJ hosted a unique What About the Kids? candidates’ forum in advance of the 2009 gubernatorial election, allowing child advocates the opportunity to hear candidates , Chris Daggett and Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini representing address issues impacting New Jersey’s children. Cecilia Zalkind with Chris Daggett ACNJ’s On the Issue Forums and our informal house parties provide the context for advocates, activists and ACNJ supporters to exchange ideas and hear prominent guest speakers address a wide range of topics. 2009 speakers included Congressman Rush Holt discussing the role of advocacy with regard to state elections; early education expert Gordon MacInnes addressing the case for high quality pre-school; education policy analyst Sara Mead speaking about the effect of the stimulus package on early childhood funding and Newark’s Mayor Cory Booker on the importance of advocacy in today’s political culture.

Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini, representing Chris Christie with Cecilia Zalkind

Former Governor Jon Corzine with child advocates 9 ACNJ has been EMPOWERING… EMPOWERING preschool administrators and parents.

ACNJ recognized the need in this economic environment to protect existing funding for New Jersey’s high quality preschool system. To this end, ACNJ developed its Preschool Expansion Toolkit — a selection of sample letters to be used by parents of preschool children, private early care providers, Headstart Directors and staff to inform local and state leaders about the importance of preschool and to invite them into their programs. The toolkit was distributed to ACNJ’s extensive early childhood network and was on the ACNJ website for people to download.

Child Advocacy Day participants and Senator Sandra Cunningham Results: Despite budgetary repercussions from the recent economic downturn, additional dollars for existing preschool programs remained in place for FY2010.

State Outreach Coordinator, Executive Director, Reginald Dorsey and Cecilia Zalkind, Assemblyman Assemblywoman Reed Gusciora and Board President, Hendricks Davis 10 ACNJ has been EMPOWERING… EMPOWERING parents and caregivers in asserting their children’s legal rights.

ACNJ’s Children’s Legal Resource Center enhances ACNJ’s policy advocacy by providing information and assistance on children’s legal issues. The Center’s three attorneys help parents advocate effectively for their children in such areas as education, child welfare, custody, visitation and kinship care. The Center has released several publications for non-attorneys that offer straightforward guidance for parents and caregivers on special education needs and the DYFS court process.

Results: In 2009 , ACNJ attorneys addressed over 500 calls for legal assistance to New Jersey families, and provided training on legal rights of children in areas of education, child welfare and family law to nearly eight hundred more.

11 ACNJ has been EMPOWERING… “We need someone, EMPOWERING children to speak for themselves. as a matter of fact, In advance of the 2009 gubernatorial election, ACNJ sponsored a What About the Kids? we need everyone campaign, calling on New Jersey children to write letters to the three candidates for to care about us. ” governor describing their hopes for the future. The numerous responses from school children made an eloquent case for ACNJ’s mission and the need for legislators and policy — Eighth Grader, makers to address those issues that directly impact the lives of our youngest citizens. Alma Flagg School

Mayor Cory Booker at Alma Flagg Elementary School 12 2009 ACNJ Publications

Newark Kids Count 2009 Preschool Expansion Update: Despite Limited Funding, Still Moving Forward Abbott Preschool: 10 Years Later. An Added Bonus: The Educational Success Story of Preschool Expansion Toolkit 2009 New Jersey’s Preschool Teacher Reframing the Conversation: Using Kinship Amicus Curiae brief in New Jersey Division Legal Guardianship in DYFS Cases of Youth and Family Services v. L.L. Healthy Lifestyles: It’s All in the Balance — Amicus Curiae brief in New Jersey Division Winter 2009, Spring/Summer 2009, of Youth and Family Services v. C.M. Fall 2009

ARRA and New Jersey’s Preschool Newark Summer Program Directory 2009 Expansion Initiative: “Not Perfect Together” Newark After-School Program Newark Kids Count 2009 The FY 2010 State Budget: Programs for Directory 2009 Children and Families 2008 ACNJ Annual Report New Jersey’s Preschool Expansion Initiative and its Impact on Preschoolers with Disabilities

13 Conclusion

In 2009, ACNJ has advanced our core mission of educating , engaging and empowering families, organizations and legislators on behalf of New Jersey children, and we’ve seen concrete results from our efforts.

Advocacy works! Please join us in helping Make Kids Count.

14 ACNJ Foundation Grants 2009 Corporate Supporters

I America’s Promise/First Focus 2009

I Annie E. Casey Foundation I Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation

I Foundation for Child Development I Sovereign Bank

I The Fund for New Jersey I Verizon

I Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Families/Build Initiative

I Health Net of New Jersey

I The IOLTA Fund of the Bar of New Jersey

I JPMorgan Chase Foundation

I Mountainside Health Foundation

I Office for the Prevention of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities

I Pre-K Now

I The Prudential Foundation

I The Schumann Fund for New Jersey

I Victoria Foundation

I Voices for America’s Children

15 ACNJ Supporters 2009

Leadership Gifts — Champion — $500 and Above Deborah Cherniss Gregg and Charmaine Gonsalves $5,000 and Above The Bershad Foundation, Inc. Michael Cohen Jonathan Goodgold Susan Buchwald Deborah Cohen Zuline Gray Wilkinson Anonymous Naim Bulbulia Joan Collins Rebecca Guess Delisi Family Foundation, Timothy Carden Kathleen Comini Mary Louise Heim Elizabeth Delisi and Charles & Michael and Bonnie Carter Marion Lynn Connell Thomas and Candace Hickey Mary Macksoud Henry Coleman Jack and Edith Coogan Peter and Deborah Hirsch The Merancas Foundation, James and Ritamarie Giosa Mary Coogan Peter Hirschmann Jennifer Mermans Gail Houlihan Bruce Davidson Sherry Holland Samuel Huber Hendricks Davis Cherie Hooks McManimon & Scotland, L.L.C. Robert Davison Nancy and Joseph Irenas Superhero — The Prudential Foundation Jessica de Koninck Lateefah Jackson $1,000 and Above Matching Gifts Program Michelle DeKlyen Thomas Jardim The David Earling and Maria Nicolo Josh and Richmond Rabinowitz Edward and Jessica Deutsch Michael and Mary Johnson Family Fund, David Earling The Wilson Fund of the Princeton Area Christopher and Barbara DiCostanzo Robert Jones Judith Dorr Community Foundation, Susan Wilson Eileen Dombrowsky Edgar Kaplan Frederick W.H. Fischer Fund of Jo Ann Dow-Breslin Ted Kastner and Alix Ross the Community Foundation of Advocates — $499 to $100 Corinne Driver Timothy King New Jersey Amper, Politzner & Mattia Douglas and Priscilla Eakeley Thomas and Michelle King Jose Gener Anonymous Maurice Elias Robert and Catherine Konefal Stuart Grant Anonymous Roxanne Elliott Michael Krasner Susan Rudin Brian Baker Susan Esquilin Barbara Kutscher The Sagner Family Foundation, Marcia Bennett Bruce Ettinger Nancy Lauter Amanda Blagman Tim and Ann Falvey Kenneth Levine and Sarah Wolman Deborah Sagner Thomas Blim and Susan Sonneborn Dan and Janet Farrand Yvonne Lopez Todd Ouida Children’s Foundation Teresa Buccarelli Gisela Ferrer Linda Lordi Cavanaugh of the Community Foundation Sharon Budka Martin Finkel James Louis of New Jersey, Herbert and Stephanie Bush-Baskette Adriana Flores Kuhn Peter and Mary Anne Lund Andrea Ouida John Callahan James Floyd Gordon MacInnes Trenk, DiPasquale, Webster, Michael and Kathleen Cano Judith Forbes Thomas and Judith Mack Della Fera, Sodono Anne Casale Forman Holt Eliades & Ravin LLC Dennis Mahoney Alan and Cecilia Zalkind Philip and Lisa Caton Bruce and Tracey Goldstein Ken Mandelbaum

16 Kathleen Marchetti Grace Sisto John Boyne Patricia Natale Steven Marcus Jill Slattery Rosalie Brenna Justina Newman Jacqueline Mariano Kendall Sprott Gayle Brill Mittler Stella Osemwegie Ginny Martin Inge Spungen Alison Carter Barry and Ann Parker Sally Mason Thomas Spychalski Patsy Carthan-Warlock Kathleen Peiffer Joseph and Kelly McDonald Robert and Mary Sterling Patricia Chisholm and Beth MacDonald Norman and Judy Perkus Margaret McLeod Joseph Suozzo Nicholas and Barbara Conforti Allen and Rhona Porter Marge Monaghan Lucile Tait Nina Cooke John Amy Puzio-Kennedy Floyd Morris Roy and Brenda Tanzman Maia Davis Jacqueline Randelman Alice Nadelman Gerard Thiers Kathryn Deacon Claudia Reitmeyer Julien Neals Joseph Thomasberger Paul and Amy Decker Susan Roth Frances Nicotra Alvin Trenk Tina Delia Shirley Satterfield O'Gorman & Young, Inc. David Trenk Louise Eagle Nicholas Scalera Tom and Kate O'Neill Richard Trenk Kit Ellenbogen Eve Schaenen Nicholas Papouchis and Janet Nelson Jeanne Warnock Orlando Fuquen and Stephanie Chorney Robert Schilling John and Laura Phillips Josh and Judy Weston Shirley Garth Eric and Claire Scott Maria Pinho Susan Wilson Jean Gerry Merino Sergio Roberta Polton Rose Zeltser Larry and Ann-Linn Glaser Jon Shure Suzanne Poole Albin Zwiazek Dennis Glovach James Snider Sheldon Presser David Goldfarb Richard Stagliano James and Nancy Quinn Supporter — Under $100 Michael Gordon Ann Thurm Rubin and Rene Rabinowitz Susan Adubato James and Beth Greenberg Sylmarie Trowbridge Francine Raguso Minda Alena Ruth Gubernick Sheldon Wallerstein Barbara Reisman Phyllis AlRoy Charles Lee Harp Frank and Margo Walter Robert and Cynthia Rice Anonymous Constance Hochberg Cathy Wasserman The Richard R. Howe Foundation, Anonymous Annemarie Hofacker Maria Workman Richard Howe Anonymous Molly Hoke Faye Zealand Eve Robinson Peter and Christina Bailey Carol Kempner Thomas Zsiga Stuart and Rochelle Rubin Ruth Banks Ryan and Sigrid Keough Rush Russell Fran Bardino Nancy Kirby Margaret Sanzo Roxie Beasley Stephen Kirschenbaum Sengal and Lynn Selassie Joseph and Maryann Bielamowicz Richard Kohan and Amy Kohan Jtwros Holly Seplocha Grosvenor and Elizabeth Blair Barbara Krzak Harold and Vivian Shapiro Michelle Bobrow Mom’s Club of Warren New Jersey

The list of ACNJ Supporters 2009 reflect donations received between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. 17 Association for Children of New Jersey 35 Halsey Street (973) 643-3876 www.acnj.org Association for Children Newark, NJ 07102 Fax: (973) 643-9153 www.kidlaw.org of New Jersey