Department of Human Services Acting Commissioner Gwendolyn L.
Harris today appointed an Ad Hoc Task Force, comprised of nine
advocates for children from throughout New Jersey, to review the
Children’s System of Care Initiative and make recommendations
for the program's ongoing implementation by April 15.
The Task Force, to be chaired by Julie Turner, the retired executive
director of the New Jersey Association of Children’s Residential
Facilities, will evaluate the status and strategic plan of the
initiative, a program implemented in January 2001 to coordinate,
improve and expand mental health services for the state's mentally
ill children.
The Task Force will make recommendations for the program's future
operation in a fashion consistent with the goals and priorities
of the new Administration.
"Governor McGreevey has called upon all of us to create
a new way of doing business in state government," said Acting
Commissioner Harris. "We must develop solutions to our most
pressing challenges that strengthen and support families, and
help those in need to get the services they deserve. This is especially
true for at-risk children, and children with emotional or behavioral
disturbances, who so desperately need to access care and services
quickly and without bureaucratic roadblocks.
"I have asked the members of the Task Force to review the initiative,
prioritize their concerns and make recommendations to me by April
15 on enhancements or changes that we should make," she said.
The Children’s System of Care Initiative was designed to organize
the individual programs of mental health and child welfare into
a single, effective system of services and supports for children
with emotional and behavioral disturbances and their families.
The program involves a significant restructuring of the way New
Jersey finances, regulates, plans and manages services so that
a single statewide integrated system of care is created for children
with emotional and behavioral disturbances and their families.
One of the main elements of the Initiative involves the creation
of 15 county-based Care Management Organizations that provide
support services and help youth and families in crisis to better
access needed services. Currently, the department has agreements
with CMOs in Burlington, Monmouth, Union, Bergen, Cape May/Atlantic
and Mercer, and is in the middle of statewide implementation.
The members of the Task Force are:
- April Aaronson, Director of Health and Human Services, City
of Trenton
- Carolyn Beauchamp, Executive Director, Mental Health Association
of New Jersey
- Angela Estes, Executive Director, Robin's Nest, Glassboro
- Sister Ellen Kelly, Executive Director, Collier Services
- Marianne Majewski, Executive Director, Catholic Charities,
Diocese of Metuchen
- Jeanette Paige Hawkins, Executive Director, Newark Emergency
Services for Families
- Ceil Zalkind, Executive Director, Association for Children
of New Jersey
- Carol Anne Allen, a parent, from Cape May Courthouse
