NEWARK– Citing the high incidence of child maltreatment in the city of Newark,  Department of Human Services Commissioner Gwendolyn L. Harris and Newark Mayor Sharpe James today hosted a day-long conference with front-line social services providers to discuss how to better protect at-risk children.>

About 200 contracted service providers and state and city officials attended the conference, entitled "Save the Children Day" today at the Paul Robeson Center at Rutgers University in Newark. The conference is one of a series of events DHS will be conducting to fashion partnerships with key stakeholders in local communities.

"The outcomes here, (in Newark) no matter how you measure them are terrible," said Commissioner Harris. "By any measure, a child in Newark is at serious risk, disproportionately to most other children in this state.  This city is disproportionately represented in virtually every category in which we measure children at risk."

"I am proud that the city is fostering partnerships with the New Jersey Department of Human Services, faith-based organizations, health care providers, community-based organizations, childcare providers and parents, to improve the lives of our children, " said  Mayor James. "It is absolutely critical that we involve local residents and community agencies in implementing policy and programmatic changes to improve positive outcomes for our children.  We cannot do it alone."

Harris noted that in the five years between 1998 and 2002, 16 percent of all child deaths from abuse and neglect in New Jersey occurred in Newark. The children in Newark are almost two and a half times more likely to be under Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS)  supervision than are the state's as a whole.

Also, almost nine percent of DYFS entire caseload is under the supervision of three district offices located in Newark, and almost 26 percent of the children living under the supervision of these offices are living in substitute care, which means they are living somewhere other than at home with their birth family.

Joining Commissioner Harris and Mayor James were: Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Department of Human Services Special Deputy Commissioner Colleen Maguire; Maria Vizcarrondo-DeSoto, president and CEO, United Way of Essex and West Hudson; Helen Archontou, executive director, the Winona M. Lipman Child Advocacy Center; Clare Anderson, Associate, the Center for Community Partnerships in Child Welfare; and Celia M. King, executive director, Leadership Newark.

The purpose of the day's activities was to heighten awareness of child safety; unveil service models that could be implemented locally;  and to develop strategies with providers of children's services in the Newark area to improve outcomes for children.

Commissioner Harris said the conference is the first of many the department will be hosting across the state, as part of her plan to transform child protective services in New Jersey. Earlier this year, Governor McGreevey announced that DHS will receive an additional $20 million in its State Fiscal Year 2004 budget to hire additional child protection workers, upgrade children’s services information systems and upgrade equipment for child protection staff at DYFS.

Harris challenged service providers to do a better job.

"I am here to tell you this morning that as we begin to look for ways to change outcomes, there is no other group that we will expect more from in the months and years ahead, " Harris said. "Through our contracts with community providers, we have forged valuable partnerships. But partnerships can only exist if there is integrity on both sides. Each side makes a commitment, and each side must fulfill that commitment."

The Commissioner said the community agencies must explore new ways to protect children.

"Protecting our children and keeping them safe is not the responsibility of any single agency in state government, or even only one department in state government, or even solely the responsibility of state government.," she said. "Saving our Children is a collective community responsibility that, as contractual partners, you share along with us. We are accountable for fulfilling that responsibility, and you are accountable for helping us do it."

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