Department of Human Services

TRENTON – New Jersey Department of Human Services Chief of Staff Deborah Bradley Kilstein issued the following statement today in response to the latest round of Children’s Rights documents:Children are safe in residential programs in New Jersey. Over the past several months, the following actions have been taken:

Developed a more comprehensive program to expand the number of unannounced licensing inspections at residential programs

Closed problematic residential programs that fail to meet licensing regulations (FDM Dorms, Monmouth County- November 27, 2002 and Beta House, Camden County- March 14, 2003)

Closely monitoring residential programs while moving forward with licensing revocation (Newark Transitional Supervised Living Programs- April 22, 2003 and May 5, 2003)

Developing stricter child to staff ratios in residential facilities to allow for better supervision of children

Required annual training for residential staff on the use of physical restraints including escape, release and defensive blocking techniques.

This administration inherited a child protection system full of problems and we are addressing them. Time and time again the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) was not provided with the resources it needed to protect our children. Even more troublesome has been the lack of accountability at every level. It is a system without the proper checks and balances and we are now moving forward to put them in place.

Earlier this month, my office began its evaluation of IAIU’s four regional offices. As previously announced, investigations of alleged child abuse or neglect in foster homes, institutions, schools and other out-of-home settings by IAIU will be transferred out of DYFS and will report to me through the Office of Program Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) effective July 1^st.

This move will allow for better communication and more collaboration between IAIU and the Office of Licensing. We will also monitor IAIU investigations so we can move more quickly and effectively to protect children when abuse has been substantiated in an institutional setting.In addition, the Department is once again seeking legislative approval to conduct criminal history background checks on residential staff. In the past, this legislation has not moved forward. However, Governor McGreevey has pledged his support for this important legislation that will allow us to further protect children in residential programs

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