TRENTON, NEW JERSEY – Two Middlesex County programs were among 28 recognized for outstanding child abuse prevention programs by Human Services Commissioner Gwendolyn Harris and Paulette Moore Hines, chair of the Child Life Protection Commission,at a State House ceremony on May 20.

Among the 2003-2004 grant recipients of the Children’s Trust Fund was the Perth Amboy program Fathers Count, developed by Catholic Charities-Diocese of Metuchen.  It received a first year grant of $47,269 to provide parenting education to fathers with a history of substance abuse. Fathers will learn about normal child development and the definition of child abuse, as well as work on developing concrete parenting skills. The fathers will receive continued support through trained parent volunteers once they have completed the 8-week parenting education cycle.  

The Puerto Rican Association for Human Development received $24,546 for its third year of running the Me and My Family program. The program conducts 30-minute in-class activities with preschoolers from Mi Escuelita Childcare Center of Perth Amboy.  Monthly parenting workshops are held with the parents of the preschoolers. The focus is to learn protective ways to prevent child abuse and neglect.  Commissioner Harris thanked the programs for their dedication to the prevention of child abuse and neglect. Commenting on the benefit of the Children's Trust Fund grants, she noted, “I am especially pleased to see that most of the money for these grants has come from citizens who generously checked off the donor box on their New Jersey tax returns.”  

Each year CTF selects innovative programs structured to prevent child abuse and neglect among high-risk populations. This year, a majority of grantees are utilizing widely recognized standard curricula that have proven to be successful, like Parents As Teachers, Families and Schools Together and the Strengthening Families Model.  Most focus on parent involvement -- a key element for effective child abuse prevention programs as outlined in the New Jersey Prevention Standards.

The Children’s Trust Fund provides funding on a three-year basis with a step down process in funding amount.  During the course of three years, programs must procure additional funding to meet the amount of their first year grant, with the goal of working toward independence from CTF funding in order to carry on their program beyond three years.  Over the past 16 years, $11.3 million have been awarded to agencies within every county of the state. In the 2003-2004 grant year, ten first year programs will receive a total of $449,306, ten second year programs will receive a total of $345,168 and eight third year programs will receive a total of $176,756.

 For more information on The Children’s Trust Fund, go to the New Jersey State website at http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/cap/njcap2.html.