RELEASE: November 29, 2000

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TRENTON - A one-year $50,000 federal grant will allow the New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS) and Middlesex County to work together to find a way to improve the likelihood that children will gain or retain health insurance when their parents were never married and/or legally separate or divorce.

DHS and Middlesex County, through the county’s Family Division of Superior Court, will use the grant to test a process for linking these children to NJ FamilyCare, the state’s health insurance program for low and moderate-income families, when their parents say they cannot provide private health insurance for them.

Although judges always order parents to provide health insurance as part of their court-ordered support obligations, parents often say they can’t provide the insurance either because their employer doesn’t offer it or because they can’t afford the premiums.

The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and will be administered by DHS’ Office on Child Support and Paternity Programs.

"We are very pleased to receive this grant, because it will aide us in our mission of ensuring that every child in New Jersey has access to quality health care," said New Jersey Department of Human Services Commissioner Michele K. Guhl. "This grant will allow us to test a process that can enable low- and middle-income working, non-custodial parents to provide their children with quality health insurance, which they otherwise would not have been able to afford."

Middlesex County’s involvement with the grant grew out of its success in enrolling children there in NJ FamilyCare, which until it recently expanded to include adults was called NJ KidCare. The county has more than doubled the number of children enrolled in the program over the past year.

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"We are delighted that the State came to us and asked us to participate in this program," said Mary Crabiel, chairperson of the Middlesex County Children’s Health Commission. "In Middlesex County, we have been committed to making sure as many children as possible who are eligible for NJ KidCare, and now NJ FamilyCare, get enrolled. So we’re very happy to be able to help create a program through this grant that can be a model for the rest of New Jersey."

Almost 6,200 Middlesex County children are now enrolled in the program, out of an estimated 10,000 children who are thought to be eligible.

The program, expected to start early next year, will target children at a key moment—when their parents are working out support arrangements before a judge in Family Division of Superior Court judge.

In cases where parents say either that health insurance is not available or that they cannot afford it, an "in court facilitator" will step in and determine if the parents’ income makes the child eligible for NJ FamilyCare. The facilitator will also explore various electronic databases to determine whether health insurance is offered by either parent’s employer.

The facilitator will then meet with the parents, explain the benefits of NJ FamilyCare and help him or her fill out an application. NJ FamilyCare will cover children in a family of four whose annual income is as high as $59,675, or 350 percent of the federal poverty level.

Charles Hager, Family Division manager for Middlesex County Superior Court, said he thinks the program will enhance the court’s operations.

"By having a facilitator in the courtroom, we’ll be able to bring a valuable service to our customers," he said. "This will give them an opportunity to fill out an application for NJ FamilyCare and know that they are getting health insurance for their children."

A second one-year $50,000 federal grant, also awarded by HHS, will pay for a study and analysis of court-ordered support payments in which non-custodial parents do not comply with the requirement that they provide health insurance for the children. The goal will be to find a way to increase enforcement of these orders