Department Of The Public Advocate
240 West State St.
P.O. Box  851  
Trenton, NJ 08625

         FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Public Advocate/Acting Child Advocate Ronald K. Chen Launches Grassroots Effort

to Insure More NJ Children

PATERSON -- In a grassroots effort to continue New Jersey's expansion of health coverage for children,  New Jersey Public Advocate Ronald Chen, who is also the state's Child Advocate,  on Thursday, October 1 visited three child care centers in northern New Jersey and informed parents, staff and social workers about ways to help parents enroll their children in the NJ FamilyCare program.

"New Jersey has made great strides in providing health coverage to more children," Chen said. "But this is a call to action for all us to do whatever we can to ensure that every single child in this state has health insurance. Working families cannot build a strong economic future for their children without stable, secure and affordable health insurance."

Chen distributed NJ FamilyCare information and applications to the centers' staff and parents and spoke with the children about ways to improve their health.

Later in the day, Chen joined several other members of the Governor's cabinet to announce that the NJ FamilyCare program hit a landmark milestone of nearly 100,000 new children enrolled since January 2006.  As a result of the first-in-the-nation Express Lane Eligibility initiative, the elimination of premiums for some working families, and a broadcast media campaign, more than 12,000 children have been enrolled in NJ FamilyCare since June 2009.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) named New Jersey the recipient of a $988,177 grant to conduct a school and community partnership enrollment effort that includes the hiring of a school-based NJ FamilyCare facilitator to perform outreach to families with children who are eligible but not yet enrolled in the program. The funding is expected to be used to pilot ten school districts and various community-based organizations assisting the districts' enrollment.

This year, the New Jersey Office of the Child Advocate vice-chaired a workgroup, appointed by Governor Jon S. Corzine, to identify ways to boost NJ FamilyCare enrollment. One area of focus is strategies for enrolling hard-to-reach populations, such as minorities and immigrants. This resulted in collaboration among various state agencies.

For example, the Departments of Education and Human Services, with assistance from the Child Advocate, are expanding bilingual outreach to immigrant families with school-age children.  Starting later this month, school children whose native language is Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Haitian Creole, French, Gujarati, Hindi, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu and Vietnamese will receive informational materials through the schools in their parents' native language. 

Seventeen percent of children in immigrant families had no health insurance coverage in 2005, according to Census data. That is more than double the 8 percent figure for children in U.S.-born families.

"Enrollment information in the parent's native language will make it easier for limited-English speaking parents to learn more about and access this important health service for their children," Chen told the group of preschool educators, parents and social workers.

For parents whose native language is not listed above, a translation line that speaks more than 170 languages (1-800-701-0710) is available to assist those who feel more confident using a translator to ask questions or apply for NJ FamilyCare, Chen advised.

NJ FamilyCare is a free or low-cost program for income-eligible families. For instance, a family of four earning up to $77,175 can qualify to insure their children for about $130 a month in this state- and federally-funded program.

Through the Governor's initiatives, New Jersey has eligibility for NJ FamilyCare set at 350 percent of the federal poverty level -- one of the most generous levels in the nation. In addition, New Jersey expanded this program to cover all parents up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. 

This has increased NJ FamilyCare/Medicaid enrollment for children and adults by 24 percent since 2006. As of Aug. 31, 2009, nearly 600,000 children and 250,000 parents were enrolled in NJ FamilyCare.

In addition, higher-income families can access NJ FamilyCare ADVANTAGE, a "buy-in" program for families earning more than 350 percent of the federal poverty level. The maximum monthly premium is $411 for a family with three or more children. 

For more information on the NJ FamilyCare programs, call 1-800-701-0710 or visit  www.njfamilycare.org.

Click here to view event photos.