Please read the April edition of the Stigma Free Zone New of New Jersey,  a grassroots mental health newsletter.

The New Jersey Children's System of Care within the Department of Children and Families (DCF), which serves children and youth up to age 21 with intellectual and developmental disabilities, is now accepting requests from families for financial assistance toward the 2018 summer camp session.

The purpose of the 21st CCLC NGO is to provide opportunities for academic enrichment, including providing tutorial services and offer a broad array of additional services, programs, and activities, such as youth development activities, service learning, etc.

Kids around the country are keeping their communities clean, serving meals to the needy and teaching others about responsible pet ownership. Now, you can get involved with the kids in your life!

Over 20.2 million adults had a substance use disorder in 2017. Mental Health America (MHA)’s groundbreaking report on mental health in the workplace, Mind the Workplace, found that an estimated 1 in 3 adults use drugs or alcohol to deal with workplace stress. 

Dating Matters®: Understanding Teen Dating Violence Prevention is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) free 60-minute, interactive training designed to help educators, youth-serving organizations, and others working with teens understand the risk factors and warning signs associated with teen dating violence.

NJHI: Upstream Action Acceleration is intended to further the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's vision of building a Culture of Health by supporting existing cross-sector coalitions to adopt and implement “upstream” environmental-, policy- and systems-change strategies.

In honor of Maternal Health Awareness Day, we are pleased to announce that The Partnership, in collaboration with Hackensack University Medical Center, will be providing a full day conference for health professionals.

Researchers in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)’s Division of Intramural Research Programs (IRP) developed and recently shared a free resource—the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) toolkit. 

New resources to better understand programs that help families achieve economic security and support children’s development

The examples in this publication identify key partners and additional factors, including the CDC, that have been instrumental to success. Additionally, the state stories highlight challenges and successful strategies used to address them, along with next steps in moving their projects forward and plans for sustainability.

The Council of State Governments Justice Center has released "Dos and Don'ts for Reducing Recidivism Among Young Adults in the Justice System." This resource provides strategies that policymakers and justice system leaders can use to guide policy and practice changes to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for young adults.

Please click to view all of the resources related to  talking to children and assisting your communities' response to mass shootings and other violent events.

Post-secondary scholarship opportunities: National Center for Homeless Education 

Trauma-Related Resources

The following information was sent out by the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) on April 10, 2018 and appears unedited below. Please note that The Arc of New Jersey is NOT the author of this information. We are only forwarding it as a service to individuals and families who may not be on the Division's subscription list.