Professional Task Force for eating disorders meeting.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (The IACP) and the Yale Child Study Center (Yale), with support from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, has launched the Enhancing Police Responses to Children Exposed to Violence: A Toolkit for Law Enforcement. This new toolkit provides practical tools and resources to assist law enforcement agencies in building or enhancing effective operational responses to children exposed to violence (with or without a mental health partner). This toolkit contains tools targeted to police leaders and frontline officers.

The New Jersey Department of Children and Families has now made available a mechanism for relevant professionals delineated in the protocol to statistically report in real-time non-identifying demographic information regarding a student or youth who has either attempted or completed suicide. To view the “Youth Suicide Reporting Form” and the “Protocol for Reporting Youth Suicide Attempt or Completion”, please click on the link  http://www.nj.gov/dcf/adolescent/prevention/

The purpose of PTSD Awareness Month is to encourage everyone to raise public awareness of PTSD and effective treatments. We can all help those affected by PTSD.

We are looking for honest opinions about transportation: what's working, what needs improvement, and novel ideas for making all forms of transportation (agency provided, personal, public) more accessible.

Tens of thousands of New Jersey children rely on school meals to get the nutrition they need to be healthy and learn. In the summer, these children lack access to those meals and families struggle to put food on the table.

Click on the link to the right to download the June edition of the Stigma Free Zone New of New Jersey,  a grassroots mental health newsletter.

The 2017 Bergen County Third Annual Wellness Conference is seeking a variety of participants for a panel discussion. This free conference will highlight programs, services and models that demonstrate positive impacts on health and wellness in Bergen County. The Committee seeks to find professionals/agencies who are already incorporating the idea of integrating the eight different dimensions of wellness in their current practice, and are willing to share their experience with the participants of the conference.

Remember it is not uncommon for people to feel sad, confused, anxious or vulnerable during this time.  There may even be a combination of feelings which is normal.Have the conversation with your children:  ask them what they heard and provide accurate information in language they understand.

Attached is a handout from the National Association of School Psychologists which provides some excellent guidelines for discussion and response whether you are an educator, mental health professional, parent or youth.

People working in health care recognize stress as something that can compromise the wellness of the people they serve. However, health care workers may neglect their own wellness and not realize that an even a greater challenge is to manage their own stress.

On May 4th, SAMHSA debuted a new report on the association between a major depressive episode and chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, and obesity. The SAMHSA report is being released in recognition of National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day (Awareness Day).

NIH-funded research shows an intervention that includes follow-up phone calls reduces the risk of future suicide attempts for people at risk.

The Children’s System of Care (CSOC) serves children, youth, and young adults with a wide range of challenges associated with emotional and behavioral health, intellectual/developmental disabilities, and substance use. CSOC is committed to providing services based on the individual need of each child and family within a system of care approach that is strength-based, culturally competent, family-centered, and in a community-based environment.

The 2017 Autism Family Services of New Jersey Scholarship Program is open to New Jersey residents with a diagnosis of Autism. This year, in partnership with the Hinkle, Fingles, Prior and Fischer, Attorneys at Law, Autism Family Services of New Jersey will be selecting two recipients; each receiving a $1,000 scholarship. 

In this toolkit, we provide implementers of youth programming a variety of references, resources, and tools on how to use a positive youth development (PYD) approach for evaluating youth-focused programming. A PYD approach to evaluation will measure whether youth are positively engaged in and benefiting from investments that ultimately empower them to develop in healthy and positive ways so that they can contribute to the development of their communities.

Teen dating violence, also called adolescent relationship abuse, is a serious public health problem. There is still much we do not understand about the nature and scope of this problem. Results of an NIJ-funded study can help change that.

Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) has received calls related to immigration and the impact of recent executive orders on undocumented families here in New Jersey. Since ACNJ staff does not have expertise in the immigration arena, we reached out to other organizations and colleagues to find answers to frequently asked questions. Please share these helpful resources to help undocumented families understand their rights.

OIG wants the public to know that HHS OIG will not use the HHS OIG Hotline telephone number to make outgoing calls and individuals should not answer calls from 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477).

The New Jersey Children's System of Care, 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 2017 summer camp session. Requests MUST be postmarked or received by PerformCare no later than April 30, 2017. 

The NJ Office of Faith Based Initiatives (OFBI) has released its FY 2018 grant opportunity. 

The Christie Administration launched a one-stop website and hotline, 1-844-REACH-NJ and REACHNJ.GOV, which puts information on addiction services in one place to make it easier for individuals and families to get answers to their questions when seeking help with addiction. The website and hotline offer information regarding treatment options, insurance, locations of State-licensed rehabilitation facilities for children and adults, and employment support programs for those in recovery. In addition, the Governor launched an awareness campaign of his newly-implemented REACHNJ.GOV resource hub that further emphasizes the dangers of addiction and promotes the availability of treatment options.