Funding, Support and Advocacy for Child Wellness and Protection
In January 2006, news of 7 year-old Nixzmary Brown, whose stepfather beat her to death in the family’s bathtub, stunned people in our communities, especially those who work in social services. And when we learned that Nixzmary’s neighbors heard her cries for help and chose to ignore them, we were even more devastated. If just one person had called 911 or 2-1-1, or if New York’s child protection services had intervened earlier and placed little Nixzmary in foster care, she would likely be alive today, living with a family that loves and cherishes her.
In a September 2006 survey published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, 513,000 children were living in foster care in the United States. After a year’s stay in foster care, 51 percent of those children were reunited with their families and or principal caretakers, 20 percent were adopted and the other 30 percent languished in foster care, some in the adoption process and others with futures still uncertain.
According to the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS), Department of Children and Families (DCF), 621 children live outside their homes in Hudson County. Of those children, 224 live with relatives, 260 live with foster parents and 137 live in a group home, shelter, or treatment program. And of those 621 children, 53 percent will be placed in more than one home during their childhood.
These children have been placed in the State’s care because their biological parents physically abused and/or neglected them or because the family could not create a proper home to raise them. Many of these children have experienced horrendous acts of violence, from rape to battery, and many have witnessed their primary caretakers submit themselves to the degradation of alcohol and drug abuse. For many of us, it is unfathomable to understand how anyone can hurt innocent children who look up to the adults in their lives for care, affection, guidance and love. But it happens every day. In fact, this past year, DYFS received 80,000 calls to report child abuse in New Jersey.
Our mission
That is why United Way of Hudson County has made Child Wellness and Protection one of the main focuses of our funding, resources and community impact. It is our mission to do whatever is necessary to protect the children in our communities from the abusive and deadly hands of the family members and caretakers who have hurt them and to help other non-profits give these children a second chance at a happy life with a forever family that will nourish, nurture, protect and love them.
In order to fulfill that mission, United Way of County funds a vast network of local social services agencies that provide abused and neglected children – as well as children from low income families-- with shelter, food, counseling, after school activities, literacy workshops, recreational programs, anti-drug initiatives and entrepreneurial workshops. United Way of Hudson County provides funding support and matching grants, serves on the advisory boards of many of these agencies and advocates for these children to our leaders in government.
“Being a father, I cannot understand how anyone can be cruel to a child,” United Way of Hudson County President Dan Altilio says. “They are so vulnerable and trusting and all they really want is to love and be loved. That’s why I have made Child Wellness and Protection one of the main focuses of our work. My staff and I will do whatever it takes to save the battered, neglected and sick children in our communities. We will continue to focus our work on keeping them healthy and safe and by helping other non-profit agencies save them from the hands of cruel abusers.”
Our impact
United Way of Hudson County’s impact on child wellness and protection in our communities includes:
- Providing funding and support for after-school arts and recreation programs; educational programs and anti-drug initiatives that serve Hudson County children.
- Advocating for children’s rights by accepting posts on advisory boards of state-run agencies, non-profit social service agencies and major corporations.
- Serving as a liaison to emergency services like DYFS/DCF and a funding provider to the 2-1-1 First Call for Help hotline that serves Hudson’s children and families.
- Partnering with social service agencies and government programs to match grants that provide important services and initiatives for the wellness and protection of Hudson’s children.
- Providing funding to help social services agencies find temporary shelter and permanent homes for homeless children and families.
- Supporting DYFS/DCF foster care and adoption events and serving on their advisory boards.
Twice a year, United Way of Hudson County President Dan Altilio and members of his staff meet with Commissioner Ryan of DYFS to work on new initiatives to help Hudson’s children. President Altilio also works with the Hudson County Child Abuse Prevention Center’s Executive Director Peter Herbst to find resources for pilot programs to end child abuse. The 2-1-1- emergency help phone system came from these initiatives. When a new grant is announced, President Alitlio and Executive Director Herbst work together on the grant and its presentation. They attend every planning round table session on child welfare in Hudson County.
