News / New Jersey News

NEWARK — An officer was commended for removing a window and climbing out onto a roof to talk a teenage girl out of jumping. Newark Public Safety Director Brian A. O’Hara said Officer Elijah Melvin was part of the response to a report of "family trouble" at a home in the South Ward around 5 p.m. Wednesday. He spoke to the girl, who said she was upset about the loss of an older brother. Read More: NJ cop uses 'empathy, compassion' to save suicidal teen on roof | ...

Watch the virtual press conference live on YouTube at 11:15am . We need your help to amplify the messages of Actions 4 ACEs : Visit Actions4ACEs.com to find educational materials and a curated list of resources to help mobilize the community for understanding and action Use the campaign social media toolkit to spread the word on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram Share educational materials and resources with your colleagues and communities Follow the campaign on social media using...

New Jersey’s Actions 4 ACEs campaign will launch tomorrow! Actions 4 ACEs will raise public awareness about adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the simple - yet powerful - actions that adults can take to make a positive impact in children’s lives. Join the press conference live on YouTube, Wednesday, June 23, 2021 at 11:15am, with the First Lady of New Jersey, Tammy Snyder Murphy, 2021 NJ State Teacher of the Year Angel Santiago, Chief Chris Leusner from Middle Township Police...

The educational disruption to New Jersey students due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been extreme by all measures. But with increasing numbers of vaccinated adults in the state and new COVID-19 cases dropping, attention (and planning) is turning to how schools can begin returning to normal for the new school year this fall. A wide range of challenges deserve consideration: Instructional - How will teaching be different once virtually all students are back in the classroom? How will technology...

Fathers play a critical role in the healthy development of children and families. This is why it's important to address structural and systemic barriers that prevent Black men from being fully present in their children's lives—so that all families have a chance to thrive. My wife and I have been married since 2019, but we’ve known each other since we were 14-year-olds. We are raising a blended family. She has a daughter who is 9 and a 7-year-old son. I have a son who is 8, and together we...

JOHN REITMEYER, BUDGET/FINANCE WRITER JUNE 2, 2021 | BUDGET, CORONAVIRUS IN NJ New Jersey has received more than $6 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funding, and like other federal aid programs, there’s a long list of things the money can and cannot be spent on. Gov. Phil Murphy has yet to say exactly how the state plans to use its share of funding from the American Rescue Plan Act within those rules. But the governor has said recently that he’s been having “good conversations” with...

Youth Services Insider will delve further into the first budget proposed by President Joe Biden in the coming weeks, but wanted to list off a few notable items that jumped off the page from child welfare and juvenile justice. Juvenile Justice Major boost to state grants: States receive a portion of what’s called the Title II formula grants each year in exchange for their participation in the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA). Biden is calling for $250 million under this...

New Jersey plans to spend a staggering $445,504 per incarcerated youth in 2022 to house them in facilities that are almost 80% empty. The time is now for New Jersey to close its youth prisons and invest in community-based alternatives. The current system, with its focus wholly on punishment rather than rehabilitation, the current system leaves whole communities — as well as the families of both victims and offenders — with unresolved trauma that continues to reverberate long after the...

Viola Ford Fletcher is also still waiting for justice. By TONY NORMAN • Pittsburgh Post-Gazette America has been telling Viola Ford Fletcher to wait for justice ever since she was 7 years old. Now a spry 107, Fletcher is running out of patience with America. Delivered by midwife on a farm in Lawton, Okla., on May 10, 1914, Fletcher was born 138 years after the American experiment commenced in 1776. As a Black daughter of Oklahoma, she had no more reason to believe in America’s promises than...

(CNN) Throughout Olivia Thompson's 12-hour shift as a cardiac and Covid-19 nurse in Chandler, Arizona, she closely monitors the oxygen levels of several patients at a time and works with other medical specialists to heal them. For some, no amount of care Thompson gives prevents them from being transferred to the Intensive Care Unit. "There were times where I was dreading going to work because of the unknown," Thompson said. "Am I going to be a good nurse for my patients? Am I going to make a...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee lawmakers have passed a bill that would withhold funding from schools teaching about systemic racism and white privilege. HB 0580/SB 0623 officially cleared the General Assembly Wednesday, one of several to pass on the day lawmakers adjourned for the year . The bill centers on restricting what concepts on institutional racism can be taught in school, and attracted some of the most impassioned debates. While most of the majority-white GOP caucuses in the House and...

NEW YORK (WABC) -- On Saturday, May 8, WABC-TV will air a special entitled "PROTECT OUR CHILDREN: EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC" at 7 p.m. ET. The program is hosted by Eyewitness News Anchor Shirleen Allicot, and will focus on the continued impact the pandemic has had on youth, with advice from professionals on how we can address and improve the mental, emotional and physical health of youth. Despite the ongoing pandemic, the special shares stories of individuals who faced difficult challenges and...