The Children's Mental Health Crisis in New Jersey's Marginalized Communities
New Jersey is gripped by a silent children’s mental health crisis in its most marginalized communities. The report provides the results of NJPC’s Professional Parent Advocacy training, representing 342 children who reside in communities that struggle with poverty, violence, and low family income.
NJPC Transformative Process of Collaborating with Parents & Family Members: Engagement, Involvement and Partnership PowerPoint Presentation
is a new Advocacy Training Report and Presentation that establishes a baseline for understanding how advocates and professionals can collaborate with parents and family members in their local community, states and nation. While most stakeholders working with parents and family members coin the ultimate relationship as “engagement,” the New Jersey Parents Caucus recognizes engagement as a process, and collaboration as the ultimate goal.
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Navigating the Juvenile Justice System in New Jersey: A Family Guide
The definitive Family Guide for Families Raising Justice-Involved Youth to navigating the complex New Jersey Juvenile Justice System. The comprehensive 39 page guide provides an overview of the juvenile justice process with the goal of ensuring that family members are better prepared to partner and collaborate with juvenile justice professionals, ultimately increasing positive outcomes for families and youth.
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TRANSFORMING JUSTICE IN NEW JERSEY: Declaring Racism as a Public Health Issue
As a culturally competent and anti-racist organization, NJPCs mission to reduce children’s mental health disparities faced by those races and ethnicities disenfranchised by our current system, seeks to advance racial equity and justice as we declare racism a public health issue.
NJPC recognizes that children and youth involved in the juvenile justice system often struggle with mental health, emotional and behavioral challenges which are often misunderstood and overlooked. When this is paired with racial stereotypes and implicit bias, it harms not only the individual and the family, but the community as well. In NJPC's recent Report — Souls of Young Folk - we discuss the disproportionate prosecution of Black and Brown youth in New Jersey, implicit bias and racial equity. We hope that this report provides insight on our current youth justice issues and that you support us by donating to our Transforming Youth Justice Campaign and declaring racism a public health issue.
Youth with Mental Health Disorders Suffer in Solitary Confinement in New Jersey’s Adult Prison System
According to a new brief by the New Jersey Parents’ Caucus (NJPC), the mental health illnesses of youth held in solitary confinement in New Jersey’s adult prisons become more severe overtime. The brief includes survey data and responses from youth waived to adult court and incarcerated in adult prisons.
The Souls of Young Folk: The Disproportionate Prosecution of Black Youth in New Jersey’s Adult Prison System
Every year, over 75,000 children and youth are tried as adults across the country. Between 32,000 and 60,000 of those youth are held in adult jails. The number of laws providing for the prosecution, incarceration, and sentencing of youth as adults grew substantially in the 1980s and 1990s, including in New Jersey.
The Incarceration of Children and Youth in New Jersey's Adult Prison System
Each year, over 200,000 children and youth are tried as adults across the country. In the state of New Jersey, youth as young as 14 can be tried, sentenced and incarcerated in the adult prisonsystem, and those a ge 16 or older are subject to mandatory (automatic) waivers if they commit certain crimes.
Psychotropic Medication Use Among New Jersey Children and Youth
One of the most controversial areas in children's mental health includes the use of psychotropic medications in children and youth. Currently, more than six percent of American children and youth are estimated to take some kind of psychiatric medication, and the usage rates continue to rise.
“STEP UP, TAKE ACTION” – When Does a Child Need Help?
A proactive guide for bullying prevention, recognizing the warning signs and identifying children who may turn to violence
NJPC Brochures
Youth Justice Initiative Brochure
NJPC's NJ Youth Justice Initiative serves parents and caregivers raising children who are tried, sentenced and/or incarcerated in an adult correctional facility. NJPC is collaborating with organizations throughout the state, to end the practice of trying, sentencing and incarcerating children in the adult criminal justice system.
Families Uplifted Prevention Program Brochure
NJPC's Families Uplifted Prevention Initiative was started in Paterson and funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Through the collaboration of the New Jersey Parents' Caucus and Mr. G's Kids, the Initiative serves families of Paterson as well as Elizabeth, Camden, and Newark, children and youth at risk of becoming involved in the juvenile justice system.