April 2021

Denim Day, established in 1999, is a campaign on a Wednesday in April in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The campaign began after a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court where a rape conviction was overturned because the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans she must have helped the person who raped her remove her jeans, thereby implying consent. The following day, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim. This...

Adela Ames-Lopez, a former director at the state Department of Children and Families, was confirmed Tuesday night as health director in a sweeping 7-0 vote. She had been serving in an interim capacity since being appointed in January to replace Shakira Abdul-Ali, who left for another job. “You’re gonna learn about me,” Amez-Lopez told legislators. “I’m the voice.” Amez-Lopez faced no opposition but a flurry of questions from West Ward councilwoman Robin Vaughn. Vaughn wanted to ensure that...

JOHN MOONEY, EDUCATION WRITER | APRIL 27, 2021 | EDUCATION This time NJ’s Supreme Court considers if Newark’s seven charter schools should have expanded. A Newark-based advocacy group, challenging the recent expansion in charter school enrollments in Newark, argues the state failed to consider the effect of the expansion on the district’s finances and the potential worsening of school segregation by race, disability and other needs. The state Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case on...

This year's conference is at no cost, but we are encouraging all to make a donation to the Todd Ouida Children's Foundation at: http://www.mybuddytodd.org/donation.htm Click HERE to register SEE AGENDA AND EVENT FLYER ATTCHED.

The Newark Trust for Education is proud to present the third annual Safe and Supportive Learning Environments (SSLE) Summit: Covid-19 & Beyond! This year’s summit will focus on working together with students and families to create safe and supportive learning environments post pandemic. Over the course of four days (May 10th – 13th) participants will hear keynote remarks delivered by experts including Karen L. Mapp, Ed.D. , Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education;...

Join the Campaign Join this nationwide grassroots campaign to engage congressional offices and other federal leaders in supporting policies, programs, legislation, and appropriations that prevent and respond to childhood trauma and build resilience. Join here

Federal environmental officials reached a $21 million settlement late Monday with Ford Motor Co. and Ringwood on a controversial cleanup of the borough's sprawling Superfund site that will leave tons of polluted soil in place under a barrier. The agreement filed in U.S. District Court is another step toward affirming a plan that would keep 166,000 tons of contaminated soil at the O'Connor Disposal Area despite the objections of residents who live nearby, including many members of the...

BY ELIZABETH AMON | The Imprint Shortly before Christmas of 2019, Cheryl Beaver loaded her 6-year-old grandson Keyon onto the school bus, as she did each weekday morning. Beaver, who had cared for the first-grader since he was a baby, was leaving Seattle to attend a niece’s graduation. In her place, she had arranged for her adult son to pick Keyon up from his after-school program. But when the boy’s uncle arrived later that day, Keyon was gone. In a panic, Beaver and his mom, Salina Simpson,...

NEW JERSEY – Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal issued a statewide directive to law enforcement Monday, instructing prosecutors to waive mandatory parole disqualifiers—commonly known as mandatory minimum prison terms—for non-violent drug offenses. "We cannot stand by and ignore the unjust and racially disparate impact of these mandatory minimum terms on non-violent drug offenders—primarily young persons of color," Governor Phil Murphy said. "It's been well over a year since the Criminal...

Passaic County Prosecutor, Camelia Valdes is hosting a Community Forum. This event will take place on Tuesday, May 4, 2021 and will be held via Zoom. Topics will include Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and helpful resource information. Register HERE

April is also Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). Currently, the Division on Women (DOW) supports statewide community-level primary prevention efforts to prevent sexual violence. To advance these efforts, we work with non-traditional partners and consider them as experts in their own lives and community pillars for change . We believe that impactful primary prevention efforts begin with community engagement and providing tools to communities so they can empower themselves. As such, our...

Black children have long suffered from racial disparities in the U.S. foster care system Cheri Williams looks back with regret at the start of her career as a child welfare caseworker in 1998. Systemic racism is a major reason why. “I removed probably about 100 kids from their homes in the 15 months I was an investigator … a lot of them were children of color,” said Williams, who's now a vice president of one of the largest adoption and foster care agencies in the United States. “Decades...