FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 18, 2012

Contact: Nancy Parello, (973) 643-3876 , (908) 399-6031 (c), nparello@acnj.org

Jersey Comeback” Should Benefit Kids First
State Budget Must Boost Investments in Early Learning, Child Nutrition

Advocates for Children of New Jersey today called on the Governor and state Legislature to reduce the child care waiting list, expand preschool, feed hungry school children and fund tax credits in the proposed state budget.

“The prolonged economic recession has left many more families struggling to meet their children’s basic needs,” said Cecilia Zalkind, ACNJ’s executive director. “No longer is a full-time job with a steady paycheck, health insurance and retirement benefits the norm. For many families, the struggle back to firm financial ground will likely be long and painful.”
 
“If we are in the middle of a Jersey comeback, then surely children should be the first to benefit,” Zalkind added.

ACNJ today released its annual review of how the state budget treats children and families. Among the findings:

 New Jersey has cut child care $42 million since FY 2010 – or a 21 percent reduction. At the same time, the waiting list for child care has grown 250 percent from about 3,000 to roughly 10,500 children.

 New Jersey has never fully funded the preschool mandate in the 2008 school funding law, which would provide this critical early learning to an additional 35,000 children.

 Since the state cut $3 million in supplemental funding for school breakfast in FY 2010, New Jersey has slipped from 46th to 48th in the nation for participation in this federal child nutrition program.

 While the proposed budget promises the restoration of tax credits for low-income workers, this budget provides no funds to do that.  Workers would not realize any benefit until 2014.

On April 24, ACNJ will release new Kids Count data that show a sharp rise in the number of children growing up in low-income families. This growing poverty -- roughly 1 in three New Jersey now children live in a low-income families -- infects nearly every aspect of child well-being, Zalkind said.

Immediately following the Kids Count release, child advocates from around the state will learn more about the state budget proposal and how they can influence budget negotiations now underway during ACNJ’s State Budget Forum. The back-to-back events will be held at the Marriott Hotel in Trenton.

To help families get back on their feet and ensure children get a quality early start to education, ACNJ urges the Governor and State Legislature to:

 Re-invest nearly $42 million that has been cut since FY 2010 from child care assistance programs that help low-income, working families. About 10,500 New Jersey children are waiting for assistance.

 Build on New Jersey’s successful preschools by beginning to fund the preschool mandate in the 2008 school funding formula. High-quality preschool has been shown to help children succeed in school.

 Restore a $3 million cut to the school breakfast program to provide an incentive for school districts to adopt more effective models of serving breakfast. New Jersey ranks nearly last in the nation for its participation in this federal child nutrition program.

 Accelerate the restoration of the EITC by moving to 22.5 percent of the federal credit for the 2012 tax year. This would give low-income workers the first phase of the credit increase in 2013, instead of 2014.

“As budget deliberations continue through the spring, ACNJ and its network of more than 6,000 supporters will send messages to legislators and the Governor, urging them to support these wise investments in children,” Zalkind said.

Read ACNJ’s policy brief.

Advocates for Children of New Jersey is the state’s leading non-profit, non-partisan child research and action organization.