A wonderful program has been made available for parents/caregivers that are responsible for family members with mental health issues.  A FREE 12 week parenting course begins at multiple locations throughout the state in March.  Over 300,000 family members have participated in this national program.   Most felt that the course helped with learning positive coping skills, necessary for coping with  severe mental illness.

Get more information about this Free family Education Program in New Jersey by clicking this link.

Please share this information about low cost internet service with clients and friends. Click here for more information on Comcast’s program.

The  Essex Pregnancy and Parenting Connection (EPPC) links expecting families and families with a child up to 3 months with voluntary home visiting. EPPC works with the three home visitation programs in Essex County. Collaborate with community agencies and prenatal care providers to refer families to home visitation services.

Find out more information about The Essex Pregnancy and Parenting Connection by clicking this link.

The ARC of New Jersey has published the August/September issue of Prevention Counts.

In this issue, you will find:

* International FAS Day is September 9 (09/09) for 9 months alcohol free. If you see our ads in your local papers let us know.
* Upcoming Research on FASD
* August is Immunization Awareness Month: Are You Up-to-Date?
* US Department of Agriculture has launched a newly revised campaign for better nutrition.
* Lastly, but really important, you will have an opportunity to update your information in our records.

By all means, pass this newsletter as a resource to your clients, coworkers, family members, and friends.  We want to continue the STRONG statewide effort of prevention in New Jersey and your participation is vital!

Read this exciting Prevention Counts issue NOW.

EFNEP helps limited-resource families and youth improve their eating behaviors and contributes to other personal development skills through behaviorally focused nutrition education. The program is administered by Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) Cooperative Extension, and is supported by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Smith- Lever funds

Located in Essex, County New Jersey, you can get more information by clicking directly on this link.

This is a must have resource for anyone dealing with families with limited resources.

As part of the work of New Jersey’s Learn the Signs. Act Early. team, the Governor’s Council on the Prevention of Developmental Disabilities provided support to have the following CDC Learn the Sign. Act Early. materials translated into Arabic, Korean, and Portuguese:

·        Developmental Screening Fact Sheet (a fact sheet that contains information for parents about developmental screenings)
·        Milestone Informational Card  (this includes some key milestones from 7 months to 4 years of age and questions parents can ask their child’s doctor)
·        Tips for Talking with Parents (a tip sheet to help early educators and childcare providers share concerns about a child with the parent)
These are available for free downloading from the CDC’s Learn the Signs. Act Early. website

New Jersey’s Learn the Signs. Act Early. state team is facilitated by The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities, NJ’s University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.  For more information about this initiative, contact Kathy Roberson at kathy.roberson@umdnj.edu or 732-235-931

Click on this link and get immediate downloads for fact sheets, growth charts plus more that will help you Know the signs of a developmental disability and act early.

Here is a listing and more information  on Addiction Support Groups in New Jersey.Click here for the AddictionGroups

To see other types of support groups statewide (youth, Spanish-speaking, women’s, etc.):

Listings of support group meetings by county