Bill Would Set Aside $10M for Child Abuse Prevention Services

Dr. Nydia Monagas, Clinical Specialist with the McCormick Center for Child Advocacy and Policy, participated in a press conference held by Senate President Steve Sweeney, Senator Kevin O’Toole, Senator M. Teresa Ruiz and Senator Joe Vitale on Monday, May 2^nd, 2016. The press conference was in support of a bill for improved services for child abuse victims through the creation of a statewide network of Child Advocacy Centers.

The child abuse prevention services would be modeled after Wynona’s House Child Advocacy Center, a nationally recognized facility in Newark that pioneered the holistic approach to the treatment of child victims. Founded 15 years ago, Wynona’s House is the designated Child Advocacy Center of Essex County. It is named after the late Senator Wynona Lipman, who was an early leader in fighting for the rights of children and women.

“Advocacy Centers have been shown to promote hope, healing, and justice for child abuse survivors by utilizing a coordinated and comprehensive multidisciplinary response,” said Nydia Y. Monagas, PsyD, New Jersey Children’s Alliance Chapter Coordinator.  “From a social responsibility standpoint, if we have failed collectively to protect these children from harm, the least we can do is to help restore them to wholeness. At a time when financial resources are limited at every level of government, these centers have been shown to save on average over $1,000 per child abuse case – which totals over $2.5 million in savings for New Jersey in 2015.”

http://www.njtvonline.org/news/video/bill-would-set-aside-10m-for-child-abuse-prevention-services/