Classroom Prize: $100 Gift Card for the classroom with the most eligible submissions in each category.

The 4th annual Protect Me With 3+ poster and video contest challenges New Jersey youth in middle and high school to raise awareness about the importance of adolescent immunizations.

Protect Me With 3+ is a collaboration between The Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey and the New Jersey Department of Health. We think your health is worth a shot!

Pertussis (Tdap) • Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Meningococcal Conjugate • Flu

Do you like making videos and posters?This contest is for you!

Attention Middle & High School Students

Poster Contest : Video Contest :

Who: Grades 5-8 Grades 9-12

What: Create one 8.5x11 poster using facts about one vaccine.

Where: www.protectmewith3.com

When: Early Bird - Submit on or before January 4, 2016 Open Registration - Submit from January 5 − February 4, 2016

Who: Grades 9-12

What: Create a 30-second video about why vaccinations are important to you.

Where: www.protectmewith3.com

When: Early Bird - Submit on or before January 4, 2016 Open Registration - Submit from January 5 − February 4, 2016

1st Place: $100 Gift Card2nd Place: $75 Gift Card3rd Place: $50 Gift Card

1st Place: $350 Gift Card2nd Place: $200 Gift Card3rd Place: $100 Gift Card

Prizes: Prizes:

protectmewith3.comAward Ceremony March 2016

Essex Project LAUNCH / EPPC – Updates (December 2015)

The purpose of Essex Project LAUNCH is to improve wellness of children 0-8 and their families in East

Orange, Irvington, Newark, and Orange with an emphasis on social-emotional health. Project LAUNCH

encourages strategies to address the disparities in access, service use, and outcomes among

underserved minority populations.

Goal: Screening and assessment in a range of settings

• Sent additional EPPC staff member to be trained in ASQ/ASQ:SE.

• Provided training on ASQ /ASQ:SE to PMCHNNJ Healthy Start staff on 6/30/15 and to pediatric

residents at University Hospital on 10/22/15 and 11/5/15.

• Identified and met with 6th pediatric practice participating in EPIC with NJ AAP to present on

community referrals.

• Received 909 referrals for community services, including 355 completed Perinatal Risk Assessment

(PRA) forms from local birthing hospitals between Sept – Nov 2015.

• Received March of Dimes Chapter Award to fund additional EPPC staff member (Central Intake

Liaison, effective 11/2/15) primarily located at University Hospital’s prenatal clinic.

Goal: Enhanced home visiting through increased focus on social and emotional well-being

• Coordinated meeting of HV supervisors to discuss issues of shared concern.

• Promoted Keeping Babies and Children in Mind training to local partners, including HVs.

• Working closely with DCF Early Childhood Liaison to better link DCPP-referred families to services;

Liaison has worked directly with HV programs to offer additional support/follow up and facilitate a

“warm hand-off” from DCPP worker to HVs.

Goal: Mental health consultation in early care and education

• Continue to contract with Youth Consultation Services (YCS) to provide a mental health clinician to

the Urban League Child Development Center (4 classrooms); clinician works with staff to provide

education, training, and materials, discuss direct strategies teachers can use to support social-

emotional development in the classroom, and complete referrals as needed.

Goal: Family strengthening and parent skills training

• Coordinated 2 Music Together® series (1 in Newark, 1 in East Orange) in collaboration with the Essex

County Council for Young Children (ECCYC) and continued participating in ECCYC meetings.

• Provided childbirth education workshops to local families.

• Continued to engage parents and consumers in local advisory meetings and via social media and

texting service.

Save the Date…

Parents Anonymous® of New Jersey, Inc. along

with our Community Partners

Celebrating Parent Leadership

“Call for Help”

Annual Recognition Breakfast

Saturday, February 6, 2016 {Southern Region} or

Friday, February 26, 2016 {Northern Region}

Join our family of Co-Sponsors

RSVP by Tuesday, January 17, 2016

Contact: Doreen Finley (609) 585-7666 or Karen Scott (856) 663-3998

SPAN Update for Infant Child-Health Committee December 2015

American Academy of Pediatrics Bright Futures - Preventive Services Improvement State Spread Project (PreSIPS2) Learning Collaborative: In collaboration with AAP-NJ, SPAN is participating in a “Bright Futures” quality improvement initiative. The overarching goal is to enhance state partnerships, promote children's preventative health care quality, provide Early and Periodic Screening, address health disparities, enhance family engagement, and strengthen families. The project is working with 10 medical practices to promote use of Bright Futures recommendations. Quick Peek Screenings: This ongoing initiative of the Children’s Specialized Hospital provides developmental screenings to underserved and diverse families at community locations throughout the state, including on-site SPAN parent-to-parent support and advocacy. About 30 screenings have been completed since January 2015. Statewide “Next Steps” Flowchart: The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities and SPAN have developed a statewide flowchart – widely disseminated in paper and magnet form, in English and Spanish - of steps to follow when developmental concerns are identified in young children: http://rwjms.rutgers.edu/departments_institutes/boggscenter/projects/documents/ActEarly-Magnet-8x8FINAL.pdf http://rwjms.rutgers.edu/departments_institutes/boggscenter/projects/documents/ActEarly-Magnet-8x8-SPA-FINAL.pdf This collaboration between SPAN and the Boggs Center has been identified as a “promising practice” by the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (see http://blogs.cdc.gov/actearlypromisingpractices/2015/05/15/parent-educators-provide-materials-to-pediatric-primary-care-practices), and SPAN will be presenting on this practice at the upcoming Act Early Network AUCD/Centers for Disease Control webinar on Monday, December 14th, at 2 pm. Milestone Moments Booklet & Milestones Checklists: The CDC Learn the Signs Act Early program has announced the completion of both the Milestone Moments booklet and the Milestone checklists, with tips on how to help babies learn and grow on the back, in simplified Chinese. The materials were professionally translated and adapted in consultation with a small group of Chinese parents of young children and a physician with a background in child development. Korean language materials are “coming soon!” NCBDD Champions: Jeannette Mejias, Bilingual Coordinator on SPAN’s Family to Family Health Information Center; Family Resource Specialist at Children’s Specialized Hospital and Middlesex SCHS Case Management Unit; and ACA Outreach & Education Bilingual Coordinator, has been selected as an NCBDD Friends As Champions. Read more at http://friendsofncbddd.org/champions/

Autism Medical Home Pilots: SPAN is partnering with Children’s Specialized Hospital and Hackensack University Medical Center on two Autism Medical Home Pilots funded by the NJ Governor’s Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism. A Family Resource Specialist (a trained parent of a child with ASD), is housed part-time at each site to provide information, training, support, and advocacy assistance for diverse families whose children are identified with ASD. The two pilots will be using the nationally validated Family Voices’ Family-Centered Care Assessment to measure family perspectives on family-centered care and improvements over time. You can access the tools (English and Spanish) at http://www.fv-ncfpp.org/activities/fcca/. Partners for Prevention of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities: The next meeting of the Partners for Prevention of BD & DD had been scheduled for December 15. Due to schedule conflicts, this meeting is being rescheduled to the end of January. All are welcome to attend and bring information and resources to share with other stakeholders. Display tables are available. Agenda items include project updates from SPAN’s FASD project; the NJSNCC Cultural Competence Conference; the Governor’s Improving Birth Outcomes Initiative; the NICHQ Learning Collaboratives on Post-Partum Visits and on Smoking Cessation; and the Improving Pregnancy Outcomes Program. There will also be time for the three workgroups to meet: Women of Child-Bearing Age; Providers; and Public Awareness. Lunch will be served. Please let abajomo@spannj.org know if you are interested in receiving information about the rescheduled date. Office for Prevention of Developmental Disabilities FASD Prevention Project: 22 diverse women of child-bearing age participated in the peer mentor training on December 5. The women will be matched with 125 women at risk of alcohol use/ abuse and/or having a child with FASD around the dangers of alcohol abuse and alcohol use during pregnancy, the negative implications of FASD, and community resources and supports. The peer mentors will also collaborate with community partners to set up and facilitate support groups in various communities throughout the state to provide additional supports. The peer mentors will be supported by SPAN’s Family Resource Specialists and provided with ongoing training and support throughout the project.

Breastfeeding Coalition: Starting in January 2016, we will begin working on rebuilding the Essex County Breastfeeding Coalition. Plans are to begin reaching out to stakeholders, local WIC offices, home visiting programs and Head Start programs in an effort to get more parents and professionals involved in, and know about, services, programs, and events that surround breastfeeding in our county and state. The next State Breastfeeding cotillion meeting will be held on Thursday, February 11, 2016, at 10 am at the Central Jersey Family Health Consortium in North Brunswick. The SPAN/IPO Project (Breast Feeding Support will be listed on Zip milk.org as a breastfeeding resource in NJ. Zip Milk is a site that provides listings for breastfeeding resources sorted by ZIP Code. It is designed for use by consumers interesting in help or support for breast-feeding, as well as by providers who want to share access to such resources. Our submission is currently in pending status. Leadership Development for County Councils on Young Children: SPAN has been awarded a grant from the Department of Children and Families for the Parent Leadership Development Training Initiative which will provide direct technical assistance and leadership development expertise for parents, parent leaders, the County Councils on Young Children, providers, community partners and other stakeholders to increase the capacity and sustainability of the statewide network of CCYCs, and will activate parents to embrace the role of Parent Partner (family, program, community, state) and actively participate in shared leadership to support early childhood efforts at local and state levels.