Some parents believe sleeping with their child keeps the child safe and strengthens the parent-child bond.  While acting out of love, these parents are unknowingly placing their child at risk for injury or death.  An adult can easily rollover and unintentionally suffocate the child in the night.

Yesterday’s NJ Advance Media article highlights co-sleeping’s dangers...

The County of Monmouth invites the submission of written proposals to provide Youth Services administered by the Monmouth County Division of Planning and Contracting – Office of Youth Services Planning for the period of January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018 with two (2) one-year renewal options available. Proposals must be delivered to the Monmouth County Division of Purchasing, 300 Halls Mill Road, 2nd Floor, Freehold, New Jersey 07728, by 10:30 a.m., on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 at which time the proposals will be opened and read in public, in the Purchasing Conference Room. Late proposals will not be accepted. Link to RFP #CC-5-2018

Washington -The Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the top Democrat on the panel announced on Tuesday night that they had reached agreement on a plan to prevent the imminent exhaustion of federal funds for the Children's Health Insurance Program.

We, at the SRF Suicide Prevention Research and Training Project in the School of Social Work at Monmouth University, want to take a moment to add our voice to the chorus of individuals raising awareness and working to educate individuals on what they can do to reduce the number of deaths by suicide. 

East Orange, NJ (September 2017) - Sierra House is proud to announce the reopening of the Sierra House Transitional Program on September 1, 2017. Founded in 2002, the Sierra House Transitional Program is an award-winning program for homeless youth and young mothers' ages 18 to 25 years old and their children. The new facility is located at 85-89 North 14th Street in East Orange, the former location of Isaiah House's Teen MAP Program.

Childhood trauma isn’t something you just get over as you grow up. Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris explains that the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues has real, tangible effects on the development of the brain. This unfolds across a lifetime, to the point where those who’ve experienced high levels of trauma are at triple the risk for heart disease and lung cancer. An impassioned plea for pediatric medicine to confront the prevention and treatment of trauma, head-on.

Many thanks to SAMHSA for forwarding this Youtube video. For more information, please use this link

CDC has online resources and tools to help you make sure your kids are up to date on recommended vaccines and protected from serious diseases. Use the childhood vaccine quiz to see what vaccines your child needs, at any age. If you find out your child needs any vaccines to protect them against any of the 16 serious diseases, schedule a visit with your doctor to get caught up.

NDAFW is an annual, week-long series of educational events that brings together teens and scientific experts to SHATTER THE MYTHS® about substance use and addiction. NIDA and NIAAA are both part of the National Institutes of Health.

Develop metrics and key performance indicators to gauge the efficiency and effectiveness of operations to ensure efficiency across the agency. Set guidelines to evaluate how efficient and effective the organization is operating across all departments. Directly responsible for the management and supervision of the Maintenance and Finance Departments. Lead the implementation of the Strategic Plan through managing the work of senior leadership.

Long Branch Concordance Family Success Center has changed to Coastal Communities Family Success Center as of August 1, 2017.  For over 13 years the Family Success Center has been an indispensable part of the community by extending its outreach to families and providers in several counties throughout the New Jersey Coastal region.