Somerset Home for Temporarily Displaced Children
Jeffrey Fetzko, ACSW, LSW, CFRE
Vol. 6, No. 13, June 26, 2008
The Executive Director's News is published every two weeks, and is specifically written for the employees, board of trustees and friends of the Somerset Home. This issue and past issues are available on our web site at http://www.somersethome.org/main/pages/employee_newsletter.htm.
Graduation Party and BBQ
Board of Trustees Members Claire Calandra and Tom Divilio joined me in distributing Somerset Home Endowment Fund Scholarship Awards at Tuesday's Graduation Picnic.
Board members, staff and youth gathered on Tuesday to celebrate the graduates and continuing college students from all of our Somerset Home programs. The BBQ grill was working overtime as the Somerset Home community came together to celebrate a significant milestone for our youth who worked so very hard to achieve academically this past year. We congratulate all of our graduates and continuing college students and wish them the very best as they begin a new set of educational challenges as they continue with college or technical school. We were able to grant nearly $8,000 in scholarship awards made possible by interest earned from the Somerset Home for Temporarily Displaced Children's Endowment Fund.
Governor Taps Kimberly Ricketts for Department of Children and Families (DCF) Commissioner
June 13, 2008 - Governor Jon S. Corzine today tapped Kimberly S. Ricketts to lead New Jersey’s child welfare effort as Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families. Ricketts will replace Eileen Crummy, who has been Acting Commissioner since March. “The challenge of protecting our children is one of the most complicated and, without a doubt, most urgent responsibilities of government,” said Governor Corzine. “Kimberly Ricketts is just the person to tackle that challenge and build upon the aggressive reforms implemented by her predecessors, Kevin Ryan and Eileen Crummy. She is an accomplished administrator and I have every confidence that she will be an effective advocate for children and families throughout New Jersey.”
Ricketts currently serves as the Administrator of the Department of Law and Public Safety. She previously held a series of government positions including Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs, Executive Director of the Governor’s Task Force on Mental Health and several senior positions at the Department of Community Affairs. Before joining State government, Ricketts spent 13 years working with children and families in community, behavioral health and social service organizations in North Carolina, Florida and New Jersey. “I am humbled by Governor Corzine's nomination,” Ricketts said. “If confirmed by the Senate, I pledge to dedicate all my efforts, energy and enthusiasm to doing the right thing for the children and families of this state.”
DCF was created in July 2006 by Governor Corzine and the Legislature as New Jersey's first Cabinet agency devoted exclusively to serving and safeguarding the most vulnerable children and families in the state. The action helped to spur the settlement agreement between the Corzine Administration and Children’s Right’s, averting a federal takeover of the State’s child welfare system. In just two year’s, the Department of Children and Families has achieved progress in key priority areas including reducing child welfare caseloads, developing a well-trained workforce, recruiting safer foster and adoptive homes, expanding child abuse prevention and family strengthening services and building capacity in the child behavioral health system. “This continues to be government's most important work,” said former Department of Children and Families Commissioner Kevin Ryan, who is now the chief operating officer to the United Nations Special Envoy for Malaria. “New Jersey's children and families have benefited greatly from Eileen Crummy's remarkable public service career and she will be missed. Kim Ricketts' experience and compassion are most welcome, and make her equal to the tall task at hand - improving the lives of our kids.”
“I wish Kim Ricketts great success as she takes the reins at DCF, confident that under her leadership, New Jersey's child welfare reform will continue on its positive path-keeping kids safe and families strong,” said Acting Commissioner Eileen Crummy.
Ricketts earned her B.A. and M.Ed. from the University of North Carolina. She is a resident of Highland Park.
New Jersey Budget
On Monday, lawmakers approved a $32.9 billion state budget for the coming year, voting on a plan to trim state spending nearly 2 percent in part by reducing funding for colleges, hospitals and municipal aid. The Department of Children and Families (DCF) budget was spared as we enter into the fifth year of child welfare reform in New Jersey. DCF didn't get an increase either, but in these hard fiscal times we are probably lucky we didn't sustain a decrease.
Governor Corzine now has until June 30th to study the budget and "red line" or "line item veto" any expense item which he feels should not be in the budget.
Somerset Home receives more than 60% of its total funding from State of NJ contracts.
As always, thank you all for your continued hard work on behalf of our youth.
