What we want to do in 2026

With your generous support, in 2026 the Children’s Hope Initiative (CHI) will be able to help Somerset County’s abused, neglected and traumatized youth in the following ways:

  • Middle Earth: Lunchtime Mentoring for 30 elementary age children ($10,000), Visions Plus for 6 youth aging out of the child placement system ($9,000), Promises Plus for 10 at-risk high school students ($10,000), fun trips to Dorney Park, Laser Tag, and Schaefer Farm for 75 youth from various Somerset County youth programs ($10,000); and adjunctive therapy (art, horticultural and pet) ($5,000).
  • Visions and Pathways: to serve 25 youth with mentoring, adjunctive therapies and help with their physical needs ($12,500).
  • Jewish Family Services: to help 20 teens in their “Stress Less” program and to expand the Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) program to serve families through Somerset County ($8,500)
  • Family & Community Services: to reduce wait times for children and youth ($4,000)
  • CASA-SHaW Tutoring for 10 youth ($10,000 will again apply to Munich RE America for funding)
  • ShopRite Emergency Gift Cards to meet the emergency needs of families caring for abused and neglected children ($6,000).
  • Expand our efforts to develop parental mentoring and support ($10,000)

Details on all of these programs can be found at http://childrenshopeinitiative.org/our-programs

  • Services for children who have suffered abuse/neglect
  • Studies on Child Abuse and Neglect
  • Child Abuse Statistics

Services for children who have suffered abuse/neglect

Studies on Child Abuse and Neglect

Child Abuse Statistics

Children who experience abuse and neglect are 11 times more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 2.7 times more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 3.1 times more likely to commit a violent crime. (1)

About 30% of abused and neglected children will later abuse their own children, continuing the horrible cycle of abuse. (1)

Five children die every day as a result of child abuse in America. (2)

A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds. (3)

4,154 New Jersey children were in out-of-home placements and not in their own homes in October 2020 (4)

NOTES:

(1) https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/statistics/can/can-stats/

(2) http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11599.pdf (at page 1)

(3) http://www.childhelp.org

(4) https://www.nj.gov/dcf/childdata/continuous/Commissioners.Monthly.Report_10.20.pdf

US Government Statistics on Child Abuse & Neglect
Using information collected through various monitoring and reporting systems, the Children’s Bureau analyzes and reports data on a variety of topics, including adoption, foster care, child abuse, and neglect.
https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/statistics/

New Jersey Child Abuse & Neglect Statistics
Here you will find helpful information about the types of children involved with the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, DCP&P (formerly the Division of Youth and Family Services), including kids who are served in the homes of their birth parents and those who had to be removed into an out-of-home placement. You will also find up-to-date information about efforts to recruit new foster and adoptive families.
http://www.state.nj.us/dcf/ (look at “Data” tab)