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Healthy Futures.

Bright Beginnings.

Healthy Futures.

Bright Beginnings.

On Thursday, January 23rd, Maternal Health Awareness Day, First Lady Tammy Murphy and NJ Department of Human Services Commissioner Carole Johnson announced the Murphy Administration will reduce co-payments for parents who receive state assistance paying for child care by 50 percent, saving New Jersey families $23 million per year.

How to Evaluate a Family Childcare Center

When seeking a child care placement, many parents choose family child care providers. Based in a private home, a family child care program can offer more flexible hours and a warm, personal setting that a center might lack. However, it’s important to make certain that any location where your child spends her day meets crucial health and safety standards. Here are some things for parents to ask and look for when selecting a family child care provider.

Development

Learn how infants’ bodies and brains develop and the milestones reached as they grow.

READ ARTICLES

Early Learning

How parents and educators can foster baby's early learning

Social and emotional wellness
in babies and toddlers

Early Language
and literacy Skills

Helping Young Children
LEarn to share

READ ARTICLES

Parenting

Discover useful strategies to encourage positive behavior and overall wellness.

Accidents are the leading cause of injury for children under 4 years old. Taking an ounce of prevention can help prevent accidents from occurring.

How To Keep
Your Toddler Safe

Because our personalities are primarily genetic and therefore mostly determined at birth, we can look for signs of a baby’s temperament from even the earliest moments.

How Do I Recognize My
Baby's Temperament

Infants & toddlers often have a hard time learning to sleep alone. Experts recommend that babies sleep in the same room as you until they are at least six months old.

Getting Your Child To
Sleep Independently

The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued updated guidelines on sleep environments for babies to reduce cases of SIDS and promote safety and well-being.

New Guidelines for
Safe Infant Sleep

VIEW ARTICLES

Find out how you can join statewide efforts to bring attention to what infants and toddlers need to thrive:
strong families, healthy starts & early learning environments.

Get Involved

LEARN MORE

Share Your Opinion!

Which Adverse Childhood Experiences do you believe are the most difficult to heal from?

Development

Learn how infants’ bodies and brains develop and the milestones reached as they grow.

How parents and educators can foster baby's early learning.

Discover useful strategies to encourage positive behavior and overall wellness.

Learn about efforts to bring attention to what infants and toddlers need to thrive.

Dr. Lamont Repollet, Commissioner New Jersey Department of Education, discusses the state's approach to helping children from birth to three to help them achieve success in school in pre-k and kindergarten.

Support for Right From the Start NJ

View More Testimonials

Beverly Lynn CEO, Programs for Parents

"The significance of the Right From the Start NJ campaign is that we are getting the message out to parents and to childcare professionals, the community at large, grandparents and citizens about the importance of early childhood development, especially during the period of prenatal care up to age three. The greatest impact it can have is that we have a more informed public. I'm hoping that as a result of the campaign people will be enthusiastic and charged to say, "What can I do to support young children here in the state of NJ?"
Jennifer Santana President, Coalition of Infant/Toddler Educators & Early Head Start Manager, Center for Family Resources

"I think the Right From the Start NJ campaign is really important because it brings to light the importance of babies and toddlers in the public eye. It's about how important those years are and how we need to do a better job at providing good quality childcare for that age. Parents need to know that education starts at this young age and it has a lifelong impact. We're raising the future of children and we have to do a better job so that kids are prepared for school and life.
Kaitlin Mulcahy, Associate Director, Center for Autism & Early Childhood Mental Health, Montclair State University

"The significance of the Right From the Start NJ campaign is to help all of us - parents, community providers and policy makers - learn about the importance of early childhood from pregnancy through age 6. I believe the impact of Right From the Start NJ is to raise awareness, to increase the discussion, to make sure the dialogue is occurring and to bring people together who work in early childhood so that childcare providers, mental health providers, educators and policy makers are all at the same table talking about how important it is to work together for our infants."
Keri Logosso-Misurell, Esq. Director, Greater Newark Healthcare Coalition

"The Right From the Start NJ initiative is critically important. It brings together experts from multi-sectors and educates the public on brain development of early years and why it's everybody's responsibility to unlock the potential of our children and families. The impact of the Right From the Start NJ campaign is limitless, it holds great promise to reduce and eliminate health disparities and other forms of inequity in our society ranging from birth throughout the lifespan."
Bonnie Eggenburg Vice President, Gateway Early Head Start & Head Start Program

"This Right From the Start NJ initiative is putting the focus on this important time of development. Families with infants and toddlers in the birth to three range in South Jersey, but also throughout the state, do not have access to enough quality child care. It just doesn't exist. And those that do exist have a great disparity of quality. We need to be focusing on our most vulnerable population so we can make a difference long term, not just those early years, but long term in terms of how our children develop and succeed."
Joseph Della Fave Executive Director, Ironbound Community Corporation

"People need to understand how important quality care and education is for children's healthy growth and development, especially from birth to three, and how this leads to healthier, successful, solid citizens. These types of discussions with Right From the Start NJ need to become part of the public discourse in order to affect public policy and drive support for the investment in real government dollars, as well as private industry support for early childhood education. This is an extremely important matter and I think it can have a huge of impact on society."