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TRENTON – Senator Joseph F. Vitale, D-Middlesex, the Chair of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee and the author of legislation creating the Department of Children and Families from New Jersey’s child safety and family support programs, issued the following statement today regarding the bill’s signing into law by Governor Corzine:

“Today, New Jersey’s child safety net is that much stronger, as the new Department of Children and Families stands at the ready for our most vulnerable kids.

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senator Joseph F. Vitale which would create the Department of Children and Families (DCF) as a standalone department in the executive branch to deal with children’s welfare and family support programs was approved by the Senate today by a vote of 38-1, and received final legislative approval from the Assembly by a vote of 71-7, with one abstention.

“Child welfare and family support need to be a top priority in this and every government,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex, the Chair of the Senate Health panel. “By crafting a standalone, cabinet-level department to consolidate New Jersey’s child safety net and family support programs, we are meeting our obligations to children in need in the Garden State.”

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senator Joseph F. Vitale which would create the Department of Children and Families (DCF) as a standalone department in the executive branch to deal with children’s welfare and family support programs was approved by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee today by a vote of 7-0.

“With the restructuring of our State’s child welfare and family programs into a separate department within the executive branch, we are making child safety a priority,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex, the Chair of the Senate Health panel. “Government has no greater obligation than to protect its most vulnerable, and one of the key missions of the new department will be to oversee the State’s DYFS (Division of Youth and Family Services) system. We’ve made progress with DYFS reform, but a new department, with its own resources and structured goals, will be able to move us light years ahead of where we currently stand.”

TRENTON – Senator Joseph F. Vitale and Assemblyman Joseph Cryan introduced legislation to create a new state Department of Children and Families to coordinate and refocus efforts to reform New Jersey’s child protection services.

The new department would be created by separating out the state’s Office of Children’s Services – which includes the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) -from the Department of Human Services and converting the agency into a stand-alone executive branch department.