FY2026 Annual Report

Children’s Practice Group and School Based Services Subcommittee Annual Report FY2026 19 T he Children’s Practice Group includes representatives from PerformCare and the Youth Justice Commission, who provide updates at meetings, and frequently hosts guests from the state government and the behavioral healthcare field. In FY2026, the group hosted Department of Children and Families (DCF) Commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer in July, November and February. Discussions with the Commissioner focused early in the fiscal year on the FY2026 actual budget, and later in the fiscal year on the anticipated FY2027 budget. Other key topics included group home staffing, DCF staff retention efforts and the work of DCF’s Building Community Solutions Workgroup. There was a presentation on the Building Community Solutions Workgroup by Karen Hadad Durbin, PhD, LPC, ACS, Chief Executive Officer, Camden County Partnership for Children, at the September meeting, along with a presentation by Leslie Radichel, LCSW, Vice President of Children’s Community Services, and Elisa Read, MSW, LSW, Division Director of Community Services, Community Treatment Solutions/Legacy Treatment Services, on the Assertive Community Treatment Program for children and youth, a pilot program in Cape May and Atlantic Counties. In March, Nuha Hamoudeh, Community Health Outreach Specialist at Bergen’s Promise, presented on wraparound services. A major focus at the March and May 2026 meetings was on the Governor’s proposed FY2027 budget and NJAMHAA’s advocacy campaign, which includes several budget requests for children’s services. Among the budget priorities are requests for increases to Care Management Organization and children’s partial hospital rates and School Based Youth Services Program (SBYSP) funding. Full restoration of New Jersey Statewide Student Support Services (NJ4S) funding, which the Governor planned to zero out in the FY2027 budget, was also a priority, one that NJAMHAA has addressed with an all-out coordinated and collaborative effort, including with grassroots support, op-eds, email blasts to legislators and direct talks with legislators, the Governor’s office and the Department of Education. These efforts were also a significant focus of the Children’s Practice Group’s School Based Services Subcommittee, which represents both SBYSPs and NJ4S programs. “ The value of NJAMHAA is the continued advocacy and ongoing education at all the meetings. They bring in providers to share best practices and highlight programs, and bring in stakeholders from the state. We’re all so busy with the work we do day-to-day, and meetings give us great perspective on all the work the NJAMHAA staff and other agencies do to advocate for mental health. ” Tina Miles, LCSW, FHELA Executive Director, Behavioral Health Services, Psychiatry Administration St. Joseph’s Healthcare System CO-CHAIRS: Alan DeStefano, MSW NJAMHAA Board Treasurer Executive Director Cape Atlantic Integrated Network for Kids Shavonda E. Sumter, MBA NJAMHAA Board Member President and CEO Children’s Aid and Family Services VICE-CHAIR: Michelle Carlamere, LCSW Vice President Oaks Integrated Care