News And Events

In February, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that a positive drug test alone, with no other evidence of harm to a child, is not enough toprove that a child was abused or neglected. The court said that, before a mother can be charged with abuse or neglect in the state of New Jersey, the state has to show in some concrete way that the baby was harmed by the mother’s drug use … Read More

It was July 1997, on a hot, humid day. All the neighborhood children were outside. Teenagers were playing in the fire hydrant spray to cool off. Younger girls were jumping rope and boys were playing handball. A few young men were playing stickball in the street.

My birthday was approaching and I had gone out the day before and bought bikes for my two children, Raven and Shai. I always liked … Read More

When my girlfriend told me that she was pregnant, I believed that the baby she was carrying wasn’t mine. I didn’t have confidence in ourrelationship. Sometimes she didn’t pay attention to me. I would say to her, “Come at 6 pm,” and she would come if she felt like it, but if not, she wouldn’t show. She almost never called me. It was me who called her all the time.

But when I went … Read More

In my five years of dealing with my daughter’s father, he only put his hands on me once. For three months he had been out of work. I noticed him becoming more snappy and less excited about going out to eat,which we did every weekend night. That didn’t stop me from putting the pressure on him. One night he exploded and even started choking me. I stabbed him with a pen. He called … Read More

I grew up experiencing many different kinds of abuse. When I was 12 I started taking medication to stabilize my emotions, but when I was 21and married with three children, I tried to stop taking them. Then I felt distant, like I was in my own world, what I call Erica’s world, where it’s all about me and no one has feelings but me.

A part of me wanted to go back … Read More