Cecilia Zalkind: Children and Poverty

Cecilia Zalkind, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New Jersey, will be talking about child poverty in New Jersey. National surveys usually rank New Jersey among the top states in the country for child well-being, particularly for its education and health care systems. But growing child poverty in the state threatens those positive outcomes. New Jersey’s statewide child poverty rate has grown to 17 percent — more than 333,000 children statewide — and pockets of poverty are much deeper in our urban centers and rural communities. Black and Hispanic children are over-represented in these numbers. Recently the NJ Assembly decided to confront this issue and held hearings on overall poverty in the state, providing an opportunity for action. She will discuss the impact of poverty on children and potential short and long-term solutions.
Zalkind has an extensive background in public policy advocacy for children. Her 25 years in leadership roles at ACNJ have helped produce key policy advances in child welfare, early care and education and health care in New Jersey. She has led important coalitions such as the Early Care and Education Coalition and the New Jersey Build initiative that have advanced high-quality early care and education in the state. Zalkind has argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court on preschool standards in Abbott v. Burke, the landmark educational equity case, and on the issue of permanency for foster children in several child welfare cases. She serves on various national leadership committees including the national Children’s Leadership Council. Zalkind joined ACNJ in 1984 as public policy director and became executive director in 2001. While at ACNJ, she served as an adjunct professor of family and adoption law at Seton Hall Law School. She holds a B.A. and M.A. from New York University and a J.D. from Rutgers Law School.