ESSEX COUNTY: THE DANGER ZONE

Essex County Facts:

• 2,200 children are in out of home placement in Essex County, or 24% of all 9,129 foster children in the entire State of New Jersey
• The largest problem of all NJ counties …nearest sized problem counties are Hudson and Camden
• 20 times more foster children than the national average
• Fast approaching 1% of all foster children in the U.S..
• At least 1,000 post TPR cases (children who are waiting for adoptive homes to be identified or for adoption processing to begin) This is 42% of the cases in the entire state. (Source: The Honorable Judge Sallyanne Floria, March 28, 2005)
• 89% of cases from Newark, Irvington, East Orange and Orange, 11% from other Essex County municipalities.
• The number of foster children in Newark, Irvington, East Orange and Orange has increased 59% in the period between 2000-2004 (from 1,970 to 3,137). (Source: ACNJ New Jersey City Kids Count 2004)