FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2006

Nonprofit Celebrates Five Years of Improving
Maternal and Early Childhood Health and Development

Children's Futures Receives $14.5 Million Grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

TRENTON, NJ-- Children's Futures, a nonprofit agency that supports an array of research-based interventions aimed at improving maternal and child health and development outcomes in the City of Trenton, celebrated its fifth birthday on Tuesday at the Trenton Marriott with the announcement of a new $14.5 million, five-year grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

"Over the next five years, we will use this new RWJF grant to solidify our operations, strengthen community partnerships, introduce new evidence-based programs, and enhance our core strategies," Children's Futures president Floyd K. Morris Jr. said. "We fully expect that Children's Futures will be a permanent and sustainable champion for Trenton's children and families long after this grant ends."

Following receipt of its first grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 2001, Children's Futures has worked with hospitals and clinics to improve early access to prenatal care and birth outcomes; created four neighborhood parent/child centers; instituted a comprehensive home visiting program; developed new treatment services for maternal depression; supported a center to engage fathers in early childhood; emphasized improved quality in child care settings; convened community stakeholders around issues of child abuse and neglect; raised awareness about the impact of domestic violence on children and families; partnered with 11 area physician practices to improve immunization and lead screening rates; instituted literacy programs and distributed thousands of free books to children; improved access to substance abuse treatment; and, provided training and technical assistance programs to Trenton nonprofit organizations to help them better serve Trenton's children and families.

Children's Futures' board chair Beverly Richardson, Ph.D., who is vice president for college advancement of Mercer County Community College and provost of its James Kerney Campus said, "We are thrilled by the confidence that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has placed in us for another five years. This extraordinary example of philanthropy will enable Children's Futures to continue pioneering work to transform systems and improve outcomes for children and their parents."

During Tuesday's five year birthday celebration and grant announcement, elected officials including Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman, Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes and Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer praised the accomplishments of the initiative. The celebration included a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday!" performed by children from the MillHill Child and Family Development Center preschool and the serving of birthday cake to the nearly 200 people in attendance.

Mayor Palmer put the special day -- and the accomplishments of Children's Futures -- into perspective. "For the past five years, and now for many more years to come, the children of Trenton have brighter futures ahead of them as a result of the work of Children's Futures and the visionary guidance and support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation," said Mayor Palmer. "The children of this city and so many other cities across America still face enormous challenges on their paths to adulthood -- the scourge of drugs, poverty and crime are all too commonplace in their young lives - but today is a day to celebrate an agency and a foundation that understand that giving kids a good head start can make a world of difference in their lives."

The Children's Futures prevention initiative (www.childrensfutures.org) works to improve children's health and development with a particular focus on strengthening new families. Children's Futures assists families with children ages zero to three to ensure that every child in Trenton enters pre-school healthy and ready to learn. Major funding for Children's Futures comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Additional funding comes from federal and state sources.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (www.rwjf.org) focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 30 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves.