Silbermann Foundation Grant to Foundation of UMDNJ Will Aid Children in NJ Foster Care System

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Jan. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Foundation of UMDNJ, an affiliate of New Jersey Health Foundation, has received a $300,000 grant from the Rosanne H. Silbermann Foundation for the Child Health Program (CHP) at the UMDNJ-School of Nursing's Francois Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center.

The grant will be used to develop a child welfare curriculum at the UMDNJ-School of Nursing to meet the health care and mental health needs of children in New Jersey's foster care system.

"We are very excited to branch out into the field of child welfare nursing.  It is our great hope that the curriculum developed at the UMDNJ-School of Nursing will attract qualified nurses to this important subspecialty. It is also our aspiration that this curriculum becomes the national standard in teaching and attracting nurses to this extremely important field," said M. Steven Silbermann, spokesperson for the Rosanne H. Silbermann Foundation, a non-profit charitable family foundation established by the late Rosanne H. Silbermann in 1998 that supports medical, educational and religious organizations.

For children and adolescents entering foster care, separation from home and family often leads to an array of physical, developmental, behavioral and mental health problems that require specialized nursing skills. The Child Health Program, which began in 2000, has managed health services for foster-care children throughout the Garden State since 2007—with exceptional outcomes in the areas of immunization, mental health, dental screening and well-child care.

"To the best of our knowledge, no other nursing school offers a subspecialty in child welfare nursing," says Nina Colabelli, RN, director of the CHP. "Our goal is to establish a program that will become a model for nursing practice in child welfare throughout the nation. We are particularly proud because this will be a program led by nurses."

To develop the curriculum, the CHP will spend the first year gathering information about child welfare nursing. During the two subsequent years, it will enroll and teach students, engage in ongoing program evaluation and host a national symposium.

"Currently, the CHP provides a one-day elective field practicum for students enrolled in our accelerated BSN program," explained Susan Salmond, EdD, RN, dean at UMDNJ-School of Nursing. "This three-year grant allows us to expand the curriculum to four semesters, adding a preceptorship experience and student paper presentations."

About New Jersey Health Foundation

New Jersey Health Foundation (www.njhealthfoundation.org), established in 2002 as a not-for-profit public charity, is the parent company to the Foundation of UMDNJ (www.foundationofumdnj.org), which solicits private sector support for the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and to Foundation Venture Capital Group, LLC,  (www.foundationventure.com) which makes private equity investments in start-up technology companies founded by researchers affiliated with the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey.

About UMDNJ-School of Nursing and the FXB Center

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)-School of Nursing, established in 1992, offers a comprehensive program of education, research, clinical practice and community service focused on diverse, underserved populations. Its major initiatives include the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center, which is committed to improving the health of vulnerable women, children, youth and families and to building capacity in the communities and systems that serve them. The FXB Center provides culturally competent models of clinical care, education and consultation statewide, nationally and globally. UMDNJ is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 6,000 students on five campuses attending its School of Nursing, the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, and New Jersey's only school of public health. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare.

SOURCE Foundation of UMDNJ