This Bergen County office received so many incorrect calls, they changed their name
HACKENSACK — Bergen County's Department of Human Services will rename two offices to help residents better connect with child care, early intervention and child development services.
The county’s Office for Children will become the Division of Childcare Resources, and the Office of Special Child Health Services will become the Office of Child Development.
“The name changes have been floating around for a while because they don’t encapsulate what the division does,” said Jared Lautz, deputy chief of staff for the Bergen County executive. “We want to make it more clear on what these departments do. They provide critical services to children, and if you don’t know the name and what they do, it’s hard to find.”
The former names felt like the services were being kept a secret, Lautz said, and the hope is that the name changes will help parents who are looking for these services. The names that offer a better description of the services will also make it easier when applying for grants to help fund future programs and additional services, Lautz said.
The name changes will be slowly rolled out over the next couple of months and have already changed in the county directory. Both the old and new names will also be used during the transition.
What services do they provide?
The Division of Childcare Resources, formerly known as the Office for Children, helps connect families with quality, inclusive child care and provides support for the child care community with education and training.
The division was created in 1980 by the Bergen County Board of County Commissioners, known as freeholders at the time. The child care office has three primary functions, which include providing referrals to parents seeking child care, connecting low- and moderate-income families to child care subsidies, including the Child Care Assistance Program, and providing regulatory support for family child care providers.
The Division of Childcare Resources can be reached at 201-336-7150. Julie O’Brien is its director.
“The one thing we found is people calling thought it was a catch-all for child services, so we had to divert them,” said Melissa DeBartolo, director of human services. “We’re hoping the name change clarifies the child care resources and the special education ones. Hopefully, now, with the name changes, people will know exactly what these groups are doing.”
The Office of Child Development, formerly the Office of Special Child Health Services, helps families meet the developmental and health-related needs of children from birth to 21 years who have delays or disabilities by providing education and support services. The program coordinator for the Office of Child Development is Erin Beischer, who can be reached at 201-634-2621.
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The office houses the Early Intervention Service Coordinator Unit and the Special Child Health Services Case Management Unit. The early intervention unit provides referral services to those with infants and toddlers (up to the age of 3) who are experiencing problems or delays with development.
Those who believe their child is not meeting developmental milestones can call for an early intervention evaluation at 888-653-4463.
The special child health services unit in the Office of Child Development serves as the Bergen County “branch” of the state Health Department, which operates in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties.
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The state-funded program promotes access to preventive and primary care for children with special health care needs from birth until their 22nd birthday.
Bergen County has two permanent case managers who have worked with more than 7,688 children and their families to provide information and referrals based on the results of a needs assessment. The unit can be reached at 201-634-2621.
“These two measures provide clarification and will further help residents connect with child-specific resources they need by creating greater transparency and ease of access,” Bergen County Executive James Tedesco said.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen County Department of Human Services renames 2 child resources
