History

The Department of Children and Families (DCF) was created in July 2006 by Governor Corzine and the State Legislature as New Jersey's first Cabinet agency devoted exclusively to serving and safeguarding the most vulnerable children and families in the state. The Division of Prevention and Community Partnership (DPCP) is DCF’s grant-making and best practices team committed to strengthening New Jersey’s families. Governor Corzine’s vision to expand prevention initiatives led to the development of the Family Success Center concept and the funding of the majority of the Family Success Centers (FSC’s) in New Jersey. At the same time the Nicholson Foundation independently funded a number of FSC’s in Essex and Union Counties, increasing the Family Success Center presence in communities.

In order to support the newly funded network of 37 Family Success Centers, DPCP sent out an RFP to establish a Training and Technical Assistance Center. The Alliance for Family Support Organizations of New Jersey, Parents Anonymous of New Jersey, the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network, and Family Intervention Services jointed together to respond to the Training and Technical Assistance RFP. The Partnership was awarded the contract in late 2007 and has been providing support to the network for FSC’s since 2008. The network of Family Success Centers continues to grow - at the beginning of July 2009 there were more than 40 centers across the state!