Corporate and Community Grants Support PEI Kids’ Juvenile Intervention Services

March 30, 2012 - PRLog -- Four grants received in the past three months totaling $42,500 will help support PEI Kids, a Mercer County nonprofit dedicated to keeping children safe, and the hundreds of teenage clients it serves via its highly regarded juvenile intervention programs.

The Princeton Area Community Foundation, together with the Piper Sutton Foundation, awarded PEI Kids $20,000 in support of its Comprehensive Juvenile Offenders Outreach Services (CJOOS), a court-mandated program aimed at first or second time juvenile offenders on probation. CJOOS has a strong and well-established track record of helping participants to experience reduced recidivism (re-arrest); develop individualized plans to improve educational/job outcomes; increase understanding of positive ways to manage emotions, and gain knowledge of positive alternatives to gang culture.

A $15,000 grant from Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will also support the CJOOS program. With offices in Titusville and Raritan, NJ, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is highly committed to the well being of its communities and is a frequent supporter of intervention programs for youth at risk.

Based in Lawrenceville, PEI Kids also welcomed a grant of $5,000 from The Lawrenceville School Community Outreach and $2,500 from the Lawrence Township Community Foundation (LTCF). LTCF has been an ongoing supporter of the organization and its Lawrence Township Stationhouse Adjustment Program (LTSHAP). LTSHAP is a six-week program that diverts first-time juvenile offenders who have been arrested for minor crimes committed in Lawrence Township away from the judicial process and helps them to re-focus attitudes, refine decision making and interpersonal skills, better understand laws and authority, and give back to the community via community service activities.

PEI Kids Executive Director Penny Ettinger states, “We are very thankful for the ongoing community and corporate support we receive for our juvenile intervention services. There is a growing awareness that young community members can -- and will -- turn their lives around if they receive positive encouragement and redirection. The youth, their families and our communities benefit.”

About PEI Kids
PEI Kids’ aspiration for the children of Mercer County, NJ, is “Safe Kids, Sound Futures.” Currently serving approximately 16,000 children and their families each year, the nonprofit organization began in 1985 when, while working at a rape crisis center, its founders discovered there were no local services tailored for children who had been sexually abused. For the past 27 years, its mission has been dedicated to promoting and maintaining a safe environment for all children. Its services have expanded to include engaging, developmentally appropriate and culturally diverse Prevention/Education and Intervention programs relating to personal safety; physical and sexual abuse; understanding physical and educational differences; school safety and bullying; anger management; gang prevention; and the overall well-being of the child and family. It is currently the lead agency of the Greater Mercer Coalition to Prevent Child Abuse. To learn more about PEI Kids’ many programs and services for Mercer County children and families, and how you can support its efforts, please call 609-695-3739 or visit http://www.peikids.org. All calls regarding possible abuse are confidential.