Mercer County Grants Support PEI Kids’ Services to Local Youth

March 30, 2012 - PRLog -- Two grants from the County of Mercer, Department of Human Services, will support PEI Kids’ efforts to keep Mercer County children safe. The grants were awarded for the Lawrenceville-based nonprofit’s Crisis Counseling for Child Victims of Sexual Abuse program in the category of “County-Funded Youth Services/Treatment for Child Victims of Sexual Abuse” and Managing Aggression & Violence (MAV) program in the category of “County-Funded Youth Services/Secondary Prevention - Anger Management.”

Having helped more than 5,000 children and their supportive family members, PEI Kids’ Crisis Intervention for Child Victims of Sexual Abuse program is the only program of its kind in the County, providing immediate short term counseling to over 95 percent of Mercer County’s reported child victims of sexual abuse.

Designed to help County juveniles with identified anger-management issues, PEI Kids’ new Managing Aggression & Violence (MAV) program helps young participants learn, practice and master specific skills necessary for effective interpersonal communications, conflict resolution and violence avoidance.

Penny Ettinger, the Executive Director of PEI Kids, states, “We are thankful for every dollar of County support for our programs. Government support is critical to our nonprofit organization, and we highly value the help, guidance and professional partnerships that have benefited so many Mercer County children and families for the past 27 years. Our children are the future of our County.”

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.