Press Release

August 24, 2006
Contact: Jerry Carey
Phone: (856) 566-6171
careyge@umdnj.edu

Chinese Delegation Tours CARES Institute
UMDNJ’S Stratford site chosen by UNICEF as a model for child protection services

STRATFORD — Representatives from three Chinese provinces will be visiting the CARES Institute at the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine on Sunday, August 27, from 1 to 5 p.m., as they prepare to launch a trial program that will be the first, formal child protection system in China.

The CARES Institute is one of just two sites in America chosen by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) as model programs that feature innovative programs for helping children recover from abuse, neglect and violence.

“Because China does not have a formal child protection system, this visit will expose these government officials to best practices and system designs required to address this huge challenge for their country,” said Dr. Martin Finkel, co-founder and co-director of the CARES Institute. “We are delighted to be able to help this delegation obtain insight into these challenges.”

More than a dozen representatives from China are expected to be part of the visit to the CARES Institute. During the session, CARES Institute staff will review the institute’s unique multidisciplinary approach to providing state-of-the-art medical and mental health diagnostic and treatment services to children and their families. CARES staff members will also discuss the challenges and evolution of child protective services in New Jersey, and the institute’s highly successful research program that has created evidence-based therapy models for children who have suffered abuse.

“Visiting CARES provides an opportunity for Chinese officials to see first hand a comprehensive integrated model to deliver diagnostic and treatment services and its integration into the development of a child protection system,” said Kimberly Svevo, executive director of ISPCAN. “The CARES Institute is an excellent example of the ground-breaking and innovative medical and mental health programs serving children and families in the United States.”

The CARES (Child Abuse Research, Education and Service) Institute provides an array of medical and mental health services developed to meet the diagnostic and treatment needs of children and families who have experienced abuse, neglect and violence.

UMDNJ is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health, on five campuses. Last year, there were more than two million patient visits to UMDNJ facilities and faculty at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a mental health and addiction services network.