December 19, 2025 DCF Launches Healing & Resilient NJ (HRNJ) website and Virtual Technical Assistance Center (VTAC) to Increase Awareness About the Potential Impact of Adverse[...]

DCF Launches Healing & Resilient NJ (HRNJ) website and Virtual Technical Assistance Center (VTAC) to Increase Awareness About the Potential Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Pathways to Healing

Healing & Resilient NJ VTAC is accessible to every New Jersey resident, organization, and community across the state

TRENTON - The New Jersey Department of Children and Families' (NJ DCF) Office of Resilience today launched the Healing & Resilient NJ (HRNJ) website-healingandresilient.nj.gov-to provide individuals, communities and organizations with the skills and resources needed to heal from trauma and to strengthen resilience in the face of adversity. Recognizing that trauma is common and that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) impact health and well-being across one's lifespan, HRNJ seeks to promote Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) to foster safe and stable nurturing relationships for all children, thereby mitigating the long-term effects of ACEs. This will be achieved through raising statewide awareness and the adoption of trauma-informed and healing-centered practices.

The HRNJ Virtual Technical Assistance Center (VTAC) provides free trauma awareness training for site users, as well as access to further training for public and non-profit community organizations, schools and private companies, to learn about and embrace trauma-informed and healing-centered principles that support transformative healing for their staff, and their communities. The website also serves as a repository for academic research on ACEs, PCEs, and resilience, and hosts community forums for individuals to collaborate and connect. The site's Resilience Room provides virtual resources to reduce stress and support personal healing, and the site will also support a service directory of trauma informed, community-based resources.

"As the public child and family serving system, we recognize that the children and families we encounter have often experienced some level of adversity or trauma in their lives by the time we engage with them - abuse and neglect, domestic violence, substance use, mental health issues, family separation, housing and food insecurity, among other concerns," said NJ DCF Commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer, MSW. "To truly help children and families heal from trauma, and strengthen resilience on an individual and community level, it is not enough for systems alone to know how to identify, prevent and mitigate the impact of ACEs; we need to promote PCEs as well. We are responsible for supporting and helping each other heal: our families, our neighbors, our communities, and the colleagues we work with every day."

ACEs are common and can affect anyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, age, and cultural or religious beliefs. According to the National Council for Behavioral Health (2022), 70% of adults in the United States have experienced at least one traumatic event. Over 90% of people receiving public services have experienced trauma. PCEs are also common and coexist with ACEs, mitigating their impact

Traumatic experiences are not limited to childhood, and a particularly high prevalence of vicarious trauma exists among individuals who work in "helping professions" such as social workers, health and medical professionals, and emergency responders. Vicarious trauma is the trauma experienced when hearing or witnessing the adversity of those they serve. Studies conducted by Northeastern University's Institute on Urban Health Research and Practice and the CDC show that across sectors, between 40% to 80% of people working in helping professions experience vicarious trauma. Correspondingly, relational health in adulthood, similar to PCEs, is a vital component of resilience.

"It's incredible to think how unaddressed trauma can affect all of us on so many levels - our own health and well-being, the health and well-being of our loved ones, the costs associated with caring for individuals who are trauma-impacted, and the costs to businesses and companies due to lost productivity, organizational health and staff turnover," said Dr. Rebecca Bryan, Director of the Office of Resilience, which oversees the Healing & Resilient NJ VTAC. "Healing & Resilient NJ is an effective avenue to increase trauma awareness, which shifts the question from, 'what's wrong with you,' to 'what happened to you,' and then to move to strengths-based, 'what's right with you,' or 'what got you through it,' bringing much-needed PCEs into the conversation. This website has the potential to reduce trauma's effect on all of us, with resources rooted in science that facilitate healing, self-care, and strengthen our ability to adapt to challenges we face."

In New Jersey, pre-pandemic data demonstrate that over 40% (about 782,000) of children have experienced at least one ACE, and 18% have experienced two or more. Black and Hispanic children are shown to experience higher rates of multiple ACEs compared to their white peers. In addition, a total of 33% of youth exposed to community violence will develop post-traumatic stress disorder. Data on PCEs in NJ is currently being collected through the Department of Health's Behavioral Risk Factor Survey.

"What is most exciting about the HRNJ website resources, trainings and supports is that they are accessible to anyone and everyone free of charge," said Commissioner Beyer. "If you are a mom looking for some personal time for a bit of self-care, you can visit the website's Resilience Room and participate in some of the wellness activities, or if you are student looking to become trauma-informed, you will be able to do that through our partnership with Montclair University, or if you are a community organization looking to train your staff to be trauma aware, a one-hour training session is available right on the site. It's all made possible so we can grow and enhance our individual and collective resilience together."

To learn more about the Healing & Resilient NJ VTAC, visit https://healingandresilient.nj.gov/

For individuals or organizations that are interested in engaging and promoting trauma-responsive work, you can register to be part of the journey here.