2023 Community Champion: Christine Norbut Beyer

“The fact that so much transformation has occurred over a relatively short amount of time gives me hope that anything is possible within this realm, as long as we invite leaders with diverse expertise and perspectives to the conversation.”
– Christine Norbut Beyer, Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Children and Families

What accomplishment makes you most proud?

I am so proud of the transformation we were able to achieve at NJ DCF, working together across the agency to embrace a strategic direction and to take steps that put us at the forefront of the conversation of the evolution of child welfare practice, to become a child- and family-well-being system. There are two key accomplishments on that path that resonate most for me.

First, the work to reform and transform child welfare in New Jersey began from tragedy — a 1999 federal lawsuit that exposed that New Jersey’s system was dysfunctional, under-resourced, and unable to perform the work that children, youth, and families needed us to perform. The state settled that lawsuit in 2003, and for the last 20 years, our reform efforts were guided by federal mandates, monitoring and oversight, even as we took steps to build beyond the metrics and benchmarks established by the consent decree and subsequent settlements and modifications to the settlement agreement. In 2022, having achieved consistent adherence to most benchmarks, and having shown our stability in maintaining high-quality child protective services, we were able to negotiate an exit from federal oversight. On April 25, 2023, we participated in our final court hearing on this matter, and on October 30, 2023, the monitor issued their final report.

I specifically joined the Department in 2003 to assist with the then-settled federal consent decree, wanting to be in a place of so much potential, to take steps to build the foundations for a truly transformed and transformational child- and family-serving system. To be able to preside over the department as Commissioner for the exit from federal oversight, knowing we can now chart our own course — it feels like one of those full-circle moments.

The second accomplishment I am most proud of is the work that we’ve done, since I’ve been Commissioner, to elevate client voice and shared leadership within the Department — particularly for youth who have been involved with an aspect of the child welfare system, and for fathers who have long-felt that they were disenfranchised and dismissed by the system. Through the Office of Family Voice and other programs throughout the Department, we have created space for people with lived experience to have a meaningful role in our department’s future, helping to guide and reshape policy, helping to reframe the narrative we share, or helping to train the next generation of DCF frontline staff. It has been exhilarating to see how these lived experience leaders have helped propel our transformation forward, and we will continue to explore ways to bring in co-designers and co-leaders to address some of the most fundamental challenges facing families in New Jersey.

At the Burke Foundation, we focus on supporting families during the first 1000 days from pregnancy through age two — what do you see as the biggest challenge for families during that time period? How do you address that challenge?

We know that the prenatal-to-age-2 time period is critical for a number of reasons. For children, there are so many developmental milestones within that age range that drive learning, cognition and emotional attachment for the rest of the child’s life. For families, this is a critical bonding time, when parents learn how to parent — how to relate to their child, how to balance their own emotions and support each other. For so many families, this can also be an incredibly stressful time, navigating new routines, meeting the family’s material needs, worrying over their child’s developmental progress, and many times, doing all of this while significantly sleep-deprived. All of that stress can sometimes manifest as abusive behavior, as families destabilize under the strain. It’s one of the reasons why we see the largest percentage of abuse cases reported to child welfare agencies during this stage.

In New Jersey, in 2021, Governor Murphy signed legislation that would establish a universal, evidence-based home visiting program, in which a registered nurse would connect to the family in their home, provide maternal health and infant health screenings, answer the family’s questions, and link them to resources within the community. NJ DCF has worked over the last two years to create the foundations for success for this program, with the support and guidance of many public and private partners, and in January 2024, the first families will receive a home nurse visit through Family Connects NJ, New Jersey’s universal home visiting program. I am so excited for the transformative potential of this program, which will help New Jersey achieve better maternal and infant health outcomes and develop protective and nurturing conditions within the family that will support them through the early years and beyond.

What gives you hope in what you are seeing in the early childhood / maternal health space?

New Jersey has made significant progress in reducing infant and maternal morbidity and mortality in just the last few years. We continue to advance policy and practice that supports birthing individuals, with an eye towards reducing racial disparities in outcomes and enhancing the ability for families to connect to needed resources. We are exploring innovations, through best and promising practices, to propel New Jersey forward in this space, to put New Jersey on a track to become a national and global leader in maternal and infant health. The fact that so much transformation has occurred over a relatively short amount of time gives me hope that anything is possible within this realm, as long as we invite leaders with diverse expertise and perspectives to the conversation.

What is the secret to a great partnership — either with government, community or individuals?

Regardless of the setting, what I have found is that the best partnerships occur when both sides are willing to truly listen to the other person, and to be flexible with the ideas or intentions they brought into the partnership. It’s important to have a vision and to generate energy and enthusiasm around that. But if you approach a partnership with a rigid mindset, the other person is likely to respond in kind, and you’ll be stuck at impasse after impasse. If you have the humility to know that maybe you don’t have all the answers, and if you’re willing to learn from the other individual, or agency, or community, you can find common ground and shared purpose, to allow for all visions and viewpoints to be represented.

I am so thankful to have partnered with The Burke Foundation on a number of exciting initiatives for New Jersey — whether it was addressing Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences (PACEs), or creating the framework for Universal Home Visiting, or developing the path toward the future of child welfare in New Jersey through the Powerful Families, Powerful Communities initiative that is taking steps to eliminate the need for unrelated foster care in our home state. This has been one of the most empowering partnerships and a true model for government/ private philanthropy partnership. I’m grateful for all that we’ve done together to help New Jersey residents become and remain safe, healthy, and connected.