Department of Human Services | A Call for Entries: Human Services Announces 11th Annual Teen Media Contest

For Immediate Release:
January 5, 2006

For Information, Contact:
Suzanne Esterman, (609) 292-3703

Contest celebrates responsibilities of parenthood...

Trenton , NJ – Celebrating its 11th year, the Department of Human Services' Division of Family Development will hold its annual Teen Media Contest to reinforce the Department's mission to instill a sense of parental responsibility in teens. The statewide contest is open to middle and high school students in New Jersey .

The theme of this year's media contest is: "Special Moments: Most memorable moment shared with a parent." Student submissions must be hand-drawn and need to illustrate a special time, activity or event that a child shares with a parent.

"In 1995, the State Department of Human Services sponsored its first Annual Teen Media Contest focusing on parental responsibility," said Jeanette Page-Hawkins, director of the Division of Family Development. "It was created out of concern for the significant number of teen births in New Jersey, and the lack of participation by fathers in the lives of these infants."

Staff from the Division of Family Development and its Office of Child Support Services will judge the contest.

Winners will receive U.S. Savings Bonds and certificates of achievement during a springtime awards ceremony. Winning submissions along with additional student entries will be featured in the annual child support calendar.

For more information on this contest, including how to enter, please contact Laura Febbi at 973-799-0200 ext. 210 or laura.febbi@winningstrat.net.

For more information about child support services, call 1-877-NJKIDS1 or log onto www.njchildsupport.org.