The Essex County Board of County Commissioners has unanimously passed a resolution urging the Legislature to restore $575,000 in funding in the proposed FY26 state budget for Wynona’s House, which provides essential services to children who have been abused or neglected.
The Legislature is in its final week of budget negotiations and is constitutionally mandated to approve the next state budget before the new fiscal year begins July 1.
The county resolution supporting the restoration of $575,000 funds for Wynona’s House was sponsored by Commissioners Brendan Gill and Patricia Sebold. It highlights how Wynona’s House provides a lifeline to children and families in crisis, coordinating critical investigative, legal, therapeutic, and preventative services for over 950 child abuse cases annually throughout all 22 municipalities of Essex County.
“On behalf of all Essex County Commissioners, I strongly urge the state Legislature to restore and continue the previously appointed funds for Wynona’s House in the FY2026 budget,” Gill said. “The Wynona House Child Advocacy Center provides life-altering aid to some of the most vulnerable in our Essex County community – victims of child abuse.
“Thanks to the incredible child-centered services offered at Wynona's House, children are much more likely to move past the terrible abuse they suffered to lead fulfilling and productive lives,” Gill said. “It makes our community stronger, it prevents greater harm, and it’s the right thing to do.”
The potential elimination of the $575,000 in state funding would jeopardize key initiatives and severely hinder Wynona’s House’s ability to continue providing vital services. This loss threatens the future of critical programs, including the family advocacy program, a resource center, and summer activities, as well as maintaining a safe, child-friendly, trauma-informed facility and supporting the multidisciplinary care that children and families depend on.
At the June 11 Essex County Board of County Commissioners meeting, more than a dozen dedicated Wynona’s House volunteers and staff members came together to show their support for the nonprofit organization.
“This funding is not supplemental—it’s foundational,” said Robert Crocker, executive director of Wynona’s House. “For 25 years, Wynona’s House has stood as a haven for abused children and their families. Without this state support, the vital work of healing, protecting, and empowering children is put at risk. We are deeply grateful for the Essex County Board of County Commissioners’ continued leadership and advocacy.”
The commissioners expressed their full support for the restoration of the $575,000 grants-in-aid appropriation, recognizing the critical role this state funding plays in supporting the center’s mission and continued service to the community’s most vulnerable children.
“This is a very important facility in our society, one in which we must remember the legacy of Senator (Wynona) Lipman,” said Essex County Commissioner Patricia Sebold.
Community members can join the call to action by visiting StandUpForNJChildren.org, where they can email the Governor and their legislators to support funding restoration for Wynona’s House. For more information about Wynona’s House visit wynonashouse.org.
Photo Caption: Volunteers and staff of Wynona's House, which provides essential services to child victims of physical and sexual abuse and neglect, attended the June 11 Essex County Board of County Commissioners meeting to show support for a resolution urging the state to restore funding to the nonprofit organization. – Image courtesy of Stateside Affairs.
About Wynona’s House Child Advocacy Center
Wynona’s House is an incorporated 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization named in honor of its legislative champion, the late Senator Wynona Lipman, who helped develop the center to promote hope, healing, and justice for the child victims of abuse and neglect in Essex County by coordinating investigation, prosecution, treatment, prevention, and supportive services utilizing the “child-centered” multidisciplinary team approach. Located in Newark, Wynona’s House is the first fully co-located Child Advocacy Center in New Jersey.
