New Team Members for the Tough Work Ahead
Welcome Sarah and Jamie! I’m excited to introduce two new members of our team who bring direct clinical experience to our policy and quality work. As we expand our work on evidence-based, innovative models of care and payment reform, we have a growing need for team members with direct experience at the bedside and designing…Read More…
New Staff Spotlight: Take Five with Sarah Wolf, MAS, RN, BSN, CCM & Jamie Agunsday, MA, MSN, RNC-OB, FAWHONN
Take Five with Sarah Wolf, MAS, RN, BSN, CCM, Senior Program Officer – Policy at the Quality Institute, and Jamie Agunsday, MA, MSN, RNC-OB, FAWHONN, Program Officer – Quality at the Quality Institute. Take Five with Sarah Wolf, MAS, RN, BSN, CCM What drew you from clinical care originally into health care quality and policy?…Read More…
Take Five with Lori Feldstein
Lori Feldstein, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Goals of Care Coalition of New Jersey (GOCCNJ), a member of the Quality Institute’s Consumer Council. New Jersey’s new Medicaid Community-Based Palliative Care benefit officially launched on April 1. Can you explain what this benefit is, who it is designed to support, and why this…Read More…
Rowing In the Same Direction on Children’s Mental Health
Earlier this week, we gathered for breakfast at the Mercer County Boathouse with the many experts who served on our Children’s Mental Health Mapping Advisory Committee, along with child and family advocates, educators, funders, and clinicians, to celebrate the release of the report and discuss next steps to ensure implementation of the recommendations. At the…Read More…
What 18 Months of Research Revealed About Children’s Mental Health Care
Last week, at the New Jersey State House, we released the Children’s Mental Health Mapping Report, the product of 18 months of research, interviews, and monthly meetings with our external advisory group of experts. Joining us were the legislative sponsors of the bill to commission the work, many of our partners in producing the report,…Read More…
New Jersey’s Children’s Mental Health System Is Failing Families, Study Finds
Written by: Jessica Pilla June 8, 2026 A comprehensive state-commissioned study released Thursday found that New Jersey’s mental health infrastructure is failing children and the families trying to reach it — and state lawmakers are already drafting legislation in response. The New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, hired by the state Department of Children and Families to…Read More…
Youth mental health system in NJ hurts kids, frustrates parents, study says
By:Lilo H. Stainton–June 5, 2026 Democratic lawmakers are pledging to introduce a package of bills to address New Jersey’s youth mental health system, which parents say is hard to navigate and can leave kids waiting months if not years for proper treatment. Sponsored by Sen. President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) and Sen. Joe Vitale (D-Middlesex), the…Read More…
New Jersey Takes a Critical Step to Improve Children’s Mental Health Access
New Report Maps the System, Identifies Barriers, and Charts a Path Forward TRENTON, NJ — The New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute (Quality Institute) today released the Children’s Mental Health Mapping Report, a report commissioned by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF) in response to a legislative directive that recognized the growing…Read More…