About Us



The Center for Child Advocacy at Montclair State University (MSU) provides quality education and services for child advocates throughout the State of New Jersey.  The Center’s distinguished faculty includes professionals from the disciplines that define public child welfare including social work, law and psychology. The multidisciplinary lens provides students with a unique educational perspective with which to navigate the intricacies of the public child welfare system and beyond.  The Center offers academic programs (Child Advocacy and Policy), administers several grants, provides yearly assorted trainings, and offers an annual national conference on child advocacy.

Child Advocacy and Policy offers undergraduate and graduate programs including:

Most recently, we partnered with Cumberland County Community College to offer a Degree Completion Program for the Bachelor of Arts in Child Advocacy and Policy. Students in this program take both MSU courses both online and at Cumberland Community College site and after successful completion of will achieve a Bachelor from Montclair State University. These programs have been designed to provide students with a multidisciplinary understanding of the role of the child advocate as seen through the disciplines of law, psychology, and social work among others.  This unique perspective encompassing these areas of learning equips graduates with training that will enhance their skills in a variety of career opportunities.

The Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP) formerly known as Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) has generously supported the Post-BA Certificate in Child Advocacy since its inception in 1999.  Many of these students continue their education in the Center’s Master of Arts in Child Advocacy program which also has an optional Concentration in Public Child Welfare for those who prefer to continue their work in the child welfare system.  Each April, the Center for Child Advocacy sponsors an annual conference on abuse and neglect which draws hundreds of professionals to the MSU campus.  We recently partnered with DCPP to develop the Post BA Certificate in Adolescent Advocacy.  This graduate certificate will be offered to DCPP staff initially and to all students soon.