Mercer County Grants Support PEI Kids’ Services to Local Youth

Editor's Note: The following is a news release issued by PEI Kids.

Two grants from the County of Mercer, Department of Human Services, will support PEI Kids’ efforts to keep Mercer County children safe.

The grants were awarded for the Lawrence Township-based nonprofit’s Crisis Counseling for Child Victims of Sexual Abuse program in the category of “County-Funded Youth Services/Treatment for Child Victims of Sexual Abuse” and Managing Aggression & Violence (MAV) program in the category of “County-Funded Youth Services/Secondary Prevention - Anger Management.”

Having helped more than 5,000 children and their supportive family members, PEI Kids’ Crisis Intervention for Child Victims of Sexual Abuse program is the only program of its kind in the County, providing immediate short term counseling to over 95 percent of Mercer County’s reported child victims of sexual abuse.

Designed to help county juveniles with identified anger-management issues, PEI Kids’ new Managing Aggression & Violence (MAV) program helps young participants learn, practice and master specific skills necessary for effective interpersonal communications, conflict resolution and violence avoidance.

Penny Ettinger, the Executive Director of PEI Kids, states, “We are thankful for every dollar of county support for our programs. Government support is critical to our nonprofit organization, and we highly value the help, guidance and professional partnerships that have benefited so many Mercer County children and families for the past 27 years. Our children are the future of our county.”