BUZZ: Rockefellers and Zuckerbergs ... National Child Abuse Prevention Month ... state budget victory

The Rockefeller Foundation has teamed up with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to launch the Communities Thrive Challenge. The philanthropic effort will steer $10 million to fund community-driven approaches to confronting income inequality nationwide. A six-month nationwide search will identify up to 80 organizations and provide up to ten of them with $1 million grants, according to a press release.

Employees from the Administration for Children’s Services, including Commissioner David Hansell, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge on April 3. News 12 The Bronx did a piece about the march, which highlighted April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month. It was part of what The New York Times described as an effort to repair ACS’s image following the ouster of former commissioner Gladys Carrion.

Nassau County Legislator Joshua Lafazan has joined the board of trustees at the nonprofit Family and Children’s Association, according to a press release. Lafazan’s election to the county legislature last year made him the youngest ever to serve in the Long Island county. He served on the Syosset School Board of Education at age 18 and was re-elected in 2015. He is also the founder of Safe Ride Syosset, a community outreach program aimed at preventing teens from driving under the influence of alcohol, according to the press release.

The Wild Apricot blog has a run-down of 39 free webinars happening throughout April on topics geared towards people in the nonprofit sector.

The New York State Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors secured $3.75 million in the final 2018-19 state budget. The money will fund the development of jail-based substance use disorder treatment and transition services for county mental health departments, according to a press release. “The time of incarceration actually provides a unique and time-limited opportunity to offer treatment when a person is clean and sober and may be more receptive to starting treatment. The handful of counties that do have jail-based SUD treatment have seen significant reductions in recidivism in those who received treatment,” Kelly A. Hansen, executive director of the NYS Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors, said in the press release.