APA - ACT PROGRAM

The ACT (Adults & Children Together) Raising Safe Kids Program, developed by the American Psychological Association’s Violence Prevention Office, operates with the fundamental goal of decreasing violence in the lives of children and families. Our program is facilitated by APA - ACT Coordinator Lily Bonilla as part of our mission to partner with families to enrich their lives and bring them to a place of health and stability.

ACT PROVIDES:

  • 8 two-hour sessions

  • certificate for court-mandated participants

  • groups of 8 participants

  • facilitated in English and Spanish

  • graduation for all participants

  • cost-effective

Lily Bonilla

Facilitator / Coordinator

Lily L. Bonilla is certified by the American Psychological Association and Brandeis University as a Coordinator and Facilitator for the ACT Raising Safe Kids Program. She is a bilingual adjunct professor in the Psychology and Counseling department at Pillar College in the Traditional Track, LEAD, and BLEND programs.

Ms. Bonilla is also a NJ - Multisystemic Family Therapist working with at-risk, out-of-home placement youth struggling with chronic, violent, and serious antisocial behaviors ending in incarceration and probation with the juvenile system. She is a court-appointed Special Advocate for abused and neglected children in the New Jersey Superior Court. She is also a certified church-based ESL Ministries Instructor and certified Mental Health First Aid Assessor. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Latino Mental Health Association of New Jersey, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the National Institute for Latino Policy, and the CSI Cultural Diversity & Inclusion Council.

Ms. Bonilla earned her Masters degree in Child Advocacy & Policy from The Graduate School at Montclair State University, a Bachelors degree in Psychology, and a Minor in Latin America Latino Studies from Montclair State University. She is currently pursuing her PhD. in Marriage and Family Therapy.

Her research interest targets the impact that childhood trauma has in adulthood due to witnessing domestic violence/intimate partner violence and suffering child abuse and neglect. One of her biggest passions is to educate, motivate, and empower individuals to complete their self-sufficiency goals and become motivational leaders, extending hope, and promoting long-lasting change in their communities.

Volunteer Opportunities

Open Door is looking for volunteers to be a part of our ACT Raising Safe Kids Program as together we seek to enrich the lives of participating families. Class assistants and other opportunities are available. Please let us know if you are interested, and we will get back to you with more information.

Interested in ACT?

Open Door, partnered with the APA - ACT Raising Safe Kids Program, is providing classes and materials in the effort to disseminate research-based education and techniques for parents and caregivers and enhance the lives of children from their early years. Click on the button below if you are interested in registering.

Learn more about APA and ACT

Click on the button to learn more about the American Psychological Association’s early prevention program against violence.