- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been provided by RWJBarnabas Health.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Here when you need us most, now and always.

The Turrell Fund, supporting Reimagine Childcare.

PNC, Grow Up Great.

NJM Insurance Group.

Serving New Jersey'’s drivers, homeowners and business owners for more than 100 years.

The New Jersey Education Association.

The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

And by The Fidelco Group.

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- This is One-On-One.

- I'm an equal American just like you are.

- The jobs of tomorrow are not the jobs of yesterday.

- Look at this.

You get this?

- Life without dance is boring.

- I don't care how good you are or how good you think you are, there is always something to learn.

- Do you enjoy talking politics?

- No.

- People call me 'cause they feel nobody's paying attention.

- Our culture, I don't think has ever been tested in the way it's being tested right now.

- That's a good question, high five.

(upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Steve Adubato you do not have to love college football to appreciate the conversation we're about to have with someone who matters in our state a great deal and in this nation particularly as it relates to collegiate sports.

He's Greg Shiano head football coach at my alma mater the great Rutgers University, good to see you coach.

- Great to see you Steve.

- Coach we're taping on the 16th of February the football season's over.

By the way is the football season ever really over for a coach?

- Yeah I don't think it is.

Especially with recruiting the way it is these days, it's a 365 a day deal.

- Let me ask you this as we still are dealing with COVID, how challenging is it to recruit and the fact that Rutgers even played football this year in the Big Ten is extraordinary so much around that you could check out the history behind it.

But coach how much harder is recruiting during COVID?

- Well, the tough part is you don't have that interpersonal interaction, it's over a computer screen much like this.

And it's been what we call in our industry Dead Period meaning that no coaches are allowed to leave campus and no prospects are allowed to come to campus with their family, so that's kind of like the lifeblood of recruiting.

So it certainly has been a big change but I think the programs that have adapted best give themselves the best chance.

- I mentioned this to you before we got on the air I'm gonna talk leadership with you because we do a sister series called Lessons in Leadership and your leadership, the leader you are is a role model for all of us.

But beyond the X's and O's beyond how hard you work beyond the fact that before we get on the air I could tell you were studying something you're always studying, you're always thinking, you're always planning.

We had a conversation and I encourage people to go on our website steveadubato.org that you'll see the interview we had that we taped on the 9th of November 2020 with Eric LeGrand number 52, the only number 52 that will be connected to Rutgers football the 10th anniversary of his injury against Army.

A paralyzed extraordinary young man he talked about you there's a question and a point here coach, he said that after that injury which changed his life you would visit him in the hospital late at night stay with him talk with him and making sure that he had everything he needed and he could no longer play for you, what connection do you feel and responsibility feel for your players number one?

Number two what does that do with leadership?

- Well, first let's discuss Eric, I mean he's an incredible young man, he's an inspiration to so many and rightfully so that number 52 is retired and it stands on the top of our stadium lit every night, so there's not a night that I don't see it.

And Eric has been as I said an inspiration for so many people at Rutgers, in our state, he's gone around the country speaking and he is what I really think our players should embody.

He is from the day we met as he was a high school freshman, a positive influence on anybody he's around.

And that's easy when you're a star football player but how about when you are paralyzed from the neck down and to still be able to have that influence on people.

He's just an incredible young man and one that is a hero of mine.

And people say "oh that was great what you did for Eric" and well that's that's just instinct to me.

I mean he was one of our guys, he is one of our guys and as a family you stick together and all those moments you see on TV of hoisting trophies and confetti there's a lot of other moments that are much, much different and you stick together through thick and thin.

- Coach let me pick that up, it's so interesting because so much of what you do as a coach the other than recruiting, motivating, coming up with a game plan, developing a great staff, there's an initiative I want to ask you about is a lot of this is off the field and our friends at Horizon and RWJBarnabas Health big underwriters of what we do.

There's a program called it's called Lift the Mask and it's around mental illness, what is that and why does it matter?

How is it connected to what you're doing?

- Well, I happen to be a huge proponent of mental health when within athletics.

I think our youth face an incredible challenge.

This cell phone, the social media, those things where unfortunately our youth find their acceptance, it allows so many people into their minds, into their thoughts.

And one of the things that we are doing through the people that you just mentioned is we're building a mental health group within our football program.

And I believe it's one of the first of its kind in college football but I put that much emphasis on it because when you're coaching these players and they're working incredibly hard, I think sometimes that gets neglected.

- Yeah, it's so interesting because caring about your players, caring about your coaching staff, caring about people around you I often say as someone who coaches around the area of leadership you can't teach people to care.

You could teach people to communicate more effectively, be more concise, whatever blah, blah, blah, run a better meeting but you can't teach people to care.

Let me ask you this, your sense of personal commitment to those around you and their well-being how much of that is a cornerstone of your leadership philosophy Coach Shiano?

- Well, that's my purpose and my goal is to win a National Championship at Rutgers but I think there's a big difference between your goal and your purpose.

And maybe in my younger years there wasn't always a big difference which is dangerous but as I aged and I had four kids of my own go through all the different stages of schooling and athletics it sure has changed.

So I look at it as every single day I get to lead this organization of Rutgers football and there's over 180 people that are probably attached to our program, do they leave when they're in our presence do they leave daily better before that?

'Cause at the end of the day if you can make every person that you're in contact with the best version of themselves well now you're really doing something meaningful.

And what happens when you get a lot of people who believe in that the growth is exponential and I talk all the time about that.

You take the two same two number threes you put an add sign in between them at six, you put a multiple it's nine well you do three to the third it's 27 now it's still the same two number threes but what changed?

And that's that element that you've applied to them and to me caring, how much do you care?

That's a critical part and I believe in any leadership because I don't believe people follow you unless they truly believe you care.

- One more quick follow-up on this than the time we have with you.

See one of the things as I'm watching you, my son Nick and I are huge Rutgers football fans along with so many others as I watch you and the team, your passion which you don't hide on the sidelines your enthusiasm.

You've been at this for a while how many years you've been coaching?

- This will be my 32nd year.

- I'm actually my 32nd year doing this.

Question, your constant compassion, enthusiasm, energy, which physically manifests itself.

Like you're right there, you're with your players, you're celebrating with them and also when things don't go well you make it clear a question here.

How do you keep that passion not just alive but stronger than ever?

- Well, I think you have to reinvent yourself.

I'm really glad that I'm not the same guy at 54 as I was at 34, I took this job at 34 years old-- - Why.

- Well, quite honestly I didn't know what I didn't know at 34 and after 20 years of experiences I mean we're all a product of our experiences and you can either learn from them or you can't and I choose to and I think it doesn't make you perfect by any means but it sure as heck better make you better than you were 20 years ago.

- Last question, being in the Big Ten and this is not a sports program but people know that the Big Ten is big time.

Big time Rutgers football, Rutgers sports overall.

For those who say hey really come on it's Rutgers it's an academic school.

I know because I'm a graduate of Rutgers the balance between academics and big time sports is?

Go ahead coach.

- Well, it's just what you said it's the Big Ten.

I mean that's why from 2002 until I left in 2011 that was my main primary goal was to get Rutgers into the Big Ten.

I mean you look at schools like Northwestern and Michigan, right?

I mean those are pretty darn good schools and I can name off quite a few more, so we are right where we need to be and that's what makes this job so exciting to me.

We are in the best academic/athletic conference in the United States and we're very fortunate now we gotta go win it.

- That is Coach Greg Shiano a head coach, football coach at Rutgers University.

Will keep rooting for Rutgers not just to do well on the field but to build men of character young men of character and young women in sports as well and Coach Shiano is a huge part of that and I wish you all the best coach thank you for joining us.

- Thanks Steve same to you.

- I'm Steve Adubato that's Coach Shiano, big R block R, we'll be back after this.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- [Steve] The history professor is in the house.

He is Rick Thigpen Senior Vice President of Corporate Citizenship at PSEG.

Now this is not a PSEG segment.

This is all about history, cause Rick Thigpen who joined us on our Drumthwacket special, check that out.

Look at our website.

He was the best on that.

Rick starts saying, "Hey, the DOJ, Department of Justice is all in the news right now.

There's some history here."

What happened June 22nd, 1870 with Ulysses S. Grant as president about the DOJ and why does it matter, Rick?

- [Rick] So it's a fascinating story, Steve.

And I thought everybody should hear it because it's one of those examples where our country, in forcing equality has really made itself better.

And it's one of those lessons that I think is still relevant today.

It's made itself better.

All of us are proud of our Department of Justice and you just cited the date.

The date is five years after the end of the civil war.

When the President of the United States signed a Bill to create the United States Department of Justice.

It was done because for a variety of reasons after the civil war, they had a flood of litigation.

They tried to centralize and professionalize the practice of law in the government, but they also had a big challenge.

And that was how to reconstruct America in a fashion that was safe.

And to do that, our government decided that they had to enforce civil rights for African Americans and the justice department had that task at its founding.

And it's a very exciting story to listen to.

Today our Justice Department is a leader in the world.

It's the largest law firm in the world they say, but it was founded in 1870 in order to help bring civil rights to African Americans.

And it was a national security issue.

- Yeah, let's do this.

Some of them might ask, "How does Rick Thigpen know this stuff?"

I ask the same thing, he knew everything about Drumthwacket and who went through it, by the way let folks know why you do know this stuff because it is not directly connected to your job at PSEG.

Go ahead.

- It is not Steve, that's fair.

So I'm a history buff.

I spend a lot of time studying history and things like this Black History Month is a special month for people like myself.

And you know, a lot of people talk about individuals who've accomplished great things.

And there's a lot to talk about in Black History Month, and I'm trying to expand people's thinking about it and that Black History Month is really American history, and that there are so many things tied into some of the great parts of our country and the founding of the United States Department of Justice is one of those stories.

And Steve, I want you to know that the House Judiciary Committee first introduced the Bill as an inquiry into establishing a Law Department for the United States.

And imagine if the United States Justice Department today was called the United States Law Department - Rick, let me follow up with this.

The KKK back in 1870, huge problem.

Talk about White supremacy, White nationalism extremist groups, still an issue but back in 1870, the Department of Justice played a huge role prosecuting the KKK.

- Yes, sir.

In fact, it was central to the founding of the Justice Department.

The KKK was founded after the civil war and a former Confederate general named Nathan Bedford Forrest was put in charge of it.

Everybody knows that name from the movie Forrest Gump that's who Forest Gump was named after.

- Wow, I did not know that, go ahead.

- Yes, and general Forrest was a famous cavalry commander in the Confederate army.

He was known for his effectiveness at killing people.

And he led the KKK after the war.

So what really happened was the civil war ended but a new guerrilla war started in the countryside in the South because Southerners were not prepared to return to the Union under the conditions that were being imposed on them.

They did not accept equality.

They did not accept civil rights for African Americans.

They did not accept the 14th amendment or giving African Americans the right to vote.

And they did everything in their power to stop them.

And the odd thing is, by trying so hard to stop them, the KKK and the violence that they inflicted.

One of the great things that this country has benefited from was the creation of the Justice Department.

Ulysses S. Grant decided that he did not wanna only use military force to bring the South back into compliance with federal law.

So they passed some enforcement acts.

Some criminal codes to make it possible for the federal government to enforce the 15th amendment, the right to vote, which was at the core of the Ku Klux Klan's activity, keeping blacks from voting.

- By the way, excuse me, Rick as you're talking - Yes Sir - Put in perspective what Rick Thigpen is talking about today as we talk about what happened in the 2020 Presidential Election and some questioning the validity of the votes of those who disproportionate are in urban areas were African American.

Pick up your point Rick.

- Well, that's a very hot potato there, Steve, but there is no doubt... - Yeah, but I mean it is a Department of Justice is as important as ever before, right?

- The Department of Justice was important at the founding in 1870, and it continues to have enormous importance for this country and for the people in this country.

And there is no doubt that today with the insurrection that we saw on the capitol at the end of the day is going to be in the hands of the Department of Justice to sort through what happened, who, if anybody is liable and what is the appropriate punishment to be meted out to those people.

- Rick let me ask you this.

And again, Rick and I don't talk politics per se, but rather policy, rather social justice issues.

That's why when you see confronting racism on the screen that's part of an ongoing series we've been doing for about a year now, but let me ask you this.

The Attorney General is the head of the Department of Justice?

- Well, it's funny you should mention that.

So Amos T. Akerman was the 31st Attorney General of the United States.

He was the only Southerner in general, in president Grant's cabinet but he was the first attorney general to head the United States Department of Justice.

The Department of Justice was not created when the office of the attorney general was created in the 1789 Judiciary Act.

It wasn't created until 1870 when they created a Department of Justice and they didn't name it the Law Department for reasons that were obvious at the time, justice was the tool that was used to reconstruct America, to make it safe again and to prevent the rebellion from coming back and haunting our country again - I wannna be clear.

The attorney general is not the lawyer of the president.

The attorney general is in fact the independent head of the independent Department of Justice.

- Correct Do I have that right Professor of History Rick Thigpen?

- I believe the answer to that is yes, that's a little beyond our scope today but the attorney general is the top legal officer of the United States government.

And the charge of the justice department is to conduct the legal affairs of the government of the United States.

It is not the personal lawyer of the President of the United States.

He is tasked to give the President advice.

- About 30 seconds left.

Let me ask you this, Rick, if this hadn't happened when it happened in 1870 with president Grant five years after the end of the war we don't know what American history would be like.

Correct?

And there's no assumption that such a Department would have been created later just because whatever.

- Well, we certainly don't know.

And as my mother would say to me, Steve, blessings often come in disguise and that war was a brutal disguise but two very important blessings came from that war.

One is the 14th amendment the concept of equality in our constitution.

The greatest thing this country has ever done for itself.

And number two is the United States Department of Justice charged with enforcing the law and administering fair and impartial justice to all Americans.

And that came about as a result of the war.

And it's just an example of Black History Month how Black History Month is really American history and how some great things have happened for this country by embracing the challenges of equality.

It's not always something to be feared and it doesn't mean a lowering of standards.

Some great American institutions have been created by this very controversial issue still today of equality - By the way, we're taping on February 16th this'll be seen later.

It may be called "black history month" but this is as important as ever not just in terms of black history itself or exclusively as we've accepted American history.

And lemme also just remind folks that PSEG is a big supporter of public broadcasting as well as the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Rick, thank you for educating us, informing us and helping us understand why the DOJ, Department of Justice matters so much.

Thank you, Rick.

- Thank you, Steve.

You got it.

I'm Steve Adubato.

Thank you so much.

Oh, no, we're not leaving.

We'll be back after this.

(laughs) - [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- We are pleased to be joined by Erica Fischer-Kaslander, who is Executive Director of Passaic County Court Appointed Special Advocates and also the New Jersey Safe Babies Court Team.

Good to have you with us, Erica.

- Thanks for having me.

- By the way, we'll put your website up and also our website on our initiative called Reimagine Childcare which is all about quality and affordable childcare.

Could you tell us about the Safe Babies Court Team?

What is it and how does it relate to childcare?

- Absolutely, Steve.

So Safe Babies Court Team is a brand new program being launched here as a pilot in New Jersey.

We were awarded a grant in October of 2020 from the national organization, ZERO TO THREE.

Safe Babies Court team has a vision that all New Jersey communities will support strong safe families, raising healthy, resilient, toddlers and infants here across the state of New Jersey.

But specifically our programming wraps around trauma informed services for infants and toddlers involved in the child welfare system.

- Let me ask you this.

What happens if that doesn't happen?

What happens if the infants and toddlers we're talking about are not taken care of?

Are there concerns that the trauma that they're dealing with is not dealt with, what are they facing moving forward and what does that mean for all of us?

- You know, Steve, that is happening, and that's happening every day across our entire state.

This pilot program is being launched in three specific sites, three specific counties, that's Passaic, Essex, and Hudson.

We wish we could start in every County across the whole state of New Jersey.

And that is our goal that we'll eventually be able to provide these enhanced specific services to the entire state.

But infants and toddlers that enter the child welfare system, the foster care system as most people know it, have already been traumatized.

They've already experienced significant trauma, not only from whatever abuse or neglect they have experienced, but the trauma of being separated from their caretaker, from their biological parent in most cases.

And the goal of the Safe Babies Court Team is to minimize that trauma and to be able to place them in a safe, stable, permanent home as quickly as possible.

- By the way, I'm gonna clarify this, help me if my stats are off.

Every six minutes, an infant or toddler was removed from home due to alleged abuse or neglect, that's a fact - That's a national statistic.

- So connect this entire discussion to ACEs, adverse childhood experiences.

- So ACEs are a hot topic right now.

Everywhere from education to health care, mental health.

An ACE, at its core definition is an adverse experience that happens to someone during their childhood.

That is the simplest way you can explain it to a lay person.

For the population we're talking about, it is any type of abuse or neglect.

And an additional ACE is the fact that they were removed from the home.

So just those two things, forget anything else happening in the household, those two things means that our children have experienced two different ACEs.

The current initiative that was launched just last week by the governor's office has a very comprehensive statewide ACEs plan.

And Safe Babies Court team is really amazing part.

It's not written into the ACEs plan, but I think it really speaks to a lot of the same things that are spoken about in that plan and we're proud to be kind of launching at the same time.

- Yeah, talk about that because we actually, as we're taping today, we interviewed First Lady Tammy Murphy, who's really a leader in the NurtureNJ initiative.

The initiative you're talking about out of the governor's office, can you talk about that?

- You know, I'm not part of it so I don't wanna speak specifically to it and I don't wanna-- - By the way, I'm sorry for interrupting.

We're actually interviewing the governor in a few weeks, we'll make sure we ask him about that.

Sorry for interrupting, is the point here, Erica, that you and your colleagues at it's CASA, is the acronym for Court Appointed Special Advocates in the Safe Babies Court Team initiative will work in collaboration with the state.

Is that?

- So yes and no.

I mean, we are launching the program in collaboration with the department of child protection and permanency, in collaboration with the family court system, the administration of courts.

They are key partners hand in hand with us in order to make this a possibility.

Without their partnership and in lockstep, the Safe Babies Court Team program would not be a possibility.

From the day that we even considered bringing us to New Jersey, their support has been absolutely instrumental in making it possible along with many, many community partners.

- Sorry, before I let you go, CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates, tell everyone what that is and why this organization matters so much.

- Sure Steve.

So, CASA is a independent non-profit corporation that at its heart, its main mission is to advocate for the best interests of children that have been victims of abuse and neglect and now find themselves in the family court system.

We recruit and train community volunteers to serve as that child's voice in the child welfare system.

And this Safe Babies Court Team is a new initiative that we're expanding our service delivery program in these three counties.

And we're really proud to have this opportunity to wrap our services around in a more holistic matter for these kids.

- And also, the Turrell Fund leading the effort to support Reimagine Childcare.

We had a board meeting together in May where you'll be talking about your initiative, we'll be talking about ours.

And the overall effort is in fact to protect our most vulnerable children, infants, toddlers, quality childcare, affordable childcare are all a part of it.

Thank you so much for joining us, Erica, we appreciate it.

- Absolutely, thank you, Steve.

- You got it.

I'm Steve Adubato, thank you so much for watching, we'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by RWJBarnabas Health.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

The Turrell Fund, supporting Reimagine Childcare.

PNC, Grow Up Great.

NJM Insurance Group.

The New Jersey Education Association.

The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

And by The Fidelco Group.

Promotional support provided by The New Jersey Business & Industry Association.

And by NJ.com.

(gentle upbeat music) - [Miles] I'm Miles and this is what I work for, to be my best for them and for me, in body and in mind.

I need a health insurer that helps me get the care I need for both, that has mental health professionals that I can talk to when I need to.

Because when I feel strong and secure, so do they.

This is my life.

And this is how Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey works for me.