The Linda Ray Intervention Center website is currently under construction.
Please return soon for latest news and information.

Within the University of Miami, College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Psychology stands as a
model of intense research and rigorous scholarship.  Exceptionally committed to community service,
the Department oversees numerous vital programs that assist individuals throughout our area.
The Linda Ray Intervention Center is just one of its programs.

The University of Miami Linda Ray Intervention Center (LRIC), within the Department of Psychology has served Miami’s population of at-risk babies and toddlers since 1993.  From its very beginning, the Center has helped scores of our youngest citizens who faced serious challenge since birth, such as parental substance abuse, the instabilities associated with being in the child welfare system, developmental delays that ultimately have an impact on school readiness, and the lack of access to quality early childhood programs and parenting programs.  The LRIC offers specialized intervention programs and provides a “one-stop shopping” environment for this population of children and their families paired with a robust research component. Funding steams include: Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ Pre-K Programs for Children with Disabilities, The Children’s Trust, United Way, The Florida Department of Education, the Department of Children and Families, Our Kids of Dade and Monroe, Inc., the Bachelor Foundation, the Junior League and federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice. The Center sustains itself across this array of funding on a year to year basis.

OUR CHALLENGES

LRIC’s fleet of eight vans (with their easily identifiable teddy bear logos) make their way each day into the highest risk neighborhoods in the Miami community, bringing children to and from the Center, as well as transporting additional court-referred children and families to the Center for parent-child therapy sessions, parenting programs, counseling, and to and from medical appointments.  The Center’s additional research, social work, clinical and education staff, as well as some operational costs, are sustained only on the grant dollars and local, state, and federal contracts procured through competitive proposal submissions.  Outcomes from programs at the Center have been published in academic journals, and also influence the “best practice” approaches to serving babies and toddlers at highest risk across the nation.  Research determines the Center’s practice and assures accountability for the intervention dollars received.

Children at the LRIC enter as newborns, attending the program Monday through Friday, twelve months per year, and are transported back and forth from where they live to the Center for services.  They are typically living in foster care, or with relatives and are least likely to begin their lives in their family of origin due to child maltreatment and parental substance abuse issues. For the children, the Center staff represents their stable “family away from home,” and the daily routine of coming to the Center is a highlight in their lives—a time when nurturing and education of the highest quality occur.  While young children from stable homes often cry in the mornings when dropped off at childcare as their parents leave, children attending the Center typically cry at the end of the day when it is time to go home.  LRIC’s program design since 1993 has been to serve 60 children yearly, age newborn through age three, with developmental delays and co-occurring risk factors.  Each child enrolled in the program continues to be enrolled until he/she is three years old, thereby receiving three years of intervention.  Graduates go on to Head Start, pre-k programs and ultimately, kindergarten.   The enormous benefits provided to those served by the LRIC are both far-reaching and undisputable.  Data across multiple cohorts of children who enter the Center at age three demonstrates that the totality have developmental delays.  Upon completion of the program, the majority of them leave the Center having closed their delays, moved on to Head Start, and successfully enter Kindergarten with a great level of school readiness skills.

DONATIONS

If you would like to make a donation to the
Linda Ray Intervention Center or would like further information on how to sponsor a LRIC van or classroom please contact:

Adriana F. Verdeja
Director of Development
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
Tel (305) 284-4374
Fax (305) 284-8478
averdeja@miami.edu
 

Register to receive more information about the
Linda Intervention Ray Center.

Division of University Advancement
Gables One Tower, Suite 300
1320 South Dixie Highway
Coral Gables, Florida 33146

University of Miami ~ Linda Intervention Ray Center
750 Northwest 15 Street - Miami, Florida 33136
305.325.1818 ~ Fax: 305.325.1151
Email: Lynne Katz, Ed. D. - Director
lkatz@miami.edu