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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