Children’s of Minnesota and Reuben Lindh Family Services: Partners in improving the lives of children in our community
By Sandy Klein-Mirviss
Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota has been involved in a successful partnership with Reuben Lindh Family Services since the early 1970s. While both organizations have grown and changed over the years, improving the lives of children in our community has been a consistent mission.
What is Reuben Lindh Family Services?
In 1969, Reuben Lindh Family Services began in a church basement as a day activity center for handicapped children in inner city Minneapolis. It was named for Reuben T. Lindh, an early advocate for individuals with disabilities. Today, Reuben Lindh Family Services is the largest social service agency funded by Hennepin County, serving more than 1200 at-risk, low-income families each year with a unique array of programs to empower and strengthen family units, including therapeutic pre-schools, parenting classes, supervised visitation, chemical dependency aftercare, housing advocacy, and child care. All programs were developed with a multicultural, interdisciplinary, and holistic perspective in order to promote each family’s right to integrity, security and stability.
Reuben Lindh offers a variety of parenting groups for its clients, many of whom have developmental delays, mental health issues, and/or chemical dependency issues. Reuben Lindh staff works collaboratively with child protection agencies to aid and support families at risk for abuse and neglect. A supervised visitation program offers an apartment-like setting for parents to spend quality time with their children who have been placed in foster care.
Families in any of the programs may have children attending one of Reuben Lindh’s three preschool programs (Multi-cultural, Southeast Asian, and Native American). All families at Reuben Lindh are assigned a caseworker to support their socio-emotional needs and help them access community resources. Caseworkers also coordinate all Reuben Lindh services since many families are involved in multiple programs. Family therapy, individual therapy, and play therapy for children are available to all clients in every program as needed.
Where does Children’s of Minnesota fit in?
In addition to the services described above, Reuben Lindh has a Unified Therapy Department. This staff consists of music therapists, occupational therapists, speech- language pathologists, and a physical therapist. Therapy services are available as needed to children in all of Reuben Lindh’s programs. The Unified Therapy supervisor (an occupational therapist), one other O.T., and two music therapists are employed by Reuben Lindh. Four O.T.s, three speech pathologists, one P.T., and an admissions coordinator are Children’s employees permanently based at Reuben Lindh. This partnership allows our therapy staff to proudly fulfill Children’s mission of championing the special needs of children and their families in our community. Our goal is to consistently foster functional development through holistic, nurturing, and culturally appropriate intervention in a playful environment.
How do therapists help children at Reuben Lindh?
The Unified Therapy staff conducts developmental screening on all children entering any Reuben Lindh program. This screening often identifies developmental and health-related concerns. Children recommended for evaluation and treatment receive direct services provided within the context of the Reuben Lindh programs. Referrals for health and other needed services are also facilitated by collaborative relationships with caseworkers, medical professionals, Minneapolis Public School special education staff, Interpretive Services staff, and other agencies.
Our therapists are able to foster independence and important functional skills needed for success in both the school and home environments by providing therapeutic services in natural settings. Common diagnoses we encounter include:
- fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
- feeding and swallowing disorders
- disorders related to prematurity
- chronic lung disease
- lead exposure
- hypotonia
- chronic otitis media
- neurodevelopmental disorders
Many of the children we serve have no specific medical diagnosis but present with developmental delays related to the cycle of poverty. Mental health diagnoses such as reactive attachment disorder may co-occur.
Therapy is provided using a variety of techniques depending on the child’s individual needs. The therapist-child relationship is a very strong determinant of the outcome of therapy. Mutual therapist-child trust and respect are crucial for success and progress. Therapy goals are aimed at improving functional skills, self-esteem, communication skills, play skills, and mobility in natural environments. Therapy may be provided in a private (one-on-one) setting or in a group format, depending on the benefits to the child.
All the members of the United Therapy staff feel a great sense of connection with our clients and with the Reuben Lindh organization as a whole. We are a cohesive staff with the shared goal of improving the lives of children, one child at a time. We take collective pride in each child’s new accomplishments and skills. We are grateful for Children’s of Minnesota’s longstanding commitment to this partnership. Our work is extremely rewarding because the children teach us just as much as we teach them. Each day brings a new lesson: a lesson of hope, resilience, strength, and perseverance.
How can I learn more about Reuben Lindh Family Services?
Detailed program information and client photos can be found online at www.reubenlindh.org. Reuben Lindh offers opportunities for community involvement such as family holiday sponsorships, fundraising, and volunteer options for those who want to make a difference in the life of a child.
Sandy Klein-Mirviss MS OTR/L is a Children's of Minnesota Occupational Therapist who has worked at Reuben Lindh Family Services for 13 years.
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