Community-Based Services

     House of Ruth extends its services to the community at large the community through the Domestic Violence Support Center and Kidspace Child and Development Center.

     At the Domestic Violence Support Center, more than 400 women each year are provided with free, confidential counseling to help them work through issues surrounding domestic violence. Through group and individual counseling, women come to understand the impact that abuse has had on their lives – and on their children. With their counselors, they develop and carry out plans to establish safer lives and avoid abusive relationships. Our skilled counselors also provide domestic violence education and counseling services to girls in secondary schools who are at risk for violent relationships and to women being served by other agencies in the community.

     Kidspace Child and Family Development Center provides developmental day care for up to 76 children ages three months through five years who are from families that are recovering from homelessness and abuse. Many of the children live with their mothers at one of House of Ruth’s six residential programs for families. Others are from very low-income families in the neighborhood, or other programs for homeless families.

     All of the children entering Kidspace have delays across all developmental domains. An enriched curriculum and individualized developmental plan for each child helps most of them overcome their developmental delays. For children who have been severely affected by trauma and the chaos of life in a homeless family, specialized therapeutic services are also provided. Speech and language therapists, psychotherapists and occupational therapists (to address fine and gross motor skills development) work with the children who need special assistance to help them achieve their greatest potential. Of course, in order to help the children, House of Ruth must also help the parents. A team of social workers, called Family Advocates, work directly with the parent(s), most often a single mother.

     In 2006, Kidspace received accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children, which indicates the consistent, high quality of the services provided to the children.

Shanice

     Shanice came to the Domestic Violence Support Center for counseling with a history of abuse in childhood by both her mother, who struggled with drug addiction, and her father, who drank heavily. She became pregnant as the result of an abusive relationship while still in her teens. Shortly after the birth of her son, her brother was murdered. After experiencing so much loss and abuse, Shanice finds it very difficult to trust others.

     Patiently, Shanice’s counselor is listening to her story and encouraging her to identify her reactions to major life events. Shanice is responding by exploring long-suppressed emotions in the safety of her counseling sessions. She is working through her feelings of anger, grief and shame, and learning new ways to safely express herself. Gradually, Shanice is learning to manage her emotions in a way that does not overwhelm her and interfere with her ability to function.

     By processing emotions from difficult life experiences in the context of an effective therapeutic relationship with her counselor, Shanice is freeing up energy for other life tasks. She now has a full-time job and her own apartment. Although she doing better and is more able to care for her son, Shanice still meets with her counselor every week to sustain and continue her progress.

Jason

     When Jason was two years old, his family came to live at one of House of Ruth’s service-enriched housing programs. Jason immediately began attending Kidspace. Based on assessments, the staff there created a developmental plan for Jason, based on his strengths and addressing his needs. Intensive speech and language therapy, consisting of one-on-one sessions three times a week, helped Jason rapidly expand his speech and language skills. Within a year, Jason was on the appropriate developmental level for a child his age. High quality, early intervention has helped Jason catch up with his peers.

Results

     House of Ruth sets outcomes for each program to measure the progress the women and children are making toward safety, stability and self-sufficiency. Data is collected and compiled into reports every six months for review by management to ensure that programs are having the intended effects and to identify opportunities to improve.

     Key results for the community-based programs include:

     At the Domestic Violence Support Center, 415 women accessed and used resources for safety and trauma.

     At Kidspace, 97% of the children on developmental level made significant progress on two out of three objectives. Eighty-eight percent of children with special needs made significant progress on two out of three objectives. Seventy-one percent of the parents completed several significant steps toward resolving critical issues.