'r Kids Family Center

The 'r kids, inc. mission is to provide every child the opportunity to grow up with a loving, nurturing permanent family. To enhance permanency, the Center has developed a wealth of services designed to match the many family configurations which exist in our society.

Description:
'r kids Family Center provides supervised visitation/reunification services for children and their families engaged in the Department of Children and Families' system. This includes case management, care coordination, referrals and advocacy. We assist the children with transportation in our agency vans. On-site security is available evenings and weekends. We also offer family counseling, after school homework clubs for youth in foster care, support workshops for foster parents,and group activities for both foster and birth families with their children. We have ongoing support groups for birth mothers, birth fathers, foster parents, reunified mothers' group, fathers and parenting classes. We have a Fathers' Drumming group and have participated for the past three years in a variety of presentations with the International Festival of Arts and Ideas. We are licensed to complete adoptions, both domestic and international and provide a wealth of support groups. All trainings and workshops for adoptive families and adoptees are led by either adoptive parents or adult adoptees. 'r kids Family Center has an on-sight library with an extensive array of literature and publications focused on family and youth transitions from foster care to permanence, adoption research and topical articles, children's books related to both foster care and adoption and historical materials highlighting the field of adoption and child welfare.Currently we have 4 full-time staff, 6 part-time staff and 2 volunteers. We are multi-cultural, tri-lingual and multi-aged. We utilize the West Haven Community House for our basic groundskeeping and welcome donations and services.
We have been identified by the National Permanency Center as a Best Practices site and have presented in the New England Region on two occasions; with the Child Welfare League and the New England Counseling Association. This past year we participated in the Earned Income Tax Credit program and provided free tax return filing to the Dixwell Community through our partnership with New Life Corp., generating an additional $200,000 back into our neighborhood through tax returns.
Physically, we are located just beyond the Broadway Circle at the beginning of Dixwell Avenue,(#45), next to Yale University. We are a newly built single story 4300 sq. ft. facility, with a parking lot and backyard, garden and handicap accessible.

History:
'r kids, inc. was founded by foster and adoptive parents, Sergio and Randi Rubin Rodriguez, residents of New Haven, in April 1996, as a result of their systemic experiences and a brainstorming community meeting held in their home. After 4 years of fund raising through annual racquetball tournaments and $3,500 in seed money from the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, 'r kids, inc received a grant from the Department of Children and Families and began to provide services to children in foster care and their birth families at their temporary location in Newhallville; while their new facility was being built. Funding through the Department of Social Services Bond monies, Dept. of Environmental Protection, CDBG and private donors all contributed to the construction of our million dollar facility! In 2005, we received a CT Child Placement license and expanded our continuum of permanency for children to include adoption and post-adoption. We have received 2 years of funding through Empower New Haven, Non-Profit Academy, for organizational capacity building; focused on Board development, diversified funding, IT and web design. The agency has just completed the development of its first strategic plan. To date, we have served over 600 children and their families. 95% of all our parents visit according to their individualized agreements and a high percentage of our children are reunified and doing well.

Contact person: Randi Rubin Rodriguez, Exec. Director, (phone), (email)

Office fax number: (203) 865-5444

Address:

45 Dixwell Avenue New Haven, CT 06511 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.rkidsct.org

Directions:

From Hamden, come down Dixwell Avenue to just before the Broadway Circle - The first parking lot on the left beyond Keys Funeral home is ours, #45, red brick bldg. w/ From the connector, take York St. exit, make a left onto York and take all the way to Broadway Circle; make a left onto the circle and follow up to traffic light - bear left onto Dixwell Ave. and second street, on right #45- red brick, single story bldg. w/ blue framed windows   Nearest Bus Stop: Dixwell/Lake Place, 1 minute minute walk

Last updated on June 8, 2009