Our Programs
24-hour Crisis Helpline
Parents/Guardians who find themselves in the midst of a crisis may call our helpline any time, day or night. When a parent or guardian calls, trained Family Advocates are there to answer. During that first call to the Crisis Nursery, the Family Advocate will assess the client's safety and can offer crisis counseling. In the event the parent/guardian schedules an intake to bring their children to the Crisis Nursery, the Family Advocate will help arrange transportation.
Crisis Counseling
Parents/guardians in crisis may call our hotline 24-hours per day. If they then opt to bring their children to the Crisis Nursery, parents/guardians receive on-site crisis counseling to help them address their crisis while their children are staying at the Crisis Nursery. During the intake interview, parents/guardians meet with a Family Advocate to develop an action plan. The Family Advocate assesses the severity of the crisis and determines the adequacy of the family’s basic needs, safety, shelter, income, food, clothing and medical care, using a system called the Basic Needs Assessment Tool, developed by a Clinical Psychologist specifically for the Crisis Nursery.
During the discharge interview, parents/guardians discuss their progress with a Family Advocate and receive referrals to additional social services that help stabilize the family. Within three weeks of the discharge, Family Advocates place multiple follow-up calls to the parents/guardians to help ensure the family’s safety and stability, and offer additional referrals and support.
Overnight Residential Child Care
The Crisis Nursery shelters children for up to three nights in a nurturing, non-shaming, developmentally-appropriate environment. With a ratio of one Child Care Provider to four children, children get the individual attention they need. While at the Crisis Nursery, children enjoy three nutritious meals and three snacks per day, playing on the playground and in the gym, participating in enrichment activities such as the Bring Me A Book early literacy program, arts and crafts activities and using the books, art supplies and computer stations in the resource rooms, and sleeping in one of the cheerfully-decorated sleeping rooms. Specially-trained child care volunteers give the children additional nurturing and attention by rocking infants and leading activities for the toddlers and older children.
4th Day Home Visiting Program
The Crisis Nursery’s 4th Day Home Visiting Program is a more comprehensive outreach program for parents whose crises cannot be resolved during the three days while their children are staying at the Crisis Nursery. For some Crisis Nursery families, three days is simply not enough time to overcome the myriad of obstacles they face, tackle their many challenges and achieve their goals. The 4th Day program is an intensive and comprehensive program for parents/guardians who use the Crisis Nursery on a repeat basis.
Families who participate in the 4th Day Program meet the following criteria:
- They have multiple barriers to self-sufficiency, including extreme poverty, single-parent households, homelessness, mental health and substance abuse issues, and others.
- They want to make a change in their lives, and the lives of their children.Their situation puts their children at risk of abuse or neglect.
- They lack a support network of family and friends to help them manage their family.
- They are not receiving similar services from another agency.
- They are not involved in a child protection case at the time of intake.
The goals of the 4th Day program are to:
- Prevent child abuse and neglect.
- Increase family stability.
- Decrease family isolation.
- Promote family self-sufficiency.
- Increase provider collaboration.
- Develop parenting skills to provide a secure, nurturing home environment for children.
To achieve these goals, Crisis Nursery staff contract with a family to provide a series of home visits. According to the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, home visiting is the most promising method of preventing child maltreatment. With the help of Crisis Nursery staff, parents formulate an action plan for improving their household situation and tackle their goals one by one. Crisis Nursery staff identifies community resources that can help parents complete the plan and guides them in accessing these resources, if necessary, by going with them to appointments and assisting with forms and procedures. By helping parents access additional programs, the 4th Day Program provides “wrap-around” assistance without duplicating services.
Pediatric Assessment and Medical Management
The Crisis Nursery’s Pediatric Assessment and Medical Management (PAMM) program allows us to provide medical care and health assessments to children, many of whom do not receive regular medical attention. After intake, children receive a bubble bath, which helps soothe them and gives them a chance to bond with their Child Care Provider. It also allows the Crisis Nursery to screen each child for signs of abuse, neglect, or illness. We report suspected abuse or neglect to the Hennepin County Community-Based First Response. If children require medical attention, our staff work with volunteers from Partners in Pediatrics, a local practice, to diagnose health problems, prescribe and deliver treatment, complete a growth assessment, and refer children to long-term health care providers. Volunteers from the University of Minnesota Emergency Medicine Program provide on-site staff CPR and First Aid trainings each quarter.
Parent Education and Parent Support Group
One of the four most common reasons parents cite for using he Crisis Nursery is a housing crisis. Crisis Nursery staff reach out to homeless families by offering a parent education class at People Serving People (PSP) shelter during the school year. The class, titled Creative Play in Tight Situations, is a collaboration between the Crisis Nursery, PSP, and Minneapolis Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE). Parents, children, and staff from both visiting agencies meet for songs and games to give parents a low-stress, enjoyable, educational opportunity with their children. Then the Crisis Nursery’s staff conducts a 1½-hour class on topics such as anger management, discipline, and positive parenting, while ECFE provides art supplies and plays with the children during the group session. Family Advocates also visit the shelter for one hour a week to provide information about Nursery services.
The Crisis Nursery offers a Parent Support Group as an extension of our 4th Day Home Visiting program. Facilitated by a Master’s level social worker in consultation with a clinical psychologist, two 7 week long sessions are offered each year.
Community Roundtable
The Crisis Nursery coordinates a bi-monthly community Roundtable Discussion with other service providers to pool resource information, exchange knowledge and generate ideas. The attendees represent all sectors of the Minneapolis service community, including human services, Hennepin County, the City of Minneapolis, medical outreach and services, legal aid, and faith-based organizations.
