Haven from the storm for parents, children

Latrice Brown, a 911 operator for the city of Minneapolis, was having an emergency of her own.

The single mother of two had some medical appointments, an extra night shift of work, and she needed to get some sleep.

"I haven't been getting enough rest and it's been taking a toll on my health," she said.

So last week, Brown brought her 1-year-old son, Jabari, to the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery in Golden Valley for three days, enough time to give her a much-needed respite. Her older son, 7, was in school on those days.

The nursery, which celebrates its 25th year with a fundraiser tonight, is a free service for stressed-out parents in Hennepin County who need to place their children in a safe environment. It's the one crisis nursery in Minnesota that provides on-site overnight care.

It's also a success story among the state's crisis nursery programs, some of which have closed due to lack of funding or struggle to stay open, even as demand for services intensifies. About 21 percent of the Minneapolis nursery's population come from homeless families, up from 14 percent two years ago.

"With the economy being what it is we see more families living on the edge," says Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman. "It is important to have the crisis nursery because it is so successful."

The nursery can handle 18 children nightly, but more beds are needed, said Lynn Lewis, area manager for Hennepin County child protection who used to work at the nursery.

Most of the Crisis Nursery's $3 million annual budget comes from corporate and foundation grants, the United Way and private donations. It also gets a $482,000 from Hennepin County and $38,000 in federal money.

Others across the state, however, are struggling or were forced to shut down.

When the state stopped funding the crisis nurseries several years ago, some nurseries were forced to close, said Connie Skillingstad, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota and former executive director at the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery.

"I testified at the Legislature to recover the money but it did not happen," she said.

For parents with limited resources, the Crisis Nursery is an oasis.

Brown, 25, of Brooklyn Park, works from 11:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m., regularly leaving her children in overnight daycare. But last week she pulled an extra night shift and had medical appointments during the day.

Her older son, Demetrius, 7, goes to school during the day, but toddler Jabari needs constant attention. She wanted to leave him with someone while she saw doctors and got some sleep. "I don't have any family or friends here," Brown said. "Everybody needs a break."

'Our mission is pretty simple'

She moved here from Chicago in 2005 and placed Demetrius at the nursery for the first time while she lived in a homeless shelter while hunting for work and an apartment.

"The first day I got a walk-through [at the nursery], I saw some of the crafts and the reading sessions the children do and the wonderful programs," she said. "But it was nerve-racking. The difficult part was leaving him."

Children can stay up to three days but no more than 30 days per year. The nursery can take as many as 18 children nightly, from newborn to age 6.

Shortly after Jabari was brought to the nursery, he was happily playing with some toy cars. Three staffers and a volunteer were watching him and the other toddlers.

Then it was off to the dining hall, where Jabari had an afternoon snack of Chex Mix, flavored yogurt and water.

Executive Director Mary Pat Lee said, "Our mission is pretty simple: to end the abuse and neglect of children and create strong and healthy families."

'Continued existence is pretty tricky'

Minnesota has about 15 crisis nurseries, mostly small operations that place children in private homes or day care for up to three days.

Conni Orth coordinates one in St. Cloud for Stearns and Benton counties. "We have been writing grant proposals and holding fundraisers and doing anything we can to stay open," said Orth, whose nursery has an $84,000 budget.

State funding for crisis nurseries lapsed about five years ago, she said, which put some nurseries out of business.

Sen. Robert Latz, D-Golden Valley, introduced state legislation in 2007 to appropriate $2.2 million to aid crisis nurseries. "They were cutting massive amounts out of the human services bill even then and it didn't make it through the final process," he said.

The Lutheran Social Service/Bethany Crisis Nursery in Duluth placed 462 children in the first nine months of 2008.

"We have one full-time family worker and one part-time family worker, and they are being run ragged," said Lynn Shubitz, the nursery's program manager. Like other crisis nurseries, it struggles to meet its annual budget of $130,000, 60 percent from private donations.

"For many of us, continued existence is pretty tricky," Shubitz said.

Jill Kagan, chair of the National Respite Coalition in Virginia, said most federal funding of crisis nurseries stopped in the 1990s. She estimates that there are now about 100 on-site crisis nurseries nationwide.

The Minneapolis nursery developed out of a proposal by the Minneapolis Junior League and opened in 1983, sheltering six children a day. The nursery moved to its current location in Golden Valley in 1999.

Lewis, director of Hennepin County child protection, said most children dropped at the nursery come from single parent households, typically mothers on welfare -- some of whom were working or going to school -- or parents with medical emergencies.

Without the nurseries, they might leave their children at home and unattended, generating a child protection report, she said.

Additional resources

About 84 percent of the families that used the Minneapolis nursery last year had annual incomes of less than $10,000, and 21 percent were homeless, said Joel Bergstrom, the organization's development and communications director.

"We're dealing with a population that is very isolated," said Lee, the executive director. Advocates help parents set goals and link them to other resources, and an outreach worker does home visits.

The Crisis Nursery, which has a full-time staff and a volunteer force, has a 24-hour phone number for parents to talk to a crisis counselor.

During the fiscal year ending in June, the nursery had 5,803 crisis calls and sheltered 2,268 children from 1,351 families; 64 percent of the families used the nursery three times or less.

"The staff is very professional," Latrice Brown said shortly after dropping off Jabari last week. "I don't have any regrets about placing him here. I would recommend it to anyone."

Staff researcher Roberta Hovde contributed to this report. Randy Furst • 612-673-7382