Photo with field instructor: Molly Kenney, LICSW (left) and Morgan Larson, MSW IV-E student (right)

Morgan blogs about interning at the Mpls Crisis Nursery.

The mission of the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery is to end child abuse and neglect and create strong, healthy families. The Nursery offers a 24 hour Crisis Helpline, Crisis Counseling, Overnight Residential Child Care, 4th Day Home Visiting Program, Pediatric Assessment and Medical Management, Parent Education and Parent Support Groups, and Community Roundtables. Within the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery in order to promote safety and well-being for the children, they provide a safe physical environment, provide safe and nutritious meals and provide time and space for physical activity.

I have been at the Crisis Nursery for about two and a half months now, therefore my professional development and experience have greatly improved. As a family advocate, I am able to do intake and discharge meetings with parents which are the processes where the parents come to drop off and pick up their children and learn about how the stay was for their children. At discharge, I read the discharge summary, ask the parent if they need any resources and go to retrieve their children from childcare. This is a time for the parent to also reflect on their personal goals and how they felt being away from their children for a couple days. Many of the parents have expressed that they needed a break and they were able to utilize that break from their children to run errands, rest, work and tend to their own personal needs.

The best moment to witness so far has been the reunification of the parents and their children because although the children were able to enjoy their stay at the nursery and the parents were able to focus on their individual needs, they plan to be together again. The children’s faces are full of smiles and they greet their parents with the biggest hug ever. I appreciate the opportunity to experience these moments between them and understand the role of the Crisis Nursery in these moments.

My team at the Crisis Nursery in the Family Service Department and the Child Service Department has been very welcoming and they have taught me a lot about best practices with families. I feel like part of the team and feel comfortable to do the tasks of the job and also focus on building trusting relationship with the parents and their children at the Crisis Nursery.