Janaye Davis & Julia Rhoton

Dr. Esposito

SPE 480

31 July 2017

Site Visit: Miller’s Children & Women’s Hospital

Name of Organization or Resource: Long Beach Family Resource Center

Contact person: Brenda Macias, Coordinator and Martha De La Torre, Parent Specialist

Telephone Number: (562) 933-8045

Address/Location: Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach

2801 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806

Hours of Operation: 8:00 am – 4:00 pm, Seven days a week

Cost/Fee for Participation: Free for all patients and members of the community

Primary Funding Source: Completely funded by the State of California

Day/Time of Visit: Friday 7/28/17, 12:30pm

Who Is Eligible to Receive Services: Anyone who needs support for family members with

special needs is able to use resources provided by this facility.

Accessibility: A visitor must first receive a pass from the hospital front desk, and must be

allowed access to the second floor pediatrics department by a staff member with a badge.

The Family Resource Center is located in the main building of Miller’s Children Hospital

in the west side of Long Beach. The center is fairly small, but the programs it offers serves a

wide variety of people. There is no age requirement to receive help at the resource center.

Martha, the parent specialist, explained to us that the Family Resource Center is run by
community members, so anyone can get help if the center has the resources to aid him/her. The

three categories the Center specializes in is helping students with autism, down’s syndrome, and

general disabilities such as students with a learning disability. There is another Family Resource

Center at Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital; however, that serves the patients admitted to

Miller’s rather than members of the community seeking help.

The Center provides support to parents and family members of people with special needs,

as well as to those with special needs themselves. The small room offers parents and special

needs family members a place to rest, have a snack or coffee, or use the computers in order to

find answers and information. When we visited, Martha De La Torre was on site caring for two

children, providing snacks and a movie to watch, and she was more than willing to help us and

answer our questions. Not only does Martha provide snacks and supervision for children with

special needs in the center, she is also a specialist in parental support. She currently has three

main focus groups she helps support: people with autism, people with down’s syndrome, and a

third group for people with all other general disabilities. She is also currently starting a fourth

group to provide support for those with mental health issues. Because Martha has a grown son

with an intellectual disability, and has worked for years helping families, she also has the

experience to help parents interpret their child’s IEP, and often provides personal support to the

families she works with.

Though the Family Resource Center was physically small, there was an inviting and cozy

atmosphere. A huge window offers bright light and a view of the trees outside, giving the room a

warm feeling. The two children we observed in the center that afternoon were calmly waiting for

Martha to put on a movie for them to watch after having their snacks and juice. The room is

absolutely filled with resources and information; brochures, flyers, posters, and computers with
internet access lined the walls. It seems Brenda and Martha have set up a well organized center,

and are ready to help anyone they can.

The materials used to support this program include brochures for parents, toys for

children, snacks for families, and entertainment for whomever wants it. The Center has well over

thirty brochures for families to better understand how to help their kids with disabilities. The

brochures included information on the disability, how to receive further information about it, and

contact information, as well. The Center also had brochures on infants, first-time mothers, and

information on families in general. In addition, this program has a donation box of trinkets, toys,

and board games for families to bring home free of charge. Martha has a closet-full of snacks for

those waiting in the center, as well as a television for leisure. There are a set of two computers

for the parents to get more information on a specific topic or for the children to play games on.

Of all the information we received from Martha, the most helpful is the Family Resource

Calendar which is “A Two-Year Calendar for Families with Infants and Toddlers with Special

Needs. ” This is an invaluable resource to parents who have to juggle their family’s life and

adapt to living with special needs. The calendar includes events at the resource center as well as

in the community. It also provides space for parents to keep track of personal events and doctor’s

appointments, as well as countless pages of contact information for groups that provide support

and even more information.

Since this is a state funded community resource center, affiliated with a hospital, there are

no education/school programs offered besides help in finding other resources outside the center

itself. They don’t provide assessments or evaluations, but are there to provide the information

many parents seek after someone in their family has received a diagnosis of having a disability.

There were no other assistants in the center on the day we visited besides Martha, though since
the center is located in a hospital, she has access to advice, support, and care from trained

medical staff located right outside her door. The services provided in this Family Resource

Center were thorough, friendly, and from what we could tell, offer an invaluable support system

for people in the community.