Since Dungarvin’s founding 50 years ago, the organization has delivered compassion, agility and innovation in the way it provides services for people in need of supports. Those qualities remain central to Dungarvin’s operations and are evident in the expansion of its Acute Behavioral Services (ABS) to a rural area in northern Minnesota.
The new ABS program will support two teen brothers who could no longer live with their mother due to behavioral needs. Dungarvin was able to intervene, keeping the brothers together and placing them in a Twin Cities home. However, that home and neighborhood has not been ideal for them.
Before coming to Dungarvin, the boys and their family went through much heartache, trying to find a safe, stable environment where the brothers can receive the support they need to realize their potential. At one point, they spent several months in a hospital emergency department waiting for placement with a service provider.
Also, their mother, who wants to see them as often as possible, lives two hours away. So, the Dungarvin support team found a new home for her sons, only a half hour away.
We look for Mental Health Specialists who have at least three years of experience in direct support and, ideally, working with acute behavioral needs.
The company’s Talent Acquisition Team has been working behind the scenes to hire experienced professionals to support the children. The appropriate staff are now on board for one of the boys, who recently moved in, and hiring efforts will continue until they have staff to support his brother, said Caitlin Pope, ABS Manager.
“We look for Mental Health Specialists who have at least three years of experience in direct support and, ideally, working with acute behavioral needs,” she said.
Caitlin and her colleague Kelly Sabel, ABS Director, are excited for the boys to be in the new home because it will bring them closer to family and suit them better. “This is going to provide them many more opportunities for being outside, especially in the summertime, which they love,” Kelly said.
Finding services, especially for people with complex needs, can be difficult in rural areas, said Heather Golden, Dungarvin Minnesota’s ABS Director. “We worked closely with Kanabec County to find a house and establish this service there.”
Once Dungarvin purchased the home, renovations began to make the necessary physical modifications to ensure the safety of the boys and staff.
Dungarvin also works with persons served, their families and county caseworkers to develop individualized support plans that meet the individuals’ needs, desires and goals. It’s all part of Dungarvin’s mission to respect and respond to the choices of people in need of supports.
If you are interested in learning more about Dungarvin’s wide range of services for people in need of supports, visit www.dungarvin.com. If you are interested in exploring Dungarvin career opportunities, please visit www.dungarvincareers.com.