School seeks help for special needs students

Graduation day is extraordinarily emotional at the Dubnoff Center for Child Development, a therapeutic school for children whose developmental and behavioral needs are so exceptional that traditional schools cannot serve them.

They are children who often “really aren’t welcome anywhere else, children who have serious emotional disturbance, developmental delays and learning disabilities -- and sometimes a combination of two or three of those,” said Sandra Sternig-Babcock, the center’s president and chief executive.

Most of those enrolled at the North Hollywood campus are poor. Some have been homeless. Many are living with people other than their parents -- an aunt, a grandparent, a sibling. Some are wards of the court, and for them the center runs two group homes, providing not just education and therapy but also full-time care.

The aim of the school is to help each child who arrives there find a solid footing in the world at large. Each year, a small group of Dubnoff students stands in caps and gowns before a gathered crowd. One by one, they speak, often of how far they’ve come.

Last year, one student said in his speech that a social worker once told him he was probably never going to read. But here he was, he proudly told the crowd, reading his graduation speech. The student’s words moved one of the center’s board members to start a fundraising campaign aimed at improving the school’s library and literacy programs.

“The children’s achievements really kind of speak volumes to people wanting to give,” said Lee Chernotsky, the center’s director of development.

Under the leadership of Belle Dubnoff, the center was established in 1948 on the Westside of Los Angeles. Today, its 120 employees work with more than 200 special needs children each year.

Classes are small and each has a teacher and an assistant teacher. Some students with particularly significant needs are accompanied throughout the day by personal aides.

Because the atmosphere can be volatile, the center has a behavioral intervention staff on duty. On a recent day, a teacher who was sworn at by an angry student used her walkie-talkie to summon help. Within minutes, a counselor talked the student down and escorted him to a quiet room to analyze his actions.

The center is certified to teach kindergarten through high school, but each year classes are formed according to need. This year, more than 80 students are enrolled in grades four through 12. Some will stay on until they are in their early 20s, some will go on to further education and a few will go into the adult mental health system. Many will continue to receive care while using the daily living skills taught at the school to find independent work in the community.

The school covers academic ground but also much more, Sternig-Babcock said. A lot of the children need help not just with math and English but also with a host of other skills, such as social interaction, communication, anger management and substance abuse. Some with developmental delays are put on an alternative track, on which they learn basic life skills, including how to shop, cook, take public transportation and take care of themselves.

“Our goal as a school is to mainstream them back to a less restrictive environment, so we’re always looking at getting them back to public school, integrating them into higher education or into the community,” she said.

School districts refer students to the center when they determine that their own services are inadequate to meet the children’s needs. Public school money pays for much of the center’s basic work.

But Sternig-Babcock said the Dubnoff Center tries to go far beyond the basics, providing students with a warm and inviting campus enriched by extras, including colorful murals, plants and outdoor space for sports. To do this, the school needs the support of the community, she said.

In recent years, private donations have helped pay to turn a decrepit old house on campus into a cozy library with 4,000 books, a full-time reading specialist and a part-time librarian.

“It takes a lot to keep it going, but we’re thrilled to have it,” Sternig-Babcock said. “And it’s all from philanthropy; it’s all from people who want to help.”

The center received a $20,000 grant from the Holiday Campaign in 2007.

The annual Holiday Campaign is part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which this year will match every dollar raised at 50 cents on the dollar.

Donations are tax deductible. For more information, call (213) 237-5771. To make credit card donations, visit www.latimes.com /holidaycampaign. To send checks, use the attached coupon. Do not send cash. Unless requested otherwise, gifts of $50 or more are acknowledged in The Times.

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nita.lelyveld@latimes.com