Leadership and Staff

Leadership and Staff

‘r kids Family Center is led by experienced staff as follows:

– Randi Rubin Rodriguez, Executive Director and Co-Founder
– Enna Garcia, Director of Programs

Randi Rubin Rodriguez, Executive Director and Co-Founder

Randi Rubin Rodriguez, co-founder of ‘r kids, Inc. stewarded a $3,500 seed grant from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven in just over one year into $700,000 in programming funds and $1 million dollars to build its Family Center on land remediated with an EPA grant. Steeped in her spiritual belief, the quote “With each child, the world begins anew” Midrash, encompasses the vision that Randi has implanted within the minds and hearts of each of the ‘r kids staff to guide their work with our families.

With more than 30 years experience in the fields of substance abuse, Maternal and Child Health and Child Welfare, a Master’s degree in Human Development from Farleigh Dickinson University, a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Art Education from the University of Bridgeport, and a Post certification in Clinical Adoption Issues from UCONN/SCSU, Randi has continued to advance her understanding of the complex issues facing children committed to state care and their biologic, foster, adoptive and relative care families through many hours in diverse training workshops.

Licensed as a foster parent in 1997, Randi has firsthand experience caring for infants through teens and seeing all sides of the child protection systems with which children at risk and their parents are involved. In founding ‘r kids Family Center, Randi’s mindful vision was that every child have the opportunity to grow up with a family they can call their own. Espousing that safety, security, and a nurturing permanent family is a civil right for children.

Enna Garcia, Director of Programs

With an 18 year history at ‘r kids, and 27 years in the field of child welfare, Enna simply stands out — for the depth and breadth of her knowledge, particularly in the areas of attachment and trauma; the compassionate integrity of her respectful approach to parents challenged by their missteps; the strength of her managerial skills; and, most importantly, the passion she brings to ‘r kids every day to protect and promote children’s welfare.

Raised in Puerto Rico, Enna graduated from Assumption College in Massachusetts in 1991 with a Bachelor in Liberal Arts, having majored in Psychology, with minors in Social Rehabilitation and Spanish Literature. While at college, an internship at a Youth Shelter ignited Enna’s love and passion for children’s welfare. During her one year at the Graduate School at The Caribbean Center for Advanced Studies in Puerto Rico, Enna honed the interviewing and assessment techniques that she has meaningfully applied throughout her career. While a case manager in a Federal Program in Puerto Rico working with families, from remote and very dangerous communities, that received food stamps and cash assistance and were expected to work or go to school within 21 months from the start date of the benefits, Enna developed the necessary motivational skills that continue to enhance her work with low income families and the concrete challenges they face.

After relocating to Connecticut, Enna’s work at Youth Continuum, Inc. exposed her to the Juvenile Criminal Justice System that advanced her assessment and planning techniques including crisis intervention. From 1996 to 2000, Enna worked at the Department of Children and Families with children and their biological and foster families and cemented her understanding of the importance of permanency in children’s lives.

Enna’s passion to ensure permanency for children led her to ‘r kids, where she has flourished professionally and personally. Certified in Mother Read and Circle of Security Parenting Education, Enna’s initial duties to supervise visitation expanded to include pre and post adoption work with international and domestic adoptions and as a senior caseworker for Reconnecting Families and the Zero to Three program. In her role as Director of Programs, Enna brings an enthusiasm and professionalism that thankfully enhances the staff as well as the children and families served.