Published TUESDAY, September 10, 2024: 'GUARDIAN ANGEL Helping Disabled Migrant Kids' Pictures by ZUMA Press represented Chicago Tribune's photographer Armando L. Sanchez and story by staff writer Nell Salzman: Mary Otts-Rubenstein, who has her own child with disabilities, is helping migrant families with medically complex children enroll in Chicago's Public Schools. But it doesn't get easier once the kids are enrolled because the system is overwhelmed. Otts-Rubenstein has been leading volunteer efforts for these children for over two months, stepping in where city officials have failed to identify and provide acceptable solutions for disabled migrants. Experts say children with severe disabilities born in the United States are already at a disadvantage in accessing a quality education, but migrant families with disabled children face especially daunting hurdles. Welcome to 'GUARDIAN ANGEL Helping Disabled Migrant Kids'
© zReportage.com Issue #919 Story of the Week: Published TUESDAY, September 10, 2024: 'GUARDIAN ANGEL Helping Disabled Migrant Kids' Pictures by ZUMA Press represented Chicago Tribune's photographer Armando L. Sanchez and story by staff writer Nell Salzman: Mary Otts-Rubenstein, who has her own child with disabilities, is helping migrant families with medically complex children enroll in Chicago's Public Schools. But it doesn't get easier once the kids are enrolled because the system is overwhelmed. Otts-Rubenstein has been leading volunteer efforts for these children for over two months, stepping in where city officials have failed to identify and provide acceptable solutions for disabled migrants. Experts say children with severe disabilities born in the United States are already at a disadvantage in accessing a quality education, but migrant families with disabled children face especially daunting hurdles. Welcome to 'GUARDIAN ANGEL Helping Disabled Migrant Kids'

YASMIRA SALCEDY, left, and MILEIDYS GINEZ, both from Venezuela, talk with MARY OTTS-RUBENSTEIN while she sits in her car outside the Inn of Chicago migrant shelter. Mary Otts-Rubenstein, who has her own child with disabilities, is helping migrant families with medically complex children enroll in Chicago's Public Schools. But it doesn't get easier once the kids are enrolled because the system is overwhelmed.
© Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire

MARY OTTS-RUBENSTEIN checks on KEINYMAR AVILA at her home in Chicago. Keinymar was born with microcephaly, a condition that causes a baby's head to be smaller than normal. Otts-Rubenstein has been leading volunteer efforts for these children for over two months, stepping in where city officials have failed to identify and provide acceptable solutions for disabled migrants.
© Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire

YAMILE PEREZ holds her daughter KEINYMAR AVILA's hands after undergoing virtual individualized education plan testing through a laptop at Mary Otts-Rubenstein's home in Chicago. Keinymar was born with microcephaly, a condition that causes a baby's head to be smaller than normal. Perez had traveled thousands of miles for better opportunities for her daughter.
© Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire

KEINAR CHACIN, 8, right, holds his sister KEINYMAR AVILA at Mary Otts-Rubenstein's home. Mary Otts-Rubenstein, who has her own child with disabilities, is helping migrant families with medically complex children enroll in Chicago's Public Schools.
© Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire

YAMILE PEREZ, 28, holds her daughter KEINYMAR AVILA, 8, now in their own home in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago. The family left Venezuela for Colombia because she needed to have a major surgery to implant a feeding tube in her stomach. They spent years traveling the migrant route through 7 countries to eventually be in Chicago. Perez said she would return to Venezuela or move to another state if it weren’t for Keinymar’s condition and the network of support she’s built here. “My little girl is always at risk of having a seizure,” she said.
© Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire

MILEIDYS GINEZ, left, dances with YAMILE PEREZ while cooking arepas with other migrants at Mary Otts-Rubenstein's home.
© Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire

KEINYMAR AVILA sits on a couch with her mother, YAMILE PEREZ, while undergoing virtual individualized education plan testing through a laptop at Mary Otts-Rubenstein's home. Keinymar was born with microcephaly as a result of the Zika virus, a condition where a baby's head is smaller than normal. Because of this, she also has seizures, developmental delays and intellectual disability. Eventually coming to the US, the family left Venezuela for Colombia because she needed to have a major surgery to implant a feeding tube in her stomach.
© Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire

KEINAR CHACIN, 8, left, watches his sister KEINYMAR AVILA undergo virtual individualized education plan testing through a laptop while sitting with her mother, Yamile Perez, at the Otts-Rubenstein home in Chicago.
© Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire

YASMIRA SALCEDY, right, helps RACHEL RUBENSTEIN put her 6-year-old daughter, Evelyn, into a wheelchair in Otts-Rubenstein's home. Otts-Rubenstein and her wife, Rachel Rubenstein, adopted Evelyn from a different foster couple. The foster dad in that couple shook her when she was just a few weeks old. She never recovered, said Otts-Rubenstein.
© Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire

ANAIS NARVAEZ, 38, from left, rubs her 10-year-old daughter BRITTANY NARVAEZ's leg while she sits in a wheelchair as families wait to undergo virtual individualized education plan testing at Mary Otts-Rubenstein's home. Otts-Rubenstein invited families staying at the Inn of Chicago to participate in virtual IEP testing with Chicago Public Schools staff members in her home.
© Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune via ZUMA Press Wire

HEIDI RABE holds an iPad running an interactive assessment program for KEINYMAR AVILA during a medical appointment at Two Prudential Plaza, as Avila undergoes testing to receive an individualized education program prior to enrolling at Chicago Public Schools.
© Trent Sprague/Chicago Tribune via ZUMA Press Wire

MARY OTTS-RUBENSTEIN, center, holds KEINYMAR AVILA, 7, while Keinymar's mother Yamile Perez talks with Chicago Public School's staff during a virtual individualized education plan testing session in Otts-Rubenstein's home. Keinymar, who has microcephaly, is staying at the Inn of Chicago with other migrant families. Sitting at left are Juan PABLO SALCEDO, 12, and his mother, YASMIRA SALCEDY, 36.
© Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire

EVANDER OSORIO feeds his 7-year-old son, DAVIER, before undergoing virtual individualized education plan testing at Mary Otts-Rubenstein's home. Davier, who has spina bifida, scoliosis, cerebral palsy and hip dysplasia, traveled from the Inn of Chicago, where they're staying with other migrant families, to undergo education plan testing for access to schooling.
© Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire

JUAN PABLO SALCEDO, 12, a migrant from Venezuela, walks outside the Inn of Chicago where he stays with his family. Juan Pablo, who has autism and a slight cognitive delay, left Venezuela with his parents to get medical care in the USA. Experts say children with severe disabilities born in the United States are already at a disadvantage in accessing a quality education, but migrant families with disabled children face especially daunting hurdles.
© Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire