First Place for Youth reviews

There was an overall culture of fear, with a huge amount of pressure on direct service staff to produce positive outcomes, with little support or training. There was tremendous turnover as a result, which compromised the quality of services and was upsetting to the kids the organization was trying to help. High standards and accountability are important, but need to be supported by a system that values staff input, provides adequate training, and clear policies and procedures based on best practies. First Place used fear, intimidation, and humiliation to get results. The high pressure environment encouraged incentivized people to fudge their numbers to avoid being fired. Within upper management, there was a pool of directors who would continually give eachother promotions and new job titles, without holding themselves to the same standards as staff. Some directors literally did not know how to use excel, do basic math, or understand even the most basic requirements of the government contracts they were supposed to manage. Which menat that someone below them actually managed the contract, without the pay, title, or recognition.

Poor overall work culture, work/life balance and management.