Carey Roberts
Another Way Shelter Headed for a Meltdown?

July 27, 2008 at 7:14 pm · Filed under Vox Populi

Last week my column revealed the all-too-common mistreatment of children in abuse shelters around the country. The article highlighted two incidents involving a Florida shelter — a former director who was cited for contributing to the delinquency of minors, and the sexual assault of a 4-year-old girl. [http://www.ifeminists.net/e107_plugi...p?content.360]

Following publication of that essay, several former employees of Another Way came forward to tell me there was much, much more to the story. What follows is an account of three Queen Bees, a demoralized and depleted staff, and a shelter in disarray. The sordid tale calls to mind the old saying, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Another Way, located in the northern Florida town of Lake City, has a gleaming facility with 35 beds and is headed by a director paid the tidy sum of $95,000. The staff consists of 30 persons and up to 20 volunteers. Over the last 2 years, the shelter has been plagued by an epidemic of staff “resignations” — 150 employees, more or less.

The former staffers shared with me eye-witness accounts of prison camp-like working conditions, misappropriated shelter assets, falsified documents, sex discrimination, illicit drug activities, horrific child abuse, illegal cover-ups, complacent oversight agencies, and more.

The shell-shocked women told me many of their former co-workers are unqualified, untrained, and even under-age. Some employees are required to work overtime without pay. Many are subjected to random tongue-lashings and at-will terminations.

A few felt set up for failure. One staffer, ordered to pull together extensive tax records on short notice, recounted her ordeal: “Toward the end of my deadline, I felt like I was going to have a mental break down…There [are] no words that can express the mental anguish that I was made to feel throughout the day.”

There were widespread reports of management using the shelter van and other resources for personal use. Staff training records were known to be falsified. When state auditors came to town, the managers would pull all-nighters to make sure the records were brought up to snuff.

The Queen Bees went out of their way to avoid helping abused men. One employee revealed, “I was personally instructed to do everything possible to discourage males to report abuse.”

Oddly, fewer than 15% of residents came to the facility with any physical injuries. Some of the residents had been charged with beating up their boyfriends and thrown in the clink. So shelter staff worked their feminine charms to procure their release and hide the law-breakers from their probation officers.

Druggies openly plied their habit. “I, on numerous occasions reported illegal drug use that I had witnessed take place on Shelter property and often my complaints were ignored,” a former employee revealed. “We always knew not to call the law unless you were prepared to be unemployed.”

One appalled woman described the shelter’s cover-up this way: “We’re here to empower women, not teach them how to lie, cheat, steal, and manipulate the system.”

Most troubling were the recurring incidents of child neglect and abuse — all swept under the rug. These are just three examples:

– Returning to the 4-year-old who was sexually assaulted by the 9-year-old girl, it turned out her perpetrator had been involved in inappropriate sex acts with another child at the shelter just two months before. That was never reported to the authorities.

– A one-month-old was left unattended in a baby swing. Despite the infant sobbing all day, a shelter manager upbraided the concerned employee with the rebuke, “We don’t tell these women how to parent their children.”

– An 8-year-old boy became angry and started to cry. Someone stuck him in a closed van in the middle of summer. Advised of this barbaric punishment, the manager ordered the boy left in the vehicle until he “decided to stop throwing a fit.”

Some incidents were reported to the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence. But the group never saw reason to take action. Maybe that’s because the FCADV director, Tiffany Carr, is known to be buddy-buddy with the Another Way head.

After they were expelled like a worn-out pack mule, many former workers experienced post-traumatic stress syndrome. Some required psychiatric treatment.

One ex-worker revealed to me, “They took advantage of their knowledge of my history of being an abuse victim and my desperate circumstances to intimidate me into accepting the abuse that they heaped on me.”

Comparing her employer to a perp, another woman reflected, “I later realized that like a battered woman my loyalties were still to my abuser.”

No wonder so many victims of abuse would never dream of going to an abuse shelter.

More...

Very sad incident. How many children is this happening to and out of how many children who come through the refuges?

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Following publication of that essay, several former employees of Another Way came forward to tell me there was much, much more to the story. What follows is an account of three Queen Bees, a demoralized and depleted staff, and a shelter in disarray. The sordid tale calls to mind the old saying, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

This shows the need for better working conditions.

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Another Way, located in the northern Florida town of Lake City, has a gleaming facility with 35 beds and is headed by a director paid the tidy sum of $95,000.

Nothing wrong with this. The charity organisations are allowed to pay the equivalent as the business organisations under law.

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The staff consists of 30 persons and up to 20 volunteers.

I am sure their are more volunteers than this. The phones are handled by volunteers 24 hours a day and then there are the drivers.

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Over the last 2 years, the shelter has been plagued by an epidemic of staff “resignations” — 150 employees, more or less.

150 staff resignations in 2 years is not unusual for such stressful work. This is much more than a childcare agency.

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The former staffers shared with me eye-witness accounts of prison camp-like working conditions, misappropriated shelter assets, falsified documents, sex discrimination, illicit drug activities, horrific child abuse, illegal cover-ups, complacent oversight agencies, and more.

The falsified documents are interesting but not unusual for any charitable trust. Yet with PC, auditing has changed things. Still I would like to see one organisation not looking to help a person in need and change a thing or two to help the paperwork. Prison conditions??? Of course. it is a shelter. There are too many lives at stake to allow freedom.

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The shell-shocked women told me many of their former co-workers are unqualified, untrained, and even under-age. Some employees are required to work overtime without pay. Many are subjected to random tongue-lashings and at-will terminations.

Unhappy ex workers. What's new in the world.

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A few felt set up for failure. One staffer, ordered to pull together extensive tax records on short notice, recounted her ordeal: “Toward the end of my deadline, I felt like I was going to have a mental break down…There [are] no words that can express the mental anguish that I was made to feel throughout the day.”

Unqualified worker.

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There were widespread reports of management using the shelter van and other resources for personal use. Staff training records were known to be falsified. When state auditors came to town, the managers would pull all-nighters to make sure the records were brought up to snuff.

All organisations do this. Too petty.

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The Queen Bees went out of their way to avoid helping abused men. One employee revealed, “I was personally instructed to do everything possible to discourage males to report abuse.”

Is this co-ed shelters or just women shelters? And are they abused women and were they abused by men?

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Oddly, fewer than 15% of residents came to the facility with any physical injuries.

This must be one of those workers who didn't like the wages and quit after a day or week? Unbelievable. So now DV must show physical signs? Wow!

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Some of the residents had been charged with beating up their boyfriends and thrown in the clink. So shelter staff worked their feminine charms to procure their release and hide the law-breakers from their probation officers.

Hey, ... that's worthwhile for the MRM to take up. IMO

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Druggies openly plied their habit. “I, on numerous occasions reported illegal drug use that I had witnessed take place on Shelter property and often my complaints were ignored,” a former employee revealed. “We always knew not to call the law unless you were prepared to be unemployed.”

Drugs is an epidemic. Are we better off to just kick every person in need to the street?

Don't people know what it is like to go inwards with feelings and don't people understand that drugs and alcohol are used as a way to cope?

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One appalled woman described the shelter’s cover-up this way: “We’re here to empower women, not teach them how to lie, cheat, steal, and manipulate the system.”

No, no, no. You are not there to empower women. You are there to save lives.

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Most troubling were the recurring incidents of child neglect and abuse — all swept under the rug. These are just three examples: – Returning to the 4-year-old who was sexually assaulted by the 9-year-old girl, it turned out her perpetrator had been involved in inappropriate sex acts with another child at the shelter just two months before. That was never reported to the authorities. – A one-month-old was left unattended in a baby swing. Despite the infant sobbing all day, a shelter manager upbraided the concerned employee with the rebuke, “We don’t tell these women how to parent their children.” – An 8-year-old boy became angry and started to cry. Someone stuck him in a closed van in the middle of summer. Advised of this barbaric punishment, the manager ordered the boy left in the vehicle until he “decided to stop throwing a fit.” Some incidents were reported to the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence. But the group never saw reason to take action. Maybe that’s because the FCADV director, Tiffany Carr, is known to be buddy-buddy with the Another Way head.

Abuse in the home creates abuse. Start checking out the statistics used for this type of work.

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After they were expelled like a worn-out pack mule, many former workers experienced post-traumatic stress syndrome. Some required psychiatric treatment.

America is well know to be like this. This is America isn't it? I suppose they also want to sue????

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One ex-worker revealed to me, “They took advantage of their knowledge of my history of being an abuse victim and my desperate circumstances to intimidate me into accepting the abuse that they heaped on me.”

In other words she was asked to consider others as she should be considered through her own experience. But not everyone deals with abuse the same way. And besides love is better than judgement when people are just coming out of the abuse.

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Comparing her employer to a perp, another woman reflected, “I later realized that like a battered woman my loyalties were still to my abuser.”

This happens quite a bit. She is a victim herself.

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No wonder so many victims of abuse would never dream of going to an abuse shelter.

Heresay!!

Sorry to be nasty christainj. But as an MRA myself, I would be very careful touching this. These women won't get the blame. The men's movement will.

What ever happened to going for something political like the falsity of "sports games creating abuse"?

What ever happened to the idea that we are all allowed to view documents under the privacy act but not shelters?

What ever happened to the fact that shelters receive very little of the money collected? Most of the money goes to women's lobby groups.

What ever happened to listening to the professionals in the industry and not the bitching abused women who become staff?

And just that in itself is bad for the MRM. Taking advantaged of abused women by men????? Tsk, tsk, tsk.

This is dynamite. I'd be very careful playing with it.

This will all be swept under the carpet as women are involved and it's the usual case where accountability is non-existant..

Feminists will ensure this to be the case and the government departments that are supposed to be protecting kids will concentrate on deadbeat dads as they have done in the past..

You're interpretation sounds like you're being an apologist instead of stating exactly what this is all about..

The continued abuse against women and children is the case in point here, not just some interpretation..

Julie, I have to take issue with some of your comments.

It shows a great deal more than simply 'working conditions', shirley? Roberts is describing "demoralized and depleted staff, and a shelter in disarray". Due to "Absolute power corrupts absolutely". And this means just 'working conditions'??

And just how much a business organisation of such size pay in NZ? Or the USA for that matter. We have a 'homeless' men's place in Hobart that has around 30 beds too and the Director ( a chap) gets $30,000 pa. I have had more staff than this in NGOs that I have Directed and hardly any staff turnover, including Directing a large organisation for the severaly mentally disabled with well over a 100 staff. I paid my CEO $60,000.

O come on now. This is 'stressful work'? Compared to what? Do fighter pilots have a turnover like that? Or coal miners? How about being a concrete pourer on a thirty storey building site. I used to be an Air Traffic Controller and that was stressful - there were three 'signs' - piles in the 20's; ulcers in the 30's; and heart attacks in the 40's. Stress indeed !

150 in two years is 75 a year. That's out of 30 people and 20 volunteers. It is an appalling turnover.

In my role with the Org that had over 100 staff I may have lost five or six staff members a year. They were wonderful, dedicated people working in very difficult circumstances with very difficult clients.

This is a slanderous calumny, Julie. Falsification of documents is illegal. If what you are saying (without ANY evidence) is true then the sooner 'Charities' are shut down, the better. But it is not true of course. And you know it. I have been a Director in four 'charitable trusts' ranging from a few $,000 to several tens of $millions. The 'documents' were exact and correct.

All organisations DO NOT do this. (management using the shelter van and other resources for personal use. Staff training records were known to be falsified.) Where the f*ck have you worked?


Crikey. You sound shocked.

But what has your comments above been?

Mostly queer wimin run these wimins shelter right !!!!

being queer wimin they are beyond reproach in the feminit culture dykeism is the desired end for wimin in the gynocratic utopia is it not

I worked outside and inside one of these wimins refuges

they are not neat clean and tidy withn I can assure youse

whilst outside I rescued two kids under 3 years of age that had wandered into the street

( I worked at the telephone junction posts outside the refugefor Telecom)

one of the little girls was in the middle of the road at high risk of death

the other wandering along the footpath totally lost and unattended and open to abduction

what ! do youse think the slack n idle dykes inside thanked me when I took the girls back

I got a sort of a "what the fuck" hostile stare

I guess I was lucky they didn't do the false allegation routine against me

I would have lost my job

the question begged itself to me - "why is it that distressed wimin and kids are atteneded to by queer wimin"

who are these queer wimin accountable to !!!!

C'mon Christianj and Percy, why would I care to defend the shelters when you want them destroyed?

I am just answering as ONE charitable community worker in the field. There are millions of them and I am sure Percy knows about the work and problems with staff and how important volunteers are as well as rare.

I am sure the feminists will be doing the same thing to the men's organisations and facilities. This is WAR after all.

.............

The ground doesn't do this because it shut doors fast. I was told to stay well away from them yet I still have the opportunity to talk with staff as a member of another trust.

I wish TEN all the best in their charity work or anti feminism. I am just putting out my view - that's all.

Just on another note. I reckon the best organisations to work for are the oil companies.

They give a card for taxis so that all their staff don't drink and drive. The can use it any time, anywhere. They also have gyms and great childcare facilities.

Company vehicles is a petty thing Percy. I reckon you didn't have much closeness with your staff if you think they were 100% honest on everything.

Or maybe it is just the next generation that is dishonest.

That's a fairly crass remark even coming from you. Show me where I wanted them destroyed ?

My aim in exposing this chaos is to demonstrate what happens when feminists and espcially unaccountable feminist females take control, this is what happens.

The original reason for these shelters were to service both males and females in their hours of need, that was the wish of the person that first introduced them. They were taken over by feminists as a breeding ground to promote male hate and as have we have read, abuse of all and any kind is promoted instead..

I want them to be run professionally as either a joint establishment for both sexes or have an equal facility for both sexes seeing that right now so many studies clearly demonstrate that women are more abusive than men ever were.

Get it right.

That's a very clever comeback.

For the rest.... whatever.,