Today was my first day at a group home. I was fairly nervous because my training was shit, at best. I got a tour of the buildings, told about some administrative stuff and trained in basic self defense, but I never actually saw how the group home operates. They don't have a list of rules, or even a schedule. The kids barely have any consequences for negative behaviour (ie: they can only watch TV instead of playing a video game) so they run hog wild.
Every day managers send out at least 5 emails begging staff to come in. It's gotten so bad that they've hired workers from a different agency to come in and sit on their ass. They don't have to do any meal prep, paperwork or actual care, they're just there for safety.
Today I was scheduled to work the afternoon but because they had no staff, they asked me to work a double. I said okay. What I didn't know at the time of saying okay is that I would be working with someone who has never even seen this building before. He literally walked in tonight for the first time ever so it's not like I could get any guidance from him.
But oh, it continues to get worse. During the day I make $19/hour. Overnights are actually $2 less per hour. You don't get to sleep and you're supposed to do all the meal prep for the next day.
The guy from the other agency? Gets paid $29/hour and he's asleep on the couch.
I fully understand now why this house is a complete fucking shit hole. They're setting the kids up for failure and the staff up for burnout (I mean, they're all already burnt out from what I can tell).
I feel bad, but I already want to quit. I feel awful for these kids, and the staff who have stuck around, but Jesus christ. Why should I stick around and make almost less than half of what a sleeping man makes.