Utah Community Action Reviews

I would strongly suggest not working for this agency. The turnover rate is incredibly high, because of the constant stress/confusion in the work environment. From what I understand, 1/4 of lead teachers quit during the school year, many of whom just up and left without providing notice to the agency. I believe many more will quit over the summer landing the organization back at "square one" having to train all-new employees, etc. Job expectations are often unclear/delayed/unrealistic - this job is much, much more than teaching preschool. It's absolutely too much! The Head Start portion of SLCAP is always understaffed and seems management heavy, which causes a lot of problems. There aren't enough supervisors to teach "Lead Teachers/Family Advocates" how to do their jobs effectively. It is also hard to get a response from other departments Lead Teachers are required to coordinate with closely, because they too are understaffed. For instance, the nursing team, composed of 3 nurses, is now down to 1. (With a caseload of over 2,000 children program-wide.) One nurse quit this year and the lead nurse is retiring. Another newly hired nurse quit after just 4 hours. 2 kitchen staff walked off the job, 3 Education Specialists (supervisors to the teachers) quit mid-year and atleast one office manager also quit. Burnout is quickly cause by staff members who work constantly but still never feel like they are getting everything done. The work environment is chaotic and extremely toxic, as the CEO and management team communicate passive-aggressively and aren't transparent in regards to what is going on with the organization. The organization undergoes constant change, given its requirement to comply with federal guidelines/constant need for more grant money, which may or may not be awarded. These items also contribute to high stress levels and a chaotic atmosphere.

The Management staff. The director has zero business running across the road, much less running this business unchecked. Sure she has a great background in education. But it stops there. She is so far removed from the cause of the organization that she couldn't run it effectively. She not only has no people skills (unless there is a camera around), but she repels staff and those who work under her - with the exception of the directors she's surrounded herself with. They have a GREAT time - on Head Start's dime. The things I've seen on the back-end as to where they spend money would make every grant be pulled immediately if they weren't so good at covering tracks. SO sad that they run this like their own personal club - even using the food services department to cater personal parties and some directors use the Head Start classroom as their own personal daycare (who cares if it causes one less child in need to take that spot). It's disgusting and we all wish the board would look past the engaging smile of the director and find out what they've really been doing.