Sunset After School Program

The first warning sign was on the first day of the program; the staff had never seen me before and had no clue who I was, but allowed me to leave with my daughter without checking an ID or making sure I was truly her parent. Basically anyone could walk in, grab a child's hand, and walk back out. There is a sign out book placed near the entrance, but no one monitors it to make sure children are signed in and out. Further, despite all its wonderful claims to provide a safe, nurturing environment for kids after school, the program is chaotic and unstructured. Where does the money go? The staff is every bit as irresponsible as the children--probably because the staff is made up of children that look like they are 14yrs old. When you go to pick up your child, no one ever knows where they are. How could they? There are too many children and not enough people watching them--the kids could walk right out the door into traffic and no one would even notice. Kids run around crazy with nothing to do. Other times the kids are parked in front of video games. Homework never gets done even though they claim that's one of the functions of the program (help with homework). On one occassion, when I arrived to pick up my child I saw three staffers "egging on" two small boys to wrestle each other and pin each other to the ground. Nevermind that they could get hurt and it was completely aggressive and inappropriate. My child has been bullied repeatedly and I've told three different staffers and all they did is accuse my child of being a liar and laugh about it. The whole reason for putting my child in the program is so that I could know she was safe and taken care of until I can pick her up. Latch-key kids are safer than the kids in this program!