Revolving Door of Trauma and Ignorance - Specialist The Julian Center Employee Review

It is amazing to me that The Julian Center is still open in any capacity. I often reflect on my time there with deep sadness and disgust. Where to begin? Management is disingenuous, ignorant, and lack any semblance of a backbone or leadership skills. The training they offer new-hires is a joke, and many times extremely critical information would be forgotten, inevitably and repeatedly leading to dire and unsafe situations. Management all the way to the top desperately need to be replaced by competent and motivated individuals with relevant experience. Staff are treated like degenerates, liars, and idiots, yet they will avoid firing even the most despicable and non-trauma informed employees. Those who truly care about the clientele often do not stay long because it feels morally-corrupt to work for this organization. The staff that do stay are overtly and loudly transphobic, racist, and participate in the most volatile and harmful victim-blaming of the extremely at-risk population The Julian Center serves. Those who stay become involved in extremely cliquey drama between groups, with gossip that is vicious and ignorant and always ends up hurting the clients, who notice the tension as well. The pay is abysmal, and they abuse the staff who truly want to make a difference by leading them on, punishing them, and taking advantage. Survivors come in and out like a revolving door due to the hostility and lack of structure and support provided by the Julian Center. They are "assigned" an advocate (an exhausted and overworked and deeply underpaid individual usually being harassed by managers) who they often times, never even have the opportunity to meet. Food, clothing, and other personal items are policed like it is a prison, and certain staff relish in lording their power over "difficult" clients. These clients are truly some of the most at-risk and victimized individuals and families in the city, and they arrive at JC only to be given thirty days of even more disgusting and dehumanizing treatment. Constant outbreaks of bedbugs, fights, and disappearing women are all part of the culture. Clients who are dark-skinned, involved in any sort of sex-work, with more than three children, who do not speak English as a primary language, any sort of substance challenges, mental health challenges or any combination of the above are treated as burdens similar to the bedbugs that routinely infest the place. There are few support groups, despite the fact that most of the survivors have mental health/substance abuse challenges, and if they do not speak English, they will not be provided an interpreter. Advocates are told to use a hotline that has been known to be problematic and harmful, or told to use Google Translate themselves. If you are either a survivor or potential employee reading this who is a person of color, LGBTQ, a sex-worker/pro-sex-worker, have any sort of substance abuse and or mental health challenges, have multiple children, and English is not your first language, please look elsewhere. As for The Julian Center, I am truly shocked and disturbed it still exists. Staff and clients deserve so much more than this.