Fullerton, California-based Crittenton Services for Children and Families, a non-profit organization providing behavioral health, foster care, and residential services for children and families, has reduced its workforce.
The reduction affected 144 employees at several Fullerton locations, including behavioral specialists, child care workers, food service managers, instructional aides, medical assistants, program directors, recreation workers, a refugee resettlement worker, and therapists.
According to CEO Douglas Yost, "the layoffs were due to nonrenewal of a three-year application for funding by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, an organization within the Administration for Children & Families, both of which fall under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As a result, we had to close our residential program for unaccompanied minors and lay off 144 staff. At the time of closure, there were no unaccompanied minors in our care — no children were displaced. We are continuing to provide other services for the Office of Refugee and Resettlement, in addition to our ongoing foster care, mental health, and transitional housing programs for system-involved children.”
Change is constant, and it's coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, nor promises of a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something terrible hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, at any time, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. While many employees can read the writing on the wall, why do most assume it’s targeted at someone else? Are you now wondering, Am I Next?
