As the title states I 22F work at a residential behavioral center for adoelscent boys in DCFS custody. Most of these boys never had a chance in life odds stacked against them horrible families and need for psychiatric care makes a pretty horrible mix. I love working this job. Truly it's the most rewarding but difficult job ive had. My issue is last night I was at work and scrolling through tiktok at 3am alone at my facility and the nurse in Rhode Island's story popped up on my FYP. I started to think and get mad. I with less than a years worth of experience am left alone in a home with 7 boys. 50% of them are very high needs and always have to have an eye kept on them aka little leeway for them. The other 50% is okay ish. If one of those boys decided to attack me in the middle of the night and I couldn't get their hands off my throat what do I do? I am alone. Everyone else in the other houses is alone. There is no backup to call and even if there was how do I call them when being strangled? You pray the boys press the emergency button and run to another house for help but they are not in the right state of mind and may not do that.

It just started dawning on me. How are we so understaffed I am working alone with psych patients. The ratio is 3 kids to 1 staff. If there are 7 kids in a home there should be 3 staff members but I would even feel comfortable with 2. Then when you think about it further dcfs pays for ALL of our beds at ALL times. They pay for my paycheck. There is no way my non profit job is not billing DCFS for the correct ratio of overnight employees. So where is that extra money going to. Just ticks me off. I have an interview probably going back to starbucks while I go to nursing school they will pay be $5 more as a supervisor than this place pays be to get beat on. Is this something I should tell dcfs? Is there anyway to make an actual anonymous complaint? am I crazy for wanting to leave due to the safety issues?