Where to begin...
My…read moreson had been attending KidsThrive for over a year.
Against my better judgment, I didn't heed another's advice that KidsThrive was not a good place to send your child, but my son has behavioral issues, and it seemed my only option at the time.
To begin, they don't allow you to see the full facility of where your child will be interactive for most of the day, claiming HIPPA. This was extremely odd to me.
The first week, my son was modeling other kids' behaviors, and he ended up calling the van driver the b word, which was totally unacceptable and not something that I would or do tolerate.
They have lost several articles of clothing and a backpack, under their care.
The first time my son attended East, they forgot to put his coat on in freezing, cold weather. He came home in a t-shirt! Man, was I furious!
My son takes medication to help with his behavioral concerns. After this caused him to gain weight, several of his peers started calling him fat. He still to this day looks into the mirror, and asks, "Mommy, am I fat?" When I prompted him as to why he would ask such a ridiculous thing, he says," the kids at KidsThrive call me fat and a baby."
I witnessed kids singing, "no likes you" to the tune of happy birthday right in front of me. The van driver just watched.
Their contracted transportation is awful. However, some drivers at least were honest and said that they witnessed other kids being mean to my son. This was reported to me without prompting. And KidsThrive just makes excuses for it.
My son came home with scratches on his face, and no one could account where they came from. His babysitter even mentioned that they were visible upon being dropped off.
I had several of my son's teachers visit KidsThrive, with signed acknowledgments. They mentioned it was not a good environment, and it was not good for Maverick, that it only heightened his behavioral issues.
In my experience, they are not qualified or structured to care for kids with these types of issues. One of the providers reached out to me and stated, that she was hopeful that MY son didn't grow up to hit females. I sent this to another provider that handles my son's care, and they agreed this was completely unprofessional.
When I told KidsThrive that I had not seen these aggressive behaviors outside of what was being told to me, they said it must be because he knows he cannot be kicked out (???) and getting it out of his system. One also said they were "140 lbs." and could not handle him physically. [For reference, my son is big for his age].
Another instance, I asked if they were able to physically restrain him when he is acting out, and was told, "well I have crutches so I can't."
I have tried to work through several issues that I have encountered over the last year, but it just became too much and the leadership team has become increasingly unhelpful. I do think my son was actually worse in this environment.
Take this information and make of that what you will.
