Civitan Foundation Inc

★Lando Baggins

Do not send your loved ones to Civitan if you value their safety. Our son attended Civitan Mon-Fri 8:00 AM to 3:45 PM. Because Civitan is located at 40th St & Cactus and we live at 32nd St & Thunderbird Rd, he was scheduled to be the very first drop off by the Civitan van, usually arriving home no later than 4:00 PM. Two specific incidents occurred during his time there that forced me to immediately remove him from the program. Failure of Pickup Policy and Identification I arrived to pick my son up early one day for a doctor's appointment. I gave my son's name to a front desk employee I had never met before. Another employee, whom I also did not know, called my son to the front and handed him directly over to me without checking any identification. When I asked the employee, "Aren't you going to ask me for ID or anything?" she replied rudely, "Would you LIKE for me to ID you?" I asked the woman at the front desk the same question, and she stated there was no policy in place for checking ID. I contacted a supervisor named Molly about this, but no safety protocols were changed for the duration of my sons attendance. Van Driver Refusal to Provide Location Weeks later, my son did not arrive home by his usual 4:00 PM drop off time. By 4:17 PM, I called his phone. My son has autism, communication and comprehension difficulties, lacks a sense of danger, and runs a high risk of exploitation. He told me he was looking out the window at Glendale & 17th Dr, far outside his normal route. I asked him to hand the phone to the driver, Diana, who stated she had been with Civitan for 12 years (primarily working in the kitchen). When I asked why my son was in Glendale when he is the first stop, she laughed and said she was just following the schedule given by her supervisor. When asked where she was heading next, she giggled and said "further west" to 35th Ave, then 47th Ave. She stated she planned to drop my son off last.(For the duration of the call, the driver could CLEARLY hear how worried I was, yet it didn't stop her from giggling while trying to find my son. I informed her I was driving to meet the van. She gave me her phone number but repeatedly refused to give clear location updates as she dropped off other passengers. While I was driving from Thunderbird Rd to meet her on Glendale Ave. I asked her to give location updates upon drop offs. She changed her location to Peoria Ave without telling me, then blamed me for the call being "too distracting." Even though there would be no talking for 10 minute periods. She then changed her location back to Thunderbird. During this phone call with the driver, a supervisor left me a voicemail stating that the driver failed to follow the schedule and that he had radioed her to correct her while she was on the line with me. Despite her supervisor telling her she was wrong, the driver refused to admit the mistake to me and continued trying to double down on dropping my son off last, for whatever reason. We finally met at a dentist's office at 35th Ave and Thunderbird at 5:22 PM nearly an hour and a half after my son was supposed to be home. The sun was setting, and there were still multiple passengers on the van. My son had run out of water and was severely dehydrated and hungry when he got into my truck. I removed my son from Civitan that night. I called and spoke with the supervisor, who confirmed the driver failed to follow the route. We filed an Adult Protective Services (APS) report. During the investigation, APS informed me that the driver was still employed there after the incident. Aside from the supervisor who I called that night, Civitan never apologized, never took accountability, and showed zero remorse. Furthermore, they refuse to stop sending newsletters to my email despite repeated requests to be removed from their mailing list. I wouldn't doubt if they reply with something like: they have no record of my son being enrolled in Civitan. I'm writing this review from my personal email, not my business email which is associated with my contact information Civitan has on file.

★★★★★Cristine Bryant

My son attends the adult program he is 20. He loves it there. He also goes to the camping trips to Camp Civitan in Williams. He gets to see his friends and just be independent. He has a blast. He is camping as we speak, an adventure for 7 days. They have shorter and longer trips. Longest he has been on was 9 days. Right now he is on his way to the Grand Canyon, he went to Bearizona as well. There is a end of camp dance he enjoys dancing and having fun. I love this program for him.

★★★X Res

I never have been there,.. I have been at a few CIVITAN dinners inthe Wash.DC-area (mostly in suburban Md.). Unfortunately perhaps - I did not get hooked on the CIVITANs but I enjoyed the people with various backgrounds - yet with the common trait of great attitudes!

★★★★★Kyle Colbeck

I saw a news segment on fox 10 about this place. I wanted to be supportive of what they do. I had a few phone calls and struggled to get a menu emailed to me but eventually me and my family ordered braze beef wine and veggies. Was delicious and great value. There was also cookies for sale that had a mixed batch we got as well. Nice holiday decorations, friendly staff, clean and what I think maybe fairly new renovations. Not much parking available that I saw. I was there 12/17/2020

★★R B

I went to this place about a year ago to see about my son spending time there. when you look at the website it does not look like the picture on the website unless they have done remodeling since I went there. it is very old, dark and uninviting and doesn't smell good. I would never leave my son there there were no recreational things in the back yard that I could see all I could see was dirt. I went into one of the bedrooms there was a few beds there they were not made up at all just bare. the Room looked uninviting and scary. And the 2 pictures of the kitchen and living room are deceiving , unless it has been remodeled. Do not leave anyone there without looking through the whole place.