A Padlock, a Cot, and a Dedicated Employee

The overnight stay that kept a Utah ABS Kids location open for operation.

Stepping inside one of our ABS Kids centers, you’ll see our clinical and office staff as the face of our services. Behind them is an entire ecosystem of support personnel working tirelessly to ensure centers remain operational and everyone inside is safe.   

 “I see these unsung heroes who stay in the background,” explained Randy Thompson, Senior Vice President of Real Estate and Facilities. “They're just making sure the centers are optimal so we can treat the kids who need us.” 

In early March, a surprise inspection from the Fire Marshal put a center at risk of closure. An unused electrical box, which was part of the leased building, was padlocked and deemed a fire hazard. A 24-hour “fire watch” was immediately mandated until the issue could be resolved. If the center and neighboring business didn’t comply, the front doors would be padlocked, and business licenses could be revoked.  

This is where one of our “unsung heroes,” Jake Johnson, stepped in. As the Facilities Manager for California and Utah, Jake is the first call for building-related issues. Without hesitation, the father of three and one on the way, bought a cot, a blanket, and began to triage the issue. For the first few hours, he was on the phone with his other ABS Kids facilities colleagues, working quickly to find a solution. 

The store next door, also under the fire watch, had an employee in her 80s standing guard. Around one a.m., Jake noticed her sitting in a folding chair just inside, and offered to watch both locations, allowing her to head home. 

After hours of consulting with his colleagues in California and North Carolina, Jake secured a contractor to address and fix the issue the following morning, finally crawling into his cot at just past four a.m. Randy noted it was because of Jake’s efforts there wasn’t “chaos” at the center when the first clients arrived the following morning. “Had he not been available to do that, or just taken it upon himself to do it, folks would have showed up the next morning with no idea why our doors were padlocked and what to do about it.” 

Clients trust ABS Kids to be the steadiness in their lives, even when ordinances or mother nature have other plans. “Most of the work my folks do is in the background,” Randy said. “You don’t see the repairs, the late nights, and the fire drills we go through to keep these centers operational so our BTs and BCBAs can provide services to the kids. They're taken care of—and we're OK with that. We don't need the spotlight. We're fine just being the folks that make the engine run. And Jake is a great example of someone who does just that.” 

In 2024, the facilities team not only helped expand ABS Kids into South Carolina but also managed to maintain operations across all locations while dealing with several national natural disasters. 

Randy shared while he’s never asked in a prospect’s job interview if someone would be willing to go “above and beyond” for a center, he knows everyone at ABS Kids is behind the mission and is willing to step up for the children we serve.  

“It was so reassuring to me that my folks are so bought into the vision of what we're trying to do and the meaning of what we do in the centers,” Randy said. “If the kids who we’re helping, the families who love them, and the community in which they live [are able to access the centers], it's just a great testimony to what ABS Kids is all about.”