North Charleston Police Department (NCPD) officers arrested two women Tuesday after officers found several young children alone inside a home with unsafe living conditions.

Officers responded around 9:30 a.m. to a home on English Street after receiving a report of unattended children outside the residence. A caller told dispatchers she had guided the children back inside before police arrived.

When officers reached the home, they found the front door open and three children standing near the entrance. After knocking and announcing themselves without getting a response, officers entered the residence to search for an adult and discovered a fourth child asleep in a bedroom.

Authorities contacted the children’s mother, identified as 32-year-old Anita Jacqueline Capers, along with a DSS caseworker. Police later learned three additional children also lived at the home, including two at school and another staying with a babysitter elsewhere.

A second woman, 33-year-old Candace Warner, later arrived and told officers she and Capers had left the children alone while they drove to Ashley Phosphate Road so Capers could go to work.

Police said the home contained multiple hazards, including dirty floors, a large hole in a bedroom floor, and a broken mirror within reach of the children. Officers also reported there was very little food in the refrigerator, and the children said they were hungry.

Both women were charged with four counts of unlawful conduct toward a child and booked into the Al Cannon Detention Center. All six children were later released to a relative.