Pros
Bottom line: the people here are amazing. Supportive coworkers and an open and collaborative environment where ideas are heard and celebrated. The work can be rewarding, PTO accrual is better than any other social services agency I have worked for before, fairly competitive salary for case management in the Austin area (although still fairly low for what case managers deserve, but that is a larger issue). There is no doubt that you are making a difference in the community when you work here and you will definitely gain professional experience and make important connections/networking if you choose to work here.
Cons
The work is hard. There are bad days in homeless services and sometimes this can be emotionally taxing. There is a frustrating disconnect between higher-level management and folks working directly in the community (this is common with all social service agencies it seems). The programs are also disconnected and it seems like that is a missed opportunity to build more support amongst Front Steppers. Finance department needs more staff and better training- there almost always seems to be an issue with getting rent checks out to clients on time, reimbursements to case managers, and unfortunately payroll as well. It is really frustrating to receive the incorrect pay and have to advocate for yourself when it seems that other agencies don't have these problems. You shouldn't have to double check your paystubs to make sure the agency didn't short you or pay you incorrectly, but this has happened multiple times with staff (myself included) since being here.
