Pros
- Even if you don't have a license, you get your own caseload - Site Supervisor was supportive, and approachable, unfortunately she is not the one that makes the big decision that affect everyone.
Cons
- No work -life balance, this company has no respect for your time. You will constantly have to find yourself covering extra shift because they are so short staff. If you want to take vacation days (which is your right as an employee) it becomes almost impossible, because you need to find your own coverage for your shift, and since they are so short staff, no body will do it. You will find yourself begging people. - If you apply for the counselor position, just know you will be doing everything but clinical work most of the time. You will find yourself mostly taking care of children, helping clients with their daily activities such as chores etc, taking clients out for smoke breaks, and something running errands for the agency. - You are required and responsible to give medication and Methadone to clients. THEY DO NOT HAVE A NURSE ON SITE. They have counselors, support staff, and even the driver monitor medication to clients. You become "med trained" after a quick 30 minutes training with a nurse that comes in to do the training, and shadowing other staff, and that is it. You are responsible to provide medication to clients without having some sort or certification. What if you make a mistake? what if someone has a medical emergency because you gave them the wrong medication or dosage? then its on you, yet you are not a nurse, or a doctor to be doing this on the first place. They just don't want to pay a nurse to work here, so they have staff do it. - There is no sense of team support here. Staff that has been there for years are the ones who run the show. If you are new, they will treat you like a maid, having you watch the children, and help women with activities that are not clinically related. They will make you do the things they don't want to do themselves. Even though you were hired as a clinician. - The program is so unorganized, I don't even know where to start. They have you give groups, and the topics are the same over and over again each week. The curriculum has not been updated in who knows how long. - It is obvious that they are more worry about the money they get, than the client's recovery. It is sad that the state funds programs that are this unorganized and unethical. - Please, please do yourself a favor. If you are truly seeking for a site to gain clinical experience, have valuable supervision, and have a sense of supportive teamwork. DO NOT APPLY HERE. But if you are just looking for a please because you really need a job, than go ahead. But I can assure there are other places out there that treat their employees better, and where you will actually be doing clinical work.
