Pros
Job is basically to supervise kids with I/DD and pretty serious trauma. They’re hilarious and usually fun to hang with. Applicants should know many are violent when they’re upset. Staff use restraints regularly to keep everyone safe but occasionally kids still do some pretty serious damage to staff. Direct supervision is OK and occasionally great, but upper management needs pretty serious restructuring and rethinking. There’s always drama among the staff but it’s entirely possible to avoid getting caught up in it by being kind to everyone. The good stuff: 1:1 ratio, hilarious stories, every day is different, tons of camaraderie with coworkers, cool team for the most part, good amount of downtime, mgmt will work with you if you need accommodations, you can take a kid off-campus and avoid the mayhem for a day, the BCBA is great, it is explicitly trans-affirming and a safe place for kids and adults to be out, and there’s a million opportunities to learn something new from your coworkers.
Cons
Pay and benefits (no bonuses, almost no raises, and literally terrible holiday policy, also disparities within the same position); unresponsive management that will let problems get out of control before they address them; inconsistency with behavior plan implementation; supposed to be “short-term” residential but kids stay there for years beyond where the program is helping them; seriously *bad* communication as to changes in policy; staff buying kids tickets and things because there is little access to org money to do activities with them; organization spending money on stuff no one wants (e.g. tearing down b-ball court to put in a parking lot, tablets, renovation of new building) instead of investing in their residents and employees by purchasing memberships to museums and parks, giving cost of living raises, putting in a playground, professional development, program development, etc; questionable hires; really good staff leaving all the time because they are under-appreciated or unsupported or actively ignored by management when they bring ideas; occasional understaffing that results in dangerous situations like kids or staff getting hurt or kids running to I-25 or jumping into traffic; no structure within the kids’ days; women and especially women of color picking up the bulk of the cleaning and “domestic” stuff because the supervisors don’t tell the men to buck up; management turning a blind eye to dangerous working conditions; damage control is the modus operandi; need I go on.