Pros
Some nice coworkers who you get to trauma bond over how bad the company is, you don't have to do a lot of work all of the time, you can get 3-4 days off a week but a lot of it is spent catching up on sleep from overnights. One pro is that it can lead to getting experience in social work/psychology so that you can leave this company after 6 months to a year and do something else that is higher paying or go back to school. I was a residential counselor at the Acute Diversion Unit level which means you see more clients than the 90 day or year long programs and get a lot of hands on experience in crisis management. Some opportunities for over-time pay although this leads to quicker burnout and leaves you wondering why you aren't being paid enough in the first place.
Cons
Horrifically run organization from top to bottom. Lower and Upper Management/HR create a toxic work environment that breeds resentment and frustration. Bad/toxic coworkers are not disciplined or fired unless they do something egregious like have a relationship with a client-- that is the only thing I ever saw someone get fired for. -This company has the most ironic name of all time due to management not wanting any sort of progress or change to the company in any way at all and actively work against any sort of improvement. They also seem to have a problem with training anyone (and only recently instated a meager training program) even though counselors are expected to do things like give out medications to clients. -You have to work 12 hour shifts and one of these shifts is over-night, meaning you work from 8pm to 8am and are expected not to sleep/rest at all even on your breaks or you will be fired. Most new employees have to work two of these 12 hour overnight shifts a week as well as one 12 hour daytime shift-- leaving them constantly tired and not having a regular sleep schedule which leads to quick burnout. -Some of the worst coworkers I've ever met in my life who had been at the company for many many years and felt stuck there and miserable. The first house I worked at was truly one of the worst/most disorganized working environments I have ever encountered with incredibly detached management. -The worst and least qualified people at the company are promoted due to being yes-men who do not speak out against upper management, while good managers/counselors who do question management's bizarre decisions -- or lack thereof -- are pushed out of the company due to not being "team players" and because they refuse to fall in line. Upper management (or "central" as they hate being called) is confused by why there is such a negative view towards them and does absolutely nothing to get to the root of the problem as that would require them to look in the mirror. Upper management was confused why my manager of a couple of months had not disciplined any of her counselors yet, even though everything was running smoothly and no one had done anything wrong (they just felt it was important to discipline somebody to "set an example," and make sure everyone stays in line.) -The ideal counselor in upper management's eyes would essentially be a police officer or prison guard who goes along with all rules and looks for punitive measures against clients and calls the real police at the drop of a hat to deal with any client acting out rather than simply talking (or counseling!) to them. -There is always an underlying feeling of mistrust and toxicity whenever interacting with any upper management or HR and it seeps into every interaction at the company. -Harm reduction is NOT part of Progress Foundation's model at all, neither is the Housing First model of giving people housing before treatment; they fully believe that people must be sober and "ready" for treatment so that they can move on to the 90 day programs and eventually get housing at one of Progress Foundation's co-op living spaces, which is very rare. -In conclusion, Progress Foundation is a rotating door/holding ground for homeless and mentally ill people who are not given enough resources to gain permanent housing and are treated like a commodity to continue getting money from Medi-Cal. As a counselor you will constantly see the same clients over and over again and it will add to the feeling that you are not helping anyone at all or doing any sort of meaningful work. Any sort of "progress" in changing this model is frowned upon by the upper management: because as long as things continue and they keep getting paid, why would they have any reason to change at all?