Good people, Convoluted workflow
Pros
- Good benefits: Free health/dental/vision insurance and a pre-loaded debit card to use for health costs, such as co-pays. - Important role in the community: PF is the first and one of the only mental health specific residential treatment programs in SF. Hospitals all over the city (and beyond) discharge patients to the residential treatment programs and there's a pride to that. SF relies heavily on the services offered. It offers an in-depth perspective to the local politics in SF. - Unique experiences: You really get an inside look to what substance abuse and severe mental health impairment looks like. It's not only a wealth of knowledge for those learning how to work with this population, but it also builds so much compassion for those in the community experiencing these issues, as you hear their stories. - Coworkers: The staff have really diverse backgrounds and work experiences which offer even more learning opportunities to hear their path and career trajectory. As a Clinical Counselor, getting to work so heavily with nursing staff has been really insightful to learn about the medical side of this work and integrate it into my flow. - Flexible scheduling and good time off
Cons
The CEO, Steve Fields is around 80 years old and it is reflected in the work flow and values of the organization. While it is admirable to decrease hierarchies and prioritize the experiences of people rather than degrees, this organization has unqualified people everywhere, including leadership positions. Documentation is a mess and there's no centralized/ universal structure. Training is a one time thing- onboarding. And even then, they are sorely under preparing employees (particularly residential counselors) for the realities of this work. It feels dishonest to say the org provides mental health care in the residential treatment, when there isn't a single licensed or even associate level social worker or therapist in the entire program. They are mostly made up of college age young adults. Although many of the clients serviced are actively using or coming off substances, there aren't often nursing or other medical staff in the residential treatment centers either. It's really clear that the higher admin doesn't value higher education and isn't keeping up with the times- PF was founded in the 60's and SF has changed A LOT since then, yet it feels like it's still running the same as it always has. As a counselor working toward my hours for licensure, the opportunities for direct work at the crisis clinic are slim- they are straightforward about that upon hiring but most of my time is spent on the phones. The only direct time we really get are the intakes and talking to a client if they need some extra support. No opportunities to run groups or true 1:1 therapy. They also do not provide any budget for CEs, testing, or any ongoing development opportunities. Lastly, it's just an overall very disorganized organization.