Pros
Flexible hours, variety of clients with severe mental illnesses- great experience, autonomy, Experience in writing treatment plans, progress notes, and assessments, no need to find your own referrals- there are plenty
Cons
It is very difficult to get enough hours to make the quota (50 billable every 2 weeks minimum)- you also must meet this amount to be reimbursed for mileage (only 30 cents per mile); 70 hour quota in order to be eligible for health insurance or PTO. Too much driving to make hours! I was driving way more hours than face time with clients in order to make my hours... which in my opinion, is unethical (the DHS funding is supposed to be to help the mentally ill, not to have practitioners drive around all day). The netbooks are outdated and are required to be used in session with clients, usually with a poor signal. All paperwork (Treatment Plans, Functional Assessments, Progress Notes) are required to be written concurrently IN session with clients. This is not conducive to building rapport or using active listening with clients, and is VERY stressful for the practitioner!!! Too many computer program changes... they are constant, and training is poor. There is no paid time for meetings, supervision times, driving to these meetings, scheduling clients, or any paperwork done outside of session. Therefore, many hours per week are put in for no pay. Supervision was poor and of little support. There is no team building time, and you are pretty much on your own.
