Great co-workers and supervisors. Very challenging job.
Pros
My co-workers on the In-Home team were INCREDIBLE. Everyone is so down to earth and willing to help you. It's a tough job to get used to, but everyone went above and beyond to let me shadow them and answer any questions. Also, the supervisors are amazing as well and want to help you as much as they can. They never made me feel bad for asking questions or being honest about a difficult experience I had with some of my cases. The co-workers and supervisors really begin to feel like your family because you are in the trenches with them doing difficult work. Another great aspect of the job were the flexible hours. I barely had to use my PTO for things like doctors appointments or anything like that, because you can move your schedule around to fit them in.
Cons
Just like most nonprofits in this field, the pay isn't great. Almost everyone works a second job for extra money. It's unfortunate that that's the case because it's a very emotionally draining job. There were also a lot of demands on the therapists to have paperwork done a very specific way with strict deadlines or else you would get "written up." You also have a certain demand of how often you have to meet with the families which was hard to do if they canceled or didn't show up. There were just so many requirements and rules and deadlines which became hard to manage when you're trying your best to connect with the families and balance several cases at once. The turnover rate is incredibly high. I know that's pretty common for this type of work, but that doesn't mean that management should turn a blind eye to it. I believe they need to focus on cultivating a positive, collaborative work environment with more focus on employee appreciation. Also, increasing the salary would also help. People leave because they are overworked, underpaid, and don't feel supported and appreciated by higher management.