direct support professional

accounts payable clerk

accounting clerk

ACR Homes

Each day varies, just as my daily life varies, since we are just stepping into another person's daily life. However, there are certain routines that are daily; such as, each day we are in charge of getting our residents ready for the day. This includes all personal hygiene routines that would be normal for anyone's typical day. I also give medications and complete daily treatments required for our residents. After and between those routines we are able to change things up and add some fun activities into the day. 
   I have learned so much from this job. Honestly it doesn't feel like a job because I enjoy it so much. The opportunity to step into someone's life and try to make it special each day is a ton of fun and honestly a blessing. I came into the job thinking I would be able to help and impact individual's lives but quickly realized I'm the one growing and being impacted even more so by my residents. 
   Opportunities to keep taking classes and expanding my knowledge in treatments and protocols has been awesome and challenging. I love being challenged and learning more so I sincerely enjoy the opportunity to do so through this company.  The people I work for and with are incredible and don't just come to work with attitudes like "lets get this day over with". We all want to be here, love being here, and care about our residents along with all the staff.
   The hardest part of my job is probably the hours. Particularly during the times our house if understaffed, it is hard providing 24-hour staffing and it includes a lot of sacrifice. Sometimes the hours are long and I am needed to work double shifts which makes it a challenge at times to have a consistent routine in my own life. 
   Working with these residents and seeing the joy I am able to bring into their lives is the most enjoyable part in my opinion. I love seeing them healthy, smiling, and laughing throughout the day and through the care and activities I am able to incorporate into their daily lives. Its a job that leaves an impact not only in my residents and their families lives, but impacts me in return. And I love that.

Like many others, I left ACR because they could not accommodate my schedule. It’s questionable why they market themselves to pre-health college students, but expect them to work at least 10 8-hours-shifts per months. Their hours are NOT flexible. It’s either 6-2, 2-10, or 10-6 (awake or asleep). I’ve seen three people quit here in the last month because it is simply not possible to balance the rigors of pre-health courses AND dedicate that much time to ACR.
Next is the pay. This job is super emotionally rewarding, and it’s great experience. But it is demanding. I left every day just aching everywhere. It’s hard to get everything done on time (depending on the house). For what you have to put up with on the job, $11/hr is not worth it. And before you blame it on the government, I know of a local company that provides disability care and pays its DCPs $14+/hr from the start. 
Next is the work environment. I had a coworker just get furious every time anyone asked her a question. She made multiple new hires cry and feel super incapable of doing the job. That could’ve just been my experience, however.
Lastly and most importantly, ACR is a fairly shady company. I’ll have to limit what I say here because it will be controversial. I first questioned this company when I was hired on the spot. My interview really didn’t go that well, and there’s no way the questions they asked could’ve given them a true sense of my character. They are so desperate for employees, they don’t even thoroughly check to see if people are right for the job. My interview lasted only TWO MINUTES, and then I was hired. On top of this, they are willing to let pretty much ANYTHING slide. All I will say on this is that they should’ve fired one DCP long ago but they didn’t and since she has only made more negligent mistakes. It’s kind of sad because I care so much about my residents but there is nothing I can do about it.

I have been working at ACR for almost 2 years and I love my job!  A typical day at work includes passing medications, performing daily cares, performing treatments, doing in home crafts/games/activities, going on outings in the community, and providing emotional support and guidance for 4 residents.  I have learned through this job how to provide high quality care to people with disabilities.  I have also learned a lot about the perspective of the patient in the medical field and been able to observe how certain medications and/or treatments affect different people and problem solve when there are adverse effects.  I have had 2 different RS's (Residential Supervisors) since I have started and they have both been wonderful.  They are selfless and always put the care of the residents first.  They are always willing to help out and do just as much work if not more than their subordinates and really care about their co-workers.  The workplace culture includes a strong emphasis on compassion and hard work.  All of my co-workers are extremely dedicated, caring, and always willing to help each other out.  The hardest part of the job is when the residents aren't having a good day and you have to help them de-escalate and help them through their behaviors.  It is also very fast-paced at times but there are also times when you can sit and play a game or watch a movie with your residents.  The most enjoyable part of the job is the relationships that you gain with your residents and co-workers.  I honestly feel like I have made an impact in my residents lives and they have changed my life for the better.  My co-workers have also become some of my closest friends.  I would recommend working at ACR Homes to anyone!

Pros: I really love my job at ACR as I have gotten to know my four residents really well and feel that I am given ample opportunity to do activities with them and give them the quality of life they deserve. It is an awesome place to send people with disabilities because ACR takes their physical and mental well being very seriously! As far as working here goes, scheduling is pretty flexible, there is a ton of room for advancement, and the job is rarely stressful because of the low staff:resident ratio.

Cons: Pay is really low for what you do. I supervise the house on weekends (on call, available 24/7 for anything the house needs) and am not compensated for this unless I am actually needed, besides a general 25 cent raise for being a supervisor which is really nothing. The problem is that I am restricted to being no further than 1 hour away from the house during this time should they need me but am not compensated for meeting that expectation. We do pretty much everything a CNA does (bathing, getting people up/putting them to bed, changing briefs, all other personal cares) but we also pass medications, take residents to appointments and outings, and keep the house clean as well as chart a lot. With all of this responsibility, we don't even get paid at the level of a CNA (although we don't care for as many people at once here as a typical CNA would). There are often opportunities to pick up shifts for pay incentives but for the most part we don't get paid to the level that we work. With work/life balance, the more you advance in the job (become a weekend supervisor, residential supervisor, etc), the more on-call time you are expected to do, and thus the more time you are expected to spend glued to your job.

Pro or con: Typically a staff's experience depends a lot on the supervisor that is assigned to their house. There is also a lot of supervisor turnover in my experience which can make for some difficult transitions.

Although growing a relationship with residents is a great reward with this job, ACR Homes Inc loses employees left and right. ACR does provide exceptional care to its residents; however, ACR does not take good care to its workers. 

In my experience, here are things that ACR doesn't tell you and why people leave:

- You're underpaid. 
For the amount of time, work, and extra quizzes and work outside of your direct care job is poorly compensated. (You are constantly taking extensive quizzes and paper work every month for little compensation). I did a lot of work outside of my direct care job to help out my residents, house, coworkers, and managers and would never be compensated. You use your cell phone for the job for outside communication with coworkers and managers concerning work matters. I also used up data with calls and texts while on outings with residents that caused me to go over my data or my data plan and was never compensated. 

-ACR is NOT flexible with your schedule and requires 2-3+ shifts (8 hours each of direct care) a week on top of school, other jobs, and family life. 
When I worked at ACR, majority of employees left due to lack of flexibility with their own schedules. Majority of the managers, program directors, and other office management would get upset with you for limited availability. Even veteran staff, ACR would not reward veterans for their loyalty and would consistently over schedule them. Most would not get days off that they requested. I missed plenty of Holidays with my family for work... 

-ACR raves about its "great" reputation but does not work to help the workers to make the company what it is. 

These are only a few of many negatives of ACR Homes.

I started at ACR Homes during my undergrad at the University of Minnesota. Since the work is off campus, I was able to use their employee transportation program to get to and from work which was cool to use a car and get to explore a bit outside of the U of M since I'm originally from Wisconsin. ACR provides 24/7 care so the hours worked really well around my class schedule and I still had plenty of time to live up the college experience with friends. Like any job, it requires time management, but will be WAY more valuable than working in a coffee shop or retail. I typically slept at the home in a private room and got paid for it on Friday nights then worked an extended Saturday morning shift to get my hours in, which consisted of taking the residents for pie at bakers square. I LOVED my coworkers who taught me so much, and made connections with the residents that soon made them feel like family. Working at ACR actually fulfilled my internship credit as a Family Social Science major, when most of my classmates had to take unpaid experiences that left them pretty stressed out. Overall, if you are looking for a fun job that you actually enjoy and if you have a big heart for helping people, this is the place to be. Since college, I received numerous promotions and continued to advance within the company like many of my colleagues who got addicted to the work. This may start as a part-time job to help prepare for grad programs, or could also turn into a career. 10/10 recommend! 

ACR Homes is a great place to work if you want to learn and get experience caring for people with a multitude of disabilities. At the beginning it may be overwhelming, but after finding a routine that works for you and the residents the work is manageable and fun. They also have many resources to make sure you feel prepared to do your job. The training is pretty comprehensive and it is all paid for by the company. 

 The only problem I have with ACR is the pay. While they have shift incentives ($20/hr - $50/hr) to get people to pick up extra shifts, their base pay for a full-time DCP is $15-$17/hr. Part-time pay is $12-$15/hr.

This pay rate is for someone to be able to care for 1-3 residents at a time. The care includes feeding, different therapies, bathing, cleaning, grooming, and entertaining them. This is on top of having to chart everything. If you stay late to chart since the day has been busy with cares/cleaning tough luck. You don’t get paid for staying overtime to chart and making sure all information is accurate. 

Conclusion is ACR Homes is a great place to work if you want to get experience in the field to see if direct patient care is for you. It is a great opportunity to learn and connect with many different people. Just don’t expect to get paid fairly for the amount of work you do and responsibilities you’re in charge of. That’s why a huge chunk of ACR employees are pre-med college students. They come for the experience and then leave.

A typical day at ACR can either be chill or very stressful depending on where you are placed. You can go to other locations which is nice; especially for overtime. I have learned many new skills (paid training) including trach, g/j tubes, hoyers, pivot transfers, injections, nebulizers, etc. However, even though this job gives you many opportunities to learn new skills, there isnt much opportunity to move up into higher positions. The pay is okay but not as much as it should be for the stress and workload we do on a typical shift. I often have to go into OT to get wages high enough for my bills; creating more stress and more chances of slip-ups d/t the lack of sleep acquired between shifts. When it comes to bringing up concerns, Higher ups dont tend to take reports seriously and often label the person reporting as "being dramatic" which isn't good if your main objective is high quality care. I have been working for the company for many years but it just isnt the same as it used to be. The management has really gone down in quality and current coworkers just dont seem to care about the work we do. Higher ups tend to breath down your neck once you start making mistakes which again, causes a stressful work environment. It is really hard to still love this job when your coworkers are incompetent and the people we support are becoming more capable of taking care of themselves than the staff that are hired.  After working here for almost 7 years, I am starting to look elsewhere as it seems my dedication and skills are being overlooked. 

On a normal day, the residents will come home from their day-programs by 3:00 pm.  They would then be given a snack or nap if they so choose, otherwise, activities would begin.  Activities could include simple things like playing with a resident and the toys they bring out, watching a movie or show they choose, listening to music they enjoy, reading, or going out to an event that is written in the activity calendar.  They get any medications needed, eat dinner, and bedtime starts at 8:30 pm usually.  I have learned a great deal of patience with this job.  You have to be patient because they get frustrated a lot and you need to remain calm to keep them calm and to get back on the days track.  Management is good, but could be better.  There have been plenty of times where a concern has been brought up and it has been brushed off and left alone.  My co-workers are all very hard-working.  they are all easy to get along with and we all fit together very well.  The hardest pert about this job is getting used to everything.  If you have never done anything like this before it is very difficult and hard to manage at first. You have to get used to doing cares for four people that are older than you most of the time and having patience and understanding for them and their disabilities.  The best part though is that time when you finally know they trust you and are excited to see you come in to work and you know you have made them happy if not anything else.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I started at ACR to gain direct care experience for PA school and I am leaving with skills that I know will be unique to the PA field. I absolutely adore the residents I get to work with and I appreciate all the other resources that ACR has such as the internship program, mentorship program, and leadership opportunities all of which I have taken advantage of and benefited greatly from both professionally. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Some days are different/harder than others! In terms of providing care, making sure everything gets done and the residents needs are met can take a bit of toll if you don't give yourself some self care - but this is typical in any type of medical profession. Those hard days make other days feel easy and I am always learning on the job!  

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
I love the staff I work across from and the residential supervisor that runs the house. I find it very easy to problem solve with everyone, from the other staff at my home all the way up to HR and the nurses that oversee each house. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Sometimes short and sweet - going on a fun adventure or an appointment with a resident... Sometimes a bit longer - a normal day assisting residents with daily cares, feeding, cooking, cleaning etc. Its always changing, always ebbing and flowing, and I feel like I am always learning something new and growing :)

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Direct support professional 6 salaries reported	$15.83 per hour
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