direct support professional

clinician

teacher's aide

care coordinator

social worker

ANDRUS

Andrus has a good mission statement and intentions for the community it serves, but due to heavy case load and unrealistic work standards set for their employees, it  can be a extremely horrible work life balance. I worked in one of the mental health clinics and experienced extreme burnout within my first month working there. They tell you "you can set your own schedule" but due to not actually having any set cut off points, most workers ended up having to not just work some evenings but almost all evenings to meet the needs of the clients/families. When complaints or ideas for changes were brought up the response was always no and the company itself was not open to any sort of changes or improvement to pay structure or work scheduling of their mental health clinicians. Towards the end of my time working there I saw the highest turnover rate that I have seen at any job. Everyone was quitting because everyone was overwhelmed with more work and it never stopped or got better. What is worst is this type of high turnover work environment is so normalized and engrained in the work culture that most of management and patients are waiting/expecting it to happen. This was not a good feeling to have as a clinician, knowing that you are yet another therapist leaving a client's life who likely already has abandonment issues or trauma due to being abandoned, but I felt that if I did not leave, my own mental health would severely deteriorate. I felt that I had no time for myself outside of on weekends, and this negatively impacted not only my mental health but my physical health during my time there. They preach a lot of self care while working there, but unfortunately there is no amount of vacation time or outside self-care time that will be able to takeaway the effects of a job that has a work structure/schedule where you regularly have to work over the 40 hours that you are paid (that you are barely paid enough for might I add), and that has unrealistic set expectations for you to hit given the population/community the organization serves. I left this job a little while ago now, and I hope some things have gotten better. 

I've worked at Andrus for a few years. Executive leadership micromanages and has 0 years experience working with children. All they care about is the $$$. They point the finger and call for unnecessary meetings to talk about issues with no solutions. The campus is transitioning to only accept hard to place children who are severely damaged! They will expect you to put your life on-the-line to protect the BS image that they portray. Please beware the kids will run into traffic, disappear into the woods, run off campus headed to the nearest towns, and even to the saw mill parkway. You will be expected to trail kids at any given moment day/night, even if it means putting your life in danger. Kids will set fires and break windows to harm themselves or others. The kids will have no repercussions. If you're assaulted by the kids, you won't be able to involve the police. Management will do a check-in and you'll continue working for the day. 

Vice Presidents and Executives will just pass the buck, so they won’t look incompetent. In some cases they will thank you with a $25 gift card. They talk about the sanctuary model during training, but don’t even use it properly. I’ve never had a JC call until, I worked at Andrus. Be careful what you say and do in front of the clinicians. They will call the JC and throw you under the bus. The campus is filled with cameras and they protect the golden gooses (kids). Each child is worth at a minimum of 125K. 

There is an extremely high turn over rate with staff, sometimes you will be left alone with 10-15 kids at a time in the cottage. Be prepared to be overwhelmed and have no help!! Especially on the weekends, good luck finding the weekend AOD when you need assistance. You'll work a 16 hour shift with no break. 

During the hiring process they expect the line staff to come in with a college degree. However, some of the Program Managers, senior/ executive leadership don’t even have 60 college credits.

This place has the potential to be great but between staff that act like they are still in high school, management that rule (excuse me - DICTATE) through fear, and the kids basically running the place, it is a JOKE to say the least. The kids have no respect for authority, granted they have their issues and we are there as staff to help them But who helps us when those same kids are vandalizing our property as a way to "drain off their emotions", or when we are being physically attacked and I'm expected to "talk this kid down to baseline" because they're getting rid of restraints soon. Yes, these kids have been through a lot, and they are there to learn ways to cope and manage their emotions but at the expense of the employees. And I'm not talking about the ones that sit in their offices and watch cameras to see what safe are doing, but the employees that are on the front line and are trailing these kids when they go AWOL, or are sitting and holding a kid while they are crying because they just lost another staff that they finally started to trust and open up to; those employees. Where is the open-communication without retaliation? Things need to change because at they end of the day we are there to serve the kids and management is doing a disservice to them when they continue to accept these fragile kids without employing enough staff to care for these kids, or at least giving them adequate training to manage their behaviors when TCI and restraints don't work. What is our alternative? And what is our incentive to stay, because right now I see all the reasons to go.   

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part of working at Andrus is the grounds it’s a beautiful setting. The dear and wild animals just give you a sense of peace. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
How employees are verbally abused by the residents on a daily basis Right down to being spat upon without any consequences or repercussions it’s why it’s so bad bcs the real world won’t give that kind of grace. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment is a fish bowl  not enough staff to ensure coverage you’ll end up working ridiculous hours and or not even being relieved when shift ends. the culture is one of caring. And for the most part employees have each others back. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
12 hour shifts. 7-7pm or 9-9pm 2 hours break it’s ridiculous. Breaking up fights u spend a lot of time outside in the elements bcs the kids will go awol and you have to track them they might walk 5 miles you have to walk right with them. They jump on each other or jump each other you’re constantly in the position for being injured. You’re there for 12 hours but they pay you for 10. Burn out is so inevitable on your days off a person is beyond exhausted you don’t have the energy to do basic things like wash your clothes.

I worked here for a year. I went above and beyond. The kids are VERY VIOLENT. I've been sent to the hospital before for being attacked, ive had my personal property broken and told to jump through hoops to get reimbursed. When you get attacked management does nothing to help the situation. They just thank you for returning to work. The staff are great friendly for the most part and really are the reason to come back. Andrus itself could care less about you. Management makes everything personal. The kids are nothing how they describe in training. They hit, kick, spit, bite, punch, run off grounds frequently, and refuse meds more often than not. 

There is an extremely high turn over rate, and frequent justice center calls, naming staff as the bad guys. 

Since there is a high turn over rate there is always overtime but who really wants to be there when you are constantly attacked.

They take people with no experience so that it is great The only other con, is there is health insurance it's not the greatest but it is something.

Walking on the campus, you may think, WOW what a great place. It's what happens on school grounds that is a disgrace.  This school is run by a corporation. Everyone under the corporate administration are puppets. As long as they make money.  For a year after Covid, classes were filled with students and no qualified teachers. At one point the school was running without a  Principal... you should read up on him as well... There is absolutely no room for growth.  There are no consequences for kids after something terrible has happened.  I truly feel there is favoritism for students who come from money and students who don't.  One of the support rooms was turned into an enormous office, and all the equipment was taken down.  What is amazing are the social workers and the kids, and the beauty of the land.  That says a lot about the rest of the staff. The pay is also horrible.  I heard there was an increase to the staff of $.15.  Disgraceful.  If you want your child to learn and build positive relationships and heal, then 100% do NOT send your child here.  It's dangerous. 

So many changes happening recently. I wish that our executive leaders could be mindful that everything they are doing affects the children we serve. Several long time hard working clinicians left. We and the students, families and partners are feeling this loss. None of the losses needed to happen. Hard to balance for profit motives and caring complex work that needs to meet the students and families we serve. It’s a thin line and deserves excellent leadership and unfortunately we do not currently have leaders who understand this careful balance. They promoted and hired people with no clinical background and it shows in all the decisions they are making. It’s a very sad state here.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The beautiful campus and location. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
It is very understaffed right now. Many people are leaving because of the decisions senior executive leaders called “Chiefs” are making. Something immediately must be done. If not, there will be safety concerns and more staff plight will follow. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The culture is toxic with no respect for staff coming from senior executives. Communication within the organization is weak, with high turnover rates. Safety concerns happening and morale is low. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
There are some kind and caring people who keep you going. Lots of gossip and lacking real care from leadership who call themselves “Chiefs”. Very distant and removed from day to day work.

For years Andrus was a place of healing for children and staff alike, a Sanctuary. It has recently gotten new leadership who have created an environment of stress and toxicity. Staff are getting let go frequently, sometimes for valid reasons, but most of the time staff are
"blacklisted" or "targeted" because they are not liked by their supervisor or upper management.
Some are targeted due to something like questioning protocol. Others are profiled as
"disgruntled" employees and are let go at the earliest convenience of the agency.
Andrus has potential to become that healing place once again. Unfortunately, that would require leadership to stop and reflect on what they are doing to contribute to the environment around them. They have gone as far as writing their own reviews on this site and other sites in order to
bring up their averages and make their agency look better.

Andurs has a horrible cultural atmosphere that is toxic with no real room for advancement. It's a petty backstabbing culture that does not inherently practice what they promote ethically. Standards and quality are put aside for self-interest, nepotism and cronyism. The Mental Health of the clients suffer as a result. Doing the work for the population is great/rewarding but the work environment is horrendous. This is not the company to work for, because they do not value quality employees and will go out of their way to target such individuals.
The mission of the agency is not a priority any longer. Staff are overworked and underpaid. Staff have not received a raised in over ten years and work load has increased for all. We are always short staffed and never have proper equipment to get our work done. No communication between upper management & front line staff. Benefits & 401k is not what it used to be.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Direct support professional 75 salaries reported	$23.88 per hour
Clinician 44 salaries reported	$74,693 per year
Teacher's aide 21 salaries reported	$21.02 per hour
Care coordinator 3 salaries reported	$46,500 per year
Social worker 5 salaries reported	$58,888 per year

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