direct support professional

board certified assistant behavior analyst

behavior technician

board certified behavior analyst

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Access Services

Although I believe it is different for other programs, working for the crisis team was extremely stressful and thankless. High turnover among staff reflects the burnout. Most staff don’t last more than 6 months before transferring programs or leaving the company altogether. The goals of the program cannot be supported by the limited staff, and you’ll constantly find yourself doing things that you don’t feel is your role. Expectations from management are unrealistic & the pay is very low compared to other places and the amount of work that you do. Financially, most employees were in need of a second job, but we’re unable to do so due to scheduling. You’ll work day & night and on-call overnights, and you’re schedule will change week to week. You have sick days but you can  never use them, or if you can you’re highly criticized by management, due to staffing issues. There’s poor work/life boundaries; you could work 7 days, finally have a day off, and management could call or text you constantly that day. There were many long nights when you’d finally be done a shift and a manager would text you into the night about a situation that was not urgent. It would be a great job if they fixed turnover rates to increase staff.

I can't deny I learned a lot in the time I was with Access and it has benefited my career in the field overall however, there are high expectations for performance and compliance that are not at all made up for in compensation. The typical toxic culture of "we don't do this for the pay check" is said often as a way of conditioning employees to feel that they are helping people so money doesn't matter. Favoritism is also rampant and it is always obvious who it going to be promoted even before interviews are held. There is no transparency in pay and I learned after leaving that my colleague holding the same job and responsibilities was making more than me. I also experienced some great supervisors and some terrible ones, both of which are part of the systemic favoritism it the company. Upper management was aware if the issues in the program and nothing was ever done to make it better or perhaps get a better supervisor for the position. Ultimately, the supervisor is what made me leave because it became unbearable and was really impacting my mental health. Even with the low pay, I was really committed to the people I had the opportunity to serve and to my work overall, I just wish that had mattered. 

I worked for this company for years and loved my clients, colleagues, department and job position. It use to be a great place to work until new management took over. It seemed like they were out to get you and all they ever did was tell their employees what they were not doing right. The hardest workers were constantly afraid of getting in trouble for mundane things. They never gave recognition to the people who worked hard or went above and beyond in their job. To get ahead, you had to be friends with people in Fort Washington instead of doing what was assigned to you. They expected other people to carry the weight of the slackers, and also cut positions to save money while making 1 person do the job of 5. It was very stressful, and took over your life. The company expected you to do hours of paperwork without paying you for it. They did not support or appreciate dedicated employees and rarely any raises. Some of the higher ups were unprofessional and even belittled the employees. Do not work there unless you want to be underappreciated, overworked, and underpaid for what you do.

I worked in the Homeless Street Outreach program as an Outreach Coordinator. We connected individuals/families experiencing homelessness in Montgomery County to shelter and other services.
I know Access Services has many programs, so your experiences will vary depending which program you work in. My co-workers and supervisors were exceptional. I couldn't have asked for better people to work along side of. Supportive, high expectations (in a good way!), and passionate are just a few words that come to mind!
The organization as a whole is very well organized and information is delivered to employees efficiently. Which is impressive considering how many employees Access Services has! 
I left because I relocated to Philly and the travel was getting to be too much. But if they ever open up programs in Philly I'll be applying in a heartbeat!! 
**Review written about a year after I left. But I assume good things are still happening there! :)

The typical work day included me assisting my client with dressing, bathing, and completing basic hygiene tasks, oversaw rehabilitation exercises.prepared meals,taught adults my client how to adopt basic independent living skills, helped client on how to learn to make a budget, supported and organized daily activities,met with family to discuss needs of patients and documented daily interactions with client. 
-I learned how to handle complicated situations in working with those who have developmental disabilities. I also learned time management and multi tasking skills while organizing various appts.
-Management was supported in my needs.
-My most challenging part of my job was handling various behavioral outbursts when the client was upset. 
-The most enjoyable part of the job was knowing I was helping others and that their families were appreciative of my service to them.

Specifically, I worked for Bucks County Starting Point which gets listed under “mobile behavioral support or psychiatric rehabilitation”.

Pay and benefits are about standard for the field. The problem with the agency is leadership, which is dishonest, manipulative and constantly demonstrates favoritism. Supervisors are mostly young, inexperienced and lacking any serious credentials. This is especially problematic because they micromanage everything you do and often give instructions that go against best practices and ethical standards for mental health treatment. There is no consistency for policies and procedures which seem to change week to week without reason. Since this is a Christian organization there is a heavy emphasis on religion which gets pushed constantly. If you’re looking for a serious job in the mental health field this isn’t it. 


I have honestly never worked for a company that felt more like "family." The supervisors truly care about both their employees, and their clients. The agency embraces a very "open-door" concept, one they do their best to actually live up to, unlike many other places. Upper management is approachable and always willing to help however they can. This agency does what they can to ensure success, both inside and outside the agency. I am truly honored to have been a part of this team. If my husband's job had not relocated our family, I believe I would have stayed with Access Services for many years. They are a non-profit, funded through state and federal programs, so the pay may seem low to some. I felt the pay was adequate, especially when considering additional benefits offered.

Very nice company to work for. The staff usually helps one another out. This was my first job that I was able to learn more about autism and how to approach a situation differently when you're dealing with an individual who is autistic. A typical day at work would be meeting with the client at a designated location (home or community). It was required to meet with this individual and a BSC atleast once a week in the home or community setting to discuss the various types of behavior the TSS and BSC noticed. 

Coworkers were generally nice. The hardest part of the job was trying to make your hours every week when the parents/client would cancel. Traveling was also hard when there was inclement weather and the paperwork was a lot. Most enjoyable part was the fact that you worked in the community and were able to make up your own schedule.

For the amount of work expected to complete and the expectations around hitting your unit total for the week- it can cause major stress. The job is isolating even though you work with a team in specific site areas. The leadership team seemed like they were trying their best but from speaking with other employees, there is a theme of feeling unsupported or guided in the right way. There have also been times of passive aggressiveness coming from the leadership team. There was limited opportunity for advancement and little to no encouragement/ guidance to advance in a leadership position by my direct supervisor. The leadership team, in my opinion, had little faith/ trust that someone was capable of moving up into a higher leadership position.

There were definitely red flags from the start I ignored. This program talks about culture and how they strive to keep a good culture. Management is very poor. I’m sorry but I now understand why management positions should require a masters degree and some experience. It is clear that supervisors were either not properly trained or not trained by someone great. Management teaches the culture of “keeping secrets” to protect the rest of the team. They have high expectations for case managers. Most case managers have no prior experience. Yet they expect perfection out of you. Pay is not negotiable and mileage reimbursement is very low. The high turnover rate is clear based on expectations and poor culture. I should have ran when I watched them treat a veteran employee less then. Good luck! 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Direct support professional 12 salaries reported	$17.67 per hour
Board certified assistant behavior analyst 68 salaries reported	$64.30 per hour
Behavior technician 13 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Board certified behavior analyst 4 salaries reported	$86,000 per year
Clinician 33 salaries reported	$31.64 per hour

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