behavioral health counselor

mental health technician

registered nurse

therapist

clinician

Alexander-Youth-Network

I used to work for a company that was bought out by AYN. I was the best company I ever worked for. The old company Cardinal Clinic..we were like family.  This was not the case with AYN. I think AYN has the right mission and focus; however, the upper management has no clue what the In Home or case management staff did and the intense stress it includes. It was basically do what your told and shut up.  No creative outlets here. I felt they did not put families first (starting meetings and training late or running over and expecting families to suffer by staff having to reschedule session or be late to session.  I felt this was inappropriate and unprofessional and families complained..)  Families had concerns about various staff members and issues were not addressed and families would feel frustrated and often left. Money was more important than the success of the family. I often would not get home until 7-8 at night and then would have to have the documentation completed by midnight.  I stayed up until 2-3:00am many nights.(To be fair I did have difficulty with getting my documentation completed on time. I would see 2-3 families a day, 2 hour sessions, drive time and often got home late) The good staff and supervisors from previous company that came to AYN mostly all of them left because of these and various circumstances. Once the families do not come first, then  it is time to leave..this was what one of my supervisors said.  She was a great loss to the company, our team and the family.
I feel that if I would have worked at the main office things would have been different and I probably would have stayed and moved up in the company.

A typical work day consist of various emails, phone calls, and depending upon how my week was set home visits.  In addition I might have to attend court or a meeting at school.  I learned how to work with other from various backgrounds, cultures,  and circumstances.  In addition I learned more about myself and how to manage and maintain in tough situations(crisis response).  I had frequent changes(in the 3 years I was employed I had a total of 5 different managers) in management which made it difficult at times cause each person wanted things done their specific way ad some was more hands on and helpful and some was not.  My co-workers were very supportive and we were very close we tried to assist each other as much as we could and they made the stress of job seem small by having some office humor and counseling sessions with each other even with the many changes in staff/team members.  The hardest part of the job was the long hours and frequent crisis responses that at times interfered in me taking care of my own children.  It always seemed that your day/week was never done.The most enjoyable part was working with the kids, seeing them grow, decrease their behaviors, and step down to lower level of care and or home.  In addition I enjoyed working with the Foster Parents and building relationships with them which ultimately made the job a little less stressful as a team we really worked together to ensure the children needs were being met.

AYN is a place that you get what you put into it. If you go to work and are able to focus and apply the NMT model you can be successful. I enjoyed working with all the various children with different diagnosis. I learned a lot about what approaches work with different types of children. I learned how to help manage behaviors, and how to help the children progress so that they were able to discharge and continue their path back to public school and living with their families or foster families. The hardest part of working here is sometimes the extreme aggression that the children display due to their extremely traumatic pasts when they go into crisis. I have been physicall assaulted several times, but it's part of the job. I really enjoyed spending time, and creating relationships with some of the children in their progress. There was one client that I ended up being very close with. It was very bitter sweet when he discharged. It's those types of relationships that makes the job worth all the chaos that happens.

Overall experience was extremely draining. Did not feel properly set up for success and did not feel supported by management. The lack of communication sucked and was inconsistent from day 1. The Pandemic highlighted issues within the chain of command, communication and overall care for staff even more. Staff/management is overworked and under appreciated which causes for terrible work environment. Of course clients can be challenging but that could have been combated with a healthy amount of team building between teams and management. While there did not feel heard by management and upper management only supported managers not employees or only specific employees. Would not recommend working here long, great stepping stool but not somewhere to be stuck unless you have poor self esteem or a HUGE PASSION for troubled youthful . Very disappointed in my experience.

Agency has a long history in the community. However, management has seen more comfortable managing with threats than guidance and teaching. Clients are challenging but management is ridiculous. The experience could help you move on to a better job but you will have to decide if it is worth the pain. I recommend you get in and get out in under 2 years. If you are hourly, you are not able to accrue overtime but you are expected to work overtime. If you are salaried, you are forbidden to document the actual hours you work but you will work 50 plus hours easy. From early morning, nights to weekends to keep up with your responsiblities. Managers are not consistent with allowing you to comp your time. So you burn out quickly. You family life will be limited by the obligations and your wish to get the required tasks done. Agency is known as a safe place for kids but not safe for the emotional well being of the staff.

This place does does some good work for the community and clients. That's probably the best part of working here. However, they do not treat their employees well. They are very cheap with pay. If you are hourly, in order to get all of what they expect you to do, you will work overtime, but your not allowed to get overtime. If you are salary, you're expected to work before and after hours to make sure everything is complete. Some of the expectations they have are not really obtainable unless you do so. Co-workers are great, some of the best I've ever had however, management is bad. That really is the biggest issue. They are inexperienced and not trustworthy. It seems that they are mainly watching out for themselves which leaves the employees on their own; this problem goes all the way up. Not a place you want to stay for too long.

I had a fantastic time, for the most part, while with Alexander Youth Network. If it weren't for a necessary reduction in force, I would still be there without a doubt. While there, there were some bumpy times along the way, but overall, upper management was very supportive particularly when our team went through multiple team leaders in a very short period of time. Throughout my time with AYN, there was only one person that I would encourage anyone to avoid if at all possible. Other than that, your coworkers will be very open and generally positive. The only downside was a lack of raises offered... But with the other positives, that wasn't nearly as noticeable as I had thought it would be.

The clients are placed there due to a traumatic experience. They are supposed to receive therapeutic care from experienced staff. The BHC’s are supposed to facilitate a number of therapeutic activities including interventions if necessary. Management and therapists do not guide or provide any type or oversight on how these activities should be conducted. The BHC’s are lazy and mentally (and oftentimes physically) abusive towards the clients. The facility is operated as a detention center instead of therapeutic. The hardest part about the job was attempting to change the culture of the facility and having zero back up from management and staff. The most enjoyable part was the clients. They are smart, witty, and loving.

Residential Treatment Center in Greensboro is horrible. Most of the employees are good and work together for each other. No support from supervisors or Management. Supervisor is a 24 year old kid. If you’re not in the click, nothing gets done. NO COMMUNICATION from supervisor or Facility Manger. You are on your own. Don’t expect to hear from anyone over the weekend. Although we serve clients on the weekend, any issues will take hours to respond too, if at all. No reviews are given on time. Sometimes months after due date of review. No job descriptions are given out or monthly reviews so you can improve your performance. Emails are used mostly by Charlotte facilities, only used in Greensboro sparingly. Horrible Communication. Greensboro moral is poor. Many want to leave. Do not work here. 

I worked the 3rd shift and really enjoyed it aside from the lack of sleep since I have 2 babies at home. Otherwise I mostly did homework during the night and watched Netflix in between bed checks and writing notes until it was time to wake up the kids. Everyone I interacted with was welcoming and friendly. Management was very understanding if you overslept and came in late or if you needed to leave early for family reasons. Not for the weak minded or easily offended. My main reason for wanting it was getting my foot in the door of the mental health field.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Behavioral health counselor 22 salaries reported	$17.00 per hour
Mental health technician 1 salary reported	$20.00 per hour
Registered nurse 6 salaries reported	$36.42 per hour
Therapist 3 salaries reported	$62,000 per year
Clinician 5 salaries reported	$58,780 per year

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