residential counselor

youth advocate

recovery coach

clinician

family support worker

Bay State Community Services

I have worked at BSCS for between 5 and 10 years in multiple roles and departments, but primarily in Home-Based Plymouth. When I started, HB Plymouth was considered a great place to work due to the culture and many opportunities for learning. Since I started though, upper management in Quincy started changing and there has been a steady decline, which was not really noticeable until there was a new CEO and suddenly a "site director" in Plymouth. Instead of collaborative and empowering, the environment became hierarchical and micro-managed. What was once a place where you were treated in a way consistent with how we were expected to treat the clients and the community we serve (strength-based, collaborative, and respectful), now is a place where you can expect to be targeted and gaslighted if you question anything. There is no room for processing feelings (which is ironic for providers of therapy) and it is not a safe place to do so for fear of being written up as insubordinate. Instead of a culture that focuses on providing the best care for the community, the emphasis is on productivity and compliance with rules that are irrelevant to the work. BSCS used to be accommodating to scheduling needs, understanding that working for a non-profit often means that you will need another job to make ends meet, and used to try to provide opportunities for growth. Now, you will still need a second job but the productivity of BSCS is expected to come first (even before your own well-being), and expressing what your goals are or what you need is responded with empty words about support while you will be treated as if you did not say anything (or targeted as a scapegoat). Through the pandemic, the tension has grown (as it has in most places) but it has become clear that the priorities of the company are not in the Plymouth Home-based or CSA programs, and certainly not in supporting its employees. The best parts of working for Baystate: the culture, the opportunities for growth, the rewards of doing something meaningful for the community, are no longer present. The hardest parts of the job which used to be around travel (and stopping for bathroom breaks) and challenges around filing reports of child abuse have now escalated with the lack of support since the culture shift from the original founders to the new CEO and unrealistic expectations during a pandemic.

The culture at Bay State has rapidly declined over the past year to a point where 80% of employees have left the agency in the past few weeks alone. Where supervision was once about supporting clinical challenges and helping the clinician to grow in their skills and confidence, it has become completely focused on billing and micromanaging paperwork with little discussion about the caseload itself. Client needs have been pushed to the back burner as managers focus on the staff meeting units rather than what is appropriate for the families being served. Staff are being pushed to take on extra clients while the caseloads during this time have become much higher level of care than typical. There are minimal supports given to clinicians and many of the new hires have little experience with no training being provided. Where flexibility in scheduling was once a huge perk to the job, managers now expect employees to provide daily schedules detailing the work that they will be doing each day so that they can offer suggestions on how to fill the gaps of time in between, often leading to 12hr workdays. There are zero boundaries for a work/home life balance, with managers and some coworkers contacting you at all hours and expecting a response "within an hour." Clinical material is rarely discussed in weekly group meetings, rather staff are expected to train each other without prep or meetings are focused on how to complete paperwork (which should really be a training for new employees separately). There are many expectations for non-billable activity while meeting units is used as a fear tactic to lose your job, which supervisors often remind you you are lucky to have. It is also interesting to see positive reviews on here as well as responses to reviews from "Bay State" as it would be rare to find someone who is happy to work here, and the times that employees have offered realistic suggestions on how to improve the work place, higher ups have singled out those voices and reprimanded them for stepping out of line. 

PROS: The team (both clinical and support staff) are some of the most dedicated, knowledgeable and compassionate people I've encountered. The staff - from admin to peer specialists to interns - embrace a strong sense of teamwork. There is diversity among the clientele in terms of age, conditions, and life experiences, (though less so in regards to racial demographics, but is representative of the town) and the work can be very rewarding. It is a good opportunity for clinicians early in their careers to gain experience and has several training and learning opportunities. 

CONS:
Some of senior management have leadership styles that lack consistency in communication and transparency which often cause frustration and lack of trust amongst staff. Additionally, the mission and processes appear to change frequently and can feel destabilizing. Other programs in the agency don't seem to struggle with this as much. They are few supervisors and mid-management staff available for support.

There is a significant amount of documentation. Pay is on the lower-end for new, unlicensed clinicians.

There is a great deal of potential if leadership invested in and listened to its staff.


I have worked for Bay State at multiple community corrections centers from December 2017-December 2019: one year as a clinician and one year as a manager, as they promoted me from within the company. I remain as a full-time employee at the time I write this review, but I plan to transition to a Per Diem position when I leave my full-time job, primarily because I love helping the clients served by Bay State and I love the company culture its support towards staff and clients. 

I would highly recommend Bay State as a great place to work. The company supports its staff in developing and growing, and yet also maintains integrity by holding staff accountable on the more serious and urgent issues that must be addressed to maintain a healthy work culture. 
It is large enough to have room to grow within the company but small enough so that you may still feel connected to everyone in the company. 

If it were not for personal reasons, I would not have left my full-time position. Again, I highly recommend Bay State to all interested applicants. You will find yourself in a company that treats employees well while you perform meaningful work.

This company has so much potential but unfortunately due to management and the way it is run the company is not able to meet that potential. 
Being able to work with children and impact their lives in a positive way is the best part of the job. Unfortunately there are so many obstacles in the way. This is a tiring job and without proper training, lack of support, poor communication, and lack of staff this job becomes easily dangerous and can burn someone out. You will be hounded to stay late, come in early, and come in on your days off. You are micromanaged and questioned about every thing you do. In crisis situations there is no support because of poor staffing. I was never trained when I arrived to the program and was put on the floor immediately. Management does not value their employees. You do not get a break either. I have seen horrible things take place in this facility. I have reported many inappropriate things and nothing was ever done about it. The children deserve better than this. 

Great company with great core values and that seems to care about all its employees and attempts to be competitive and very fair in terms of benefits and salary within the human services field. 

These values can be lost in the individual programs within the company, depending on how they are run and who is running them, however. I have held two jobs within the company. I loved both positions but, while one environment was intellectually stimulating, supportive, and collaborative; the other consisted of a disconnect between those in charge of that branch of services and the employees providing them. This led to a cut-throat, gossip-based culture, almost endorsed by those in charge. It seemed to completely contradicted the values I felt my other position had prioritized and, as a whole, seemed like a group of people that were significantly less knowledgeable than those in other branches of the company.

I started at bay state 1.7 years ago and have enjoyed my time there. I have recently accepted a new position to further my career working with children, but don't believe I would have gotten my new position without my experience at Bay State. Co-workers/supervisors are awesome and very helpful when needed. You're able to create you're own schedule (depending on the family), but this can lead to working later nights depending on where the family lives. The pandemic has made working a little more difficult, but the company has been providing weekly updates on what is going on and what they are doing to keep families and staff safe. Overall, great entry level position if wanting to start a career working with kids and/or the mental health field and if you're working towards your master's as well. Able to do your internship within the company while continuing to work.

The IHT role is very flexible in terms of work hours since we have to wait until kids are out of school to do sessions, so workdays usually are around 12-9 for me personally. While the work I do is meaningful and feels rewarding to me personally, it does not translate to what I'm paid and what I think my work is worth. No pay increases for licensure. Offers free CEUs, but classes are often boring and feature out of date or factually wrong research. No increase in pay despite health care premiums going up this year for employee health plan. IHT clinicians are punished if clients cancel regularly - if you cannot make up hours towards productivity with collaterals/other clients, your pay and hours will be cut. I have a caseload of 9 clients and still can't make units, and employees are regularly asked by management to use sick/vacation time to make up for low units. My supervisor gives excellent supervision, but this position as it is now is completely unsustainable with the current business model. High turnover rate among all positions except management.

Bay State Community Services is a well run, very respected social services agency that from the top down cares about its employees and clients alike balancing the needs of both. The agency has done exceptionally well with this balance during the pandemic. Senior leaders know the staff, are always available and support all of the staff in all of the programs. BSCS has an inclusive culture that is safe and supportive. Given the nature of social services, at times the work can be challenging but there is a lot of support from supervisors, directors and senior leadership as well as colleagues. It is a place where you can help others, and build relationships with your co-workers. The opportunity for team based work is also very supportive.   

I worked at a group home for youth.
Pro's were fun activities with the youth, enjoyed the hands on life skills work, liked seeing youth succeed.
Cons were instability of staffing.  As an essential employee you are required to stay for another shift OT if the person coming after you calls out which happens all the time.  Kids often talked about by staff with stigmatizing language is "She's so borderline." House manager was very concerned about being liked/accepted by the kids and struggled be fair/uphold boundaries.  Also kids with predatory behaviors are housed with other kids who are much younger and/or naive.
I did not last long here as the mandatory OT (all nighters) plus lack of boundaries in the culture was a perfect storm for burnout.  There were a lot of serious incidents (thankfully none on my shift) and I was constantly afraid of for kids' safety + liability. 
Needs more staff development and updated safety assessments

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Residential counselor 33 salaries reported	$15.98 per hour
Youth advocate 18 salaries reported	$20.36 per hour
Recovery coach 11 salaries reported	$22.30 per hour
Clinician 4 salaries reported	$56,875 per year
Family support worker 7 salaries reported	$21.54 per hour

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