direct support professional

supported living manager

registered behavior technician

program coordinator

residential manager

Benchmark-Human-Services

The good thing about working as a Direct Support Professional (DSP) is it's one of the few jobs where you can go home knowing that you impacted someones life in a (hopefully) positive way. People who manage to stay working in the field longer than a year all have a certain level of compassion and understanding that you are unlikely to find in any other field of employment. 

Your typical day will depend 100% on who your consumer is. For some people a typical day is cooking supper and cleaning for a consumer as well as passing meds and that's about it. For others a typical day can include being hit, verbally abused by, or threatened by consumers (this is much much rarer than the first, though not unheard of). Know your limitations. If you can't handle a particular consumers needs and behaviors, go to your supervisor and get trained else where. They WILL train you else where because the turnover rate is astronomical and they really do want what's best for both you and the consumer.

This means that in general your co-workers and managers are decent people. Since the teams are small and have to have a semi-constant level of communication to keep the houses running smoothly this means that if there are any personality issues between staff they are unlikely to end well and generally one of the parties will be moved to another house or, if they have gotten the clients involved, termination becomes a possible solution. 

This level of communication and short staffing also means that there is a real possibility of receiving calls and texts any day, at any time, for any reason (generally to cover someone else's shift, though sometimes it's as simple as 'hey, you forgot to document this, please do when you get a chance' or 'where did you put such-n-such'). 

The chance that you will be able to have an active social life while working here are minimal. The chance that you will have to work 24+ hours straight is real (you do get paid to sleep if your consumer is asleep--  it's minimum wage during sleep hours), the chance that you will work 70+ hours in a week is real. Theoretically you can reject shifts that you don't want to work but if no one else can work it (out of town, drunk, hospitalized) your hands are pretty much tied. 

Promotion within the company is very common. The bump from DSP to Team Leader (TL) can happen relatively quickly depending on weather or not there is an open TL spot. This will garner you a miniscule pay raise (though pay rates can vary based on past experience). You will also gain tons of new responsibility as well as operating on a basically 24/7 on-call schedule without being paid as such. 

That brings me to the absolute worst part about working for Benchmark: the pay. It's terrible. Unless you work 70+ hour weeks you will not make ends met if you have anyone else that you are financially responsible for.  The basic rate of pay for an individual who has no prior experience in the field is less than a dollar over minimum wage. This terrible pay in a job where you will be exposed to lots of possibly contaminated bodily fluids, there is a chance you will get injured either physically or emotionally by your consumers (several people I know developed PTSD after working here or have had to be hospitalized due to an injury related to violent behaviors), you are expected to be available at all times unless you explicitly state that you will not be, and you also have to handle consumers sensitive information, controlled and uncontrolled medication, and even be responsible for their money-- all without direct supervision or cameras. This honestly leaves consumers vulnerable to abuse, misappropriation, and theft. 

Despite all that, this job is one of the best I've had in so far as work and environment. But I'll be honest with you. Spending all day wondering how you're going to afford rent, utilities, let alone food? This takes aware from the enjoyment and it can distract you from your duties to your consumers. No one should have to sign their lives away to make ends meet, not people with disabilities, and not people who care for people with disabilities either.

There is much to learn at the onset of the job. My DON was new to the job when I hired on and mostly we learned on the job together. The company pays for trainings provided by the State related to The I/DD community. The trainings were mostly in Albuquerque (paid training & mileage reimbursed). I loved the trainings and learned a lot re: health concerns/issues in the I/DD community. 

The company itself consists of an exec. director, two program coordinators who are in charge of running the day-to-day operations of the group homes. There were house managers who assisted the PCs. Each group home was staffed with Direct Support Personnel (DSP) who are the main care givers for the clients. 

While I was there (2018), we moved from paper to electronic charting. Having electronic medical records made it easier to work from home. The downside is it makes it easier to work TOO much then. 

The nursing position requires being on-call. We had two nurses who shared the on-call duty. It meant being on-call 15 out of every 30 days. After awhile we were able to get corporate to allow our part-time nurse to take on-call one night a week. The on-call duty mostly amounts to giving DSP approval to give a PRN medication. If there is a change of condition, DSP call as well. The nurse needs to decide if clients should be sent out to urgent care or ED and follow-up on the outcome. After-hour calls averaged 5 to 10+ daily. All this must be documented. Occasionally the on-call nurse will have to make a house visit to assess or give insulin. 

Additionally, the nurse must do monthly and prn assessments and documenting of clients. DSP are trained to dispense meds and nursing must observe and test to ensure readiness to pass meds. Nurses write care plans and train DSP on care plans as well as coordinating healthcare needs such as doctor appts, new scripts, updating medical records, and writing state-mandated nursing reports.

Benchmark nursing also works with an IDT (--interdisciplinary team) who help manage the care of clients. There can be one or two IDT meetings a month. IDT meetings may consist of a case manager, the client, physical therapist, speech therapist, behavior therapist, nurse, DSP, Representatives from the DOH, family, POA, guardian...and day-hab director.

The biggest challenge for me was the team (IDT). I met some awesome people on the (IDT) team and learned much, but I had to work with two people who were insufferable. They were highly dogmatic, self-righteous, intolerant, and very severe in their judgments. They were obsessive about imperfection and the wrongdoing of Benchmark: just plain punitive and cruel. 

The next biggest challenge was getting burned-out from being on-call so much. 

I really loved working with the Benchmark staff & management and the clients! 

The greatest reward was the clients--a bunch of really wonderful, kind individuals! I also loved learning so much about the issues surrounding I/DD people, like aspiration risks. 

If you are the kind of person who can cope with always being behind, this job can be rewarding! If you like to be caught up with your tasks at the end of the day, you should probably pass on this job.

Benchmark Human Services used to be called AWS just  few years ago.  It's a human service agency located in many states and is profit-driven.  That is the most important bit of information that every employee must remember.  Executive management is not driven to stand apart as superior to other human service agencies.  The most important decisions will be about profitability.  

Expect low wages, bait-and-switch with incentive payments, decreasing benefits (life and disability insurance were discontinued last year), forced overtime, marginal training, dangerous clients and poor working conditions.  Wages are as low as minimum wage and certainly are not a living wage for direct service employees. Do not expect human resources to be your friend - human resources is there to protect the company, not you.  If your performance threatens the company in even the most minor way, HR will bury you.

Middle management is woefully under trained, and because this company has centralized administration from Indiana, expect a huge disconnect between Indiana and your local culture. Diversity in leadership is virtually nonexistent (no minorities in most senior management, despite having thousands of employees).  I suspect the vast majority of employee are minorities, and know that the vast majority of of management is not.

Executive management is hopelessly uncoordinated and not on the same page on almost any issue.  Any whiff of originality is soundly quashed, and not because of stringent quality assurance practices, which are laughable.

This company desperately wants to be known as better than its competitors, but cannot make the case that it is any different or better than the next provider.  

I sound disillusioned?  You bet.  I was promised support, I was promised mentoring, I was promised resources when I needed them, I was promised high pay if I worked hard and "did the company proud."  These promises were broken.  I worked 60 hour weeks, evenings, weekends, holidays. I dealt with 70% turnover, impossible chronic understaffing and daily crises.

I pity those who have to endure working at Benchmark because they lack better opportunities elsewhere. I won't even list Benchmark as a  former workplace on my resume.

Life is too short to sacrifice your personal life, your dignity and well-being to work for a company like this.

But that's just my experience.  Good luck.

The most enjoyable part of the job  at Benchmark was the clients. I enjoyed providing care to their clients. 
The job was a very fair balance and you got the support and supplies needed  to preform your job. 
The living environment for the clients was exceptional, the best I’ve ever experienced. 
The PC was exceptional at her job and was extremely committed but often judged situations wrong and though she knew everything. Sometimes could be inappropriate with handling situations and with the way she spoke to employees. 
A lot of clicks at the time I was there. Also staff being dishonest and some stealing. I only heard of 2 situations of a client being abused in the 5 years I was there. Company did their best to investigate but  never found charges to be true. Although they were. 
Corporate  could have been better at supporting their staff.  Overall it was an excitement place to work because of the clients. Also  the support that  employees received to support the clients was outstanding.  
Which was the reason I was there. The pay was great and I loved working there. In spite of being targeted and mistreated at times. Especially love working there because of how well the clients lived and were treated over all. It was an extremely  rewarding place to work and while I was there I took great pride in my committee to the job and the clients and couldn’t see myself doing anything Else. I love the bond I built with all the clients and it made it easy to go to work. Even tho I didn’t care for some of the staff or how management treated me at times. It was very much a stick together type of policy. Instead of supporting honesty and good values and work ethic.  
I believe, that my value should have been appreciate and rewarded not targeted harasses. I often felt like a hostile work environment was intentionally created towards  me but I am a very strong  person and   I chose to work through it because of my regard for the clients and love for the job I had been so honored to have. Again Benchmarks high standard , and living  environment provided the clients  with the highest standard of living I’ve ever  experience in this field. Also the work balance  and client to staff ratio was  excellent and allowed time for awesome care and room for  lots of 1 on 1 time with the clients. To  entertain their personal interest , activities, personal care and great hygiene. 

A typical day at work can include cooking for the client, cleaning their residence, offering companionship, passing meds, and running them around the town (i.e. taking them out to eat, grocery shopping, doctor's appointments etc). I really liked most of my clients. There were some I did not care for, but I didn't mind serving them. Overall I learned how to have more patience and compassion with people. That is a big key to being successful as a direct support professional. Management was pretty good. Both my SLM and PC were always in close contact or readily available. There were some things I did not like, however.  We were short staffed often. You have already worked 40+ hours a week and then they want you to cover someone else's shift. I also didn't like how some clients had behaviors often, but nothing was being done about it. Also, I think every staff should receive at least a whole weeks worth of training with their specific client. Sometimes they will have you come train with a previous staff for an hour at the client's residence. That is not enough. Also, it'd make a lot of sense to certify all staff in HHA or CNA that way if they decided to leave the company they have broader options. Lastly, the pay is not good. Doing this sort of job requires a lot, and I was paid a little over minimum wage ( 70 cents to be exact). My tip to all is that this is a decent company, but if you need a larger wage or certification, this is not the route you want to go. If you want something like a second job with flexible hours, then this is for you. Tell them what hours you want to work, otherwise they will work you all day every day. Only pick up hours if you need the money or have the free time. Sometimes picking up hours after you have worked a full time week is not worth it (too tiring)

However, In the Kathleen/Ft Valley area, in which I just recently resigned from, after seven long years, alot of hours, loving every aspect of my job, including the people I worked with and for, and the consumers we served, after the past two years, under a new director, it did become quite ridiculous!  You will get written up for no reason, or for a reason that was fault of the director, and if you are to go above her to report anything, you would be suspended and then fired within a short amount of time afterwards.  In working many hours with no sleep, and driving quite a distance and not having time to get more than a few hours of sleep in between shifts, in which the director continuously and unfairly fires whole shifts and house staff at once, expected mobile crisis to cover it, when approached about barely making it home on the amount of sleep allowed, director was unconcerned about my own safety, and told me there was nothing they could do, and took me off mobile crisis, forcing me to take a position in the crisis home, making less money, after seven years.  Overall, I absolutely loved my job with Benchmark, and hated very much to resign.  But, an unprofessional, nasty director, makes it very hard to continue the job.  Wish someone would look into the problems in that region.  I cried the day I turned in my resignation, so did other co workers that met me at the door upon my leaving.  For so long, I really thought that I would retire from this company, even with no pay raises, the job was absolutely rewarding.  I would recommend this job and company for any other state or region, other than Region 6 in Georgia at this time. Best of luck to anyone taking the position.

I was saddened by the lack of organization, support and wisdom in the organization's structure, responsiveness and communication.  It was a dangerous atmosphere because there was a consistent disconnect between management and direct care staff, so much so that often staff were forced to fend for themselves, consequently making decisions that could place consumers in compromised positions.  The pay was appalling and the training insufficient to prepare people to cope with the behavioral needs of the consumers.  

I also found that decisions were routinely made with first consideration given to making or saving money, rather than what would be best for the consumers' needs or staff safety.  

Not acceptable.  I once compared the work atmosphere to a sinking ship in which everyone was fighting to keep from drowning.  There is a drastic, overwhelming staff shortage forcing the remaining staff to cover shifts, sometimes for 16-24 hours without relief.  It is not worth any amount of money because eventually, a crisis may occur that is beyond those available to address it and that is a shame.  I had to get out quick because I saw no means to correct nor curtail what I viewed as the impending disasters on the horizon.  So sad.

The management is the worst I've ever seen. Totally unprofessional, lacking ambition, and constantly complaining. If you work 50-60 hours a week then you are respected and liked more. If you only work 48 hours a week then you are targeted for not working as hard as management and they will guilt trip you into working for them. I felt so uncomfortable working here when I witnessed the amount of neglect, and exploitation that goes on here. I reported countless acts of neglect to the management and they never even looked into it, because they favor certain employees. This company struggles to keep employees because the management is careless. This company has been drowning for several years due to management and has formed a very bad name for itself in Helena, MT. The Illinois headquarters for this company has come to montana SEVERAL times to try and fix the countless management issues and to help us recruit and fix our staffing issues and it is always unsuccessful. I am concerned that if the headquarters for this company does not step in and REPLACE the management soon then they will be forced to relocate out of Helena, since benchmark human services has built a very bad reputation in this town.

This place was not bad when I started. It has slowly gotten worse over the 6 months. Clients are draining and constantly fighting for your attention. Some will sexualize female staff a lot and you cant do a thing about it. They make it their mission to terrorize you, which can be funny but at times it is not when its 12am and you can’t figure out how to turn the van horn off because one if the guys is messing with you. They dont get much punishment for their behavior, just their rooms cleaned out if it was really bad. Otherwise, oh well just do a report on it. Management is not good. They are overworked and dont have time to listen to employees, or they will but they forget what you said. If you think there is a good way to do something, expect them to do the opposite. The clients are cool if you can build a good repore with them. But be careful if you are a female, they will get a crush on you instantly and you will be put in some uncomfortable situations. Constantly understaffed, which makes the staff already there overworked to make up for it. Its not a horrible job depending where you work at, but it is not great. I am glad i worked here for the time i did but moving on will be a big relief. 

I'm going on 3 years of employment with Benchmark now. I was promised a raise after 2 years. Now I'm told "it isn't in the budget". In other words, they never planned on giving raises. This is not uncommon for the company. Other areas also do not give raises.

Health and Dental is out of Indiana. There are "out of network benefits", but NO in-network dentists In Georgia. No vision offered. Life insurance was paid for by the company, but was dropped. Long-term benefits only; no short-term.

They keep the teams under-staffed, burning out the team then complaining about the budget and it's expensive to train and orient new staff. Promised "incentive bonuses", but after 3 years I've only gotten 1 years worth not due to performance or disciplinary issues.

The agency is good to gain experience in the field, but not an agency to pursue a career with. Also, the company is name holds no influence with any other human service agencies in the areas they serve.

Management is concerned only with the budget. Not concerned with the quality of services, employees or providing any support. 

Get some experience and get another job!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Direct support professional 4 salaries reported	$14.38 per hour
Supported living manager 2 salaries reported	$28,750 per year
Registered behavior technician 3 salaries reported	$18.67 per hour
Program coordinator 7 salaries reported	$47,100 per year
Residential manager 3 salaries reported	$47,000 per year

Working at Benchmark Human Services: Company Overview and Reviews

Benchmark Human Services

Benchmark Human Services Ratings

Popular jobs at Benchmark Human Services

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected