camp counselor

family consultant

lifeguard

youth worker

behavior technician

Boys Town

This has been by far one of the hardest and most rewarding job I've ever held. The kids that come in are challenging, but when you see change happen it's a beautiful thing. The model of care they teach you in Omaha is kinda silly and sometimes seems a little ridiculous. However, when a youth is noncompliant the skills and steps they teach you really benefit. 

In the negative, the management is one of the worse I have ever seen in my career history. They make decisions without preparing how to handle the change. Those running the family homes (family teachers and the assistant family teachers) have to clean up the messes from upper management. There is a huge separation from the family home program and the administration. Personally, I have had my personnel issues discussed with other office staff that have no direct relation or business knowing my personal or personnel issues. 

There is poor planning that takes place. Issues aren't appropriately thought through and it ends up effecting the care and happiness of not only the staff, but the youth and children. They place kids that have too severe behavior in the family home and don't have the means or resources to care for them. 
Because employee turn over is so high this also effects campus morale. They terminate employees for bogus reasons or they end up allowing severe issues to continue for years. 

The health benefits are pretty good although they don't pay for contraceptives. However for family teachers that live in the home they actually limit the amount of birth children you can have living with you. Another great benefit is the rent free living - however in my opinion it doesn't cover the price you pay to sacrifice your time and life you dedicate to daily live with your job. 

Management come to your home unannounced. They call you with last inure requests and expect you to fulfill it right away. They will request that you do things that are outside of your duties because of a clause in your contract of "and other duties as assigned by your supervisor". If you refuse you will be then reviewed as insubordinate and unprofessional. 

Overall this has been one of the worst companies I've ever worked for. Also, if you don't have at least a bachelors degree you have no career advancement opportunities.

The first month that I was at Boys Town was great. My schedule was fine, I enjoyed the boys in my house, and I loved the couple I worked with. After the first month, it all seemed to go down hill. First, you are not paid near enough of what you should be paid for a job as stressful and dangerous as this one can be.The only good thing regarding pay was that I was consistently getting overtime almost every paycheck as I was working 45-50 hours a week. You basically have no life outside of work and you're constantly exhausted mentally and physically after dealing with the hours and behaviors. The couple I worked with took advantage of me and would constantly leave or be back in their area of the house when we were all three supposed to work together. They also asked to do basically everything when we worked together. If one of the boys had an appointment, it was always me taking them. While I could deal with the boys by myself, it was tiring and upsetting to see them treat me the way they did. If you're scheduled to work...you work. I wasn't the only one who noticed as the boys in my house constantly made remarks about how they always left me alone on days they were supposed to be working as well. I also know I'm not the only AFT that this happened to. Family Teachers seem to think that they can just do whatever when the assistant is there.  The couples  make the schedules for the month and I worked basically every single weekend which is not what my schedule was supposed to be. After mentioning that I wouldn't mind having certain days off, they let me have one of the days off one week and that was it. The Senior Assistant Family Teachers also seem to take advantage of the AFT. I worked with one who did absolutely nothing when we worked together and it was incredibly annoying. Again, I know other AFTs have had/have the same issue. Normally, you could go to a supervisor and talk about issues like this but I was uncomfortable with mine and didn't feel like I could talk to them. Overall, it was a pretty terrible experience and the last month and a half that I was there, I cried every time I had to go into work. That's how much I dreaded it. The idea of Boys Town is great and I do think there's good work and people there but I think some of the people who work there need to be reminded of their jobs and how they're supposed to do them.

Working full time in such a high stress environment can make an individual very exhausted quickly which can lead to burn out, it didn’t help that every other week I was scheduled 6 days when I was told at hire I would work 4 days a week.
 I feel as if Shift managers need to observe staff often enough to notice when Behavioral health techs are micromanaging others, as it became an irritating issue having other techs constantly hovering over and criticizing you in the work environment. There is a difference between helpful feedback and micromanaging. 
I also feel the staff to youth ratio could be potentially dangerous and it is uncomfortable especially if you have youth with aggressive behaviors, this can cause added stress to the work environment and work load.
 The RTC could show more appreciation to the Behavioral health technicians as the RTC could not run without them. Upon being hired at boystown I thought my career throughout would be very rewarding with a bright future head. Unfortunately once I started I realized the two week preservice I attended really did not truly prepare me for what I thought I had signed up for at the initial. I feel as if I was just thrown on the floor too quick and felt uncomfortable, it was easy to feel overwhelmed. Especially when shift managers and long term staff acted as if Myself and other new staff should already know what was expected of us. My intentions with my feedback about my experience working as a BHT at boystown RTC is not intended to be negative, I do feel as if boystown is a great program for so many youth and great work experience for the ‘right’ kind of people, otherwise it would not be so successful. I do think there are a lot of things that could change to make it a better place and I understand that will take time and I could see myself working for this program again one day in a different setting and under better management. 

A typical day of work was seeing kids through their daily routine and teaching to moments where they could be making better decisions, or giving praise to moments where they changed behavior. An Assistant Family Teacher teaches social skills, runs errands, tends to specific tasks around the home, and supports the youth through their ups and downs. You work with Family Teachers most of the time, but work alone when covering their days off. The Assistant Family Teachers are expected to complete some overnights. As you can imagine, the youth at Boys Town aren't always thrilled to have new rules or expectations and may act out from time to time. This position helped me in many ways, but it can be taxing at times. A successful person in this role can manage tasks efficiently, and can communicate to kids with firmness and understanding. Holding kids accountable through your time in this role is important. Being able to give and receive feedback appropriately is important as this is woven into all aspects of the job. An assistant must be a team player and take on tasks for the betterment of each home and each child's program. The hardest part of the job is specific to each person's personality as this is a job that requires a lot of  one-on-one time with a group of individuals. For some, the difficulty is time management, while for others it's the aspect of teaching to kids within a specific program. While it can be hard, I always found that my Consultant and Family Teachers were supportive and offered solutions. Knowing that you can help these kids reach attainable goals that are specific to their needs is beyond rewarding, and knowing that you have coworkers that are solution focused is reassuring. It challenges you to be a person for others in a very unique way and I'm very thankful for my time in this position.

I worked for Boys Town for 8+ years across a handful of programs.  I saw management change and the culture and positivity of BT drop as new management took over.  It because a mean girls club when certain staff retired and others moved into high management positions.  You do not move up in this company unless you take others down un the process.

I loved my job, but was micromanaged as if I was a new employee. Lack of respect or tenure by management, which makes zero sense because there are yearly reviews and on the job observations completed by fidelity from Home Campus.  8+ years with the company means I passed multiple yearly observations, was consultant of the year, mentored new staff, and given extra tasks because I was capable, but in the end never good enough for advancement.

I see current managers in the field and am treated very unprofessionally by them.  This isnt a negative of the company as a whole, but of current management.

To survive the job, you must be able to think on your feet, be ready for feedback - there is ALWAYS feedback, accept that you will be micromanaged, and have a strong stance on separating work with family life.  In my time with the company I took ownership of all my cases, but made a point that my family came first - this helped keep my sanity and avoid burnout.  A lot of others aren't able to do this.

A typical work day was very routine and included as much positive interaction with the children as possible in order to catch and teach to their negative behaviors more effectively. This included going over their personal skill sets, engaging them in activities such as sports or board games, overseeing completion of chores, and daily meetings to get input from the kids themselves about the day. Working at Boys Town taught me that there is a serious need for restoration of family values in the everyday lives of children. The management team was always trying to find ways to improve the lives of the children within the shelter walls and the workers that helped run the shelter on a daily basis. The hardest part of the job was teaching to the children that became explosively angry or sometimes violent while still maintaining my own personal safety and that of the people around me. Thankfully, my team members were never very far and always helped out. The best parts of the job came in little ways: a kid expressing pride at using a hard learned social skill without prompting, former youth calling or visiting the facility to share their personal progress outside of the program, but mainly, knowing that you've helped make a positive impact on a child that they'll carry with them into adulthood.


It's was a hot mess from the very begining. But I was excited about working for boys town so I tried to just go with it. I had 4 supervisor in 9 months.  They weren't really even sure that the expectations of my position were. They continuously changed them to fit their narrative. When the  new administration took over they are easily manipulated by a few. They don't bother to have any conflict resolution. Just take sides and fire people mostly because they were manipulated by other staff. Hopefully they will learn and eventually lean to become an actual leader not a follower. Too many women power trippin' in that office. Absolutely no relationship between Admin Office to youth. How can you run a location and never bother being in the homes, spending time with youth, and not know the boys town model we pride ourself on? Why on earth would someone like that be in charge? They'll run it all into the ground shortly. Unless you're 
desperate keep looking!

Typical day consisted a lot of transportation for youth, shopping, doctors appointments and various other task related issues. I learned what not to look for in an actual leader. Playing favorites is very unprofessional and this will probably not end well for the newer management. 

While working for Boystown was incredibly fulfilling from a needs standpoint. The management was overwhelmingly inadequate. There was no confidentiality, in fact, some supervisors shared text accusing other employees of some pretty heinous things. These things were not proven or factual, but just a possible idea. Those texts were then shared with other employees. This happened on a few occasions. You could not trust management with information personally because they would share it with each other even after being requested not to. Boystown mission is amazing, the council office is laughable at best. Management really place themselves above all others, they were hard to get a hold of during peak hours of the week. They continuously talked about professionalism, but showed very little personally. If you enjoy going to work and feeling like you’re unwanted or needed. This is the place for you. I waited a whole year to write this review because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t biased, however, my feelings are just a strong now as they were then. I really wanted to love Boystown, it was very disappointing. 

I have never worked for a company that puts employees on the ground and steps on them, not sure how other campuses are but RI location really need someone from the main offices in Nebraska to come and reevaluate the RI location ,staff work while under the influence. Things need to be done, when contacting HR told nothing can be done because it’s the past. Happy to not work at that establishment anymore. Employees are dragged through the dirt at the Portsmouth location and a current employee told me that no one follows covid restrictions. Was told i could not get a part time job when i worked there and management gets mad at you if you don’t put them first before you’re personal life. I highly do not recommend working there, it’s a lot of stress for pennies but if you don’t mind working for a company that will work you till you are blue in the face and offer no sort of praise then go for it. You are required to stay overnight 1 weekend and NOT get paid for it, you only will get paid for the time you are scheduled but you have to clock out and remain on campus and sleep there off the clock. if you are not a yes man don’t apply, this campus will judge you down to the bone for speaking your own mind. 

Job description was supposed to be mailroom with delivery and some moving furniture in/out of residences; however, a co-worker (who started at the same time as I) and myself received almost no training of any kind and none in anything to do with the mailroom. Instead we were relegated to “grunt work “, meaning we did ALL the heavy lifting and carrying of furniture. The rest of the employees competed to see who could do the least amount of work. Several of them literally only worked 2-3 hours a day. The rest of the time they say around doing crosswords, reading books, or “exercising”. This created an extremely hostile work environment. Boys Town supposedly takes civil training seriously, but when I reported bullying behavior to my “manager “, he took no action. I had to report these serious concerns to HR. I was told they would address these issues but never did and didn’t respond to me as promised. It was a nightmare working at Boys Town. I saw an employee routinely drive over the limit in the residential areas with headphones on while he played with his phone but although reported, it continues to this day; I observe it when I go to the PO there to get mail regularly. It was very scary the things I witnessed at Boys Town.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Camp counselor 290 salaries reported	$15.19 per hour
Family consultant 109 salaries reported	$21.95 per hour
Lifeguard 146 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour
Youth worker 18 salaries reported	$18.25 per hour
Behavior technician 38 salaries reported	$18.49 per hour

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