case manager

program director

assistant teacher

activity specialist

social worker

Brooklyn Community Services

most negative environment I've ever experienced.

no psychiatrist agrees to work there for any extended period of time due to morale and unrealistic expectations.

poor management, supervisors make false accusations and HR does not advocate for nonexecutive or nonsupervisory staff. assistant director asking staff for controlled substances. director throwing a chair during a staff meeting. 

employees are overworked, underpaid and undervalued

advancement is not possible for 99% of staff

unhealthy environment leads to various medical conditions and unsanitary conditions. constant construction shakes building, releases chemicals in the air and inhibits morale. executive staff jokes about this and threatens to not pay employees in order to use employee salaries to repair the building. mold growing. leaks throughout the top floor of the building, where PROS is located.

no safety precautions despite dangerous clients (alternative to incarceration program with no security guard, no panic buttons, no video cameras and mostly 20-30 y.o. female staff)

demands on employees are unreasonable - asked to run up to 12 therapy groups per week, work with 20 clients, see each client individually weekly, write up treatment plans, progress notes, curricula, get all clients a primary care physician and a physical, document all outgoing calls in multiple locations, and other documentation that is demanded numerous times with changes due to poor management and supervision.

employees talk badly about each other and supervisors talk badly about employees to staff.

At the risk of being too honest. My current work situation is a challenge because I work for a "day care center" that is not truly geared towards the development of the mind. What, do I mean in this situation? I mean that I work with those who do not have a true understanding of pedagogy as it applies to the child, nor do they have the life experiences that are needed to help booster the child. I can make this assessment based on working one on one with those who constantly present a challenge to anything that is "out of the box" or that is not the norm. I love the students and what they want to learn from me and what I want to give them and most importantly what they teach me. However, because I must constantly defend my decisions around cleanliness, duty, obligation and the best interest of the child, it makes it hard for those student to get what they need. I often feel that because I am a self starter and willing to do anything or as my students say: "Go hard" for them I shine the light on those who are "half-stepping"

These things make it hard to come to work. I tend to stay in my classroom and totally engage the children. That is the blessing in the lesson. The children. 

My take away from this experience is that I will not work in a place where I am not respected, and compensated properly for my experience, intelligence and wherewithal again. I have learned the in's and out's of what not to do as a direct result of being here. This will help me because I truly believe that I am an agent of change and paradigm shifting, those not just words in my cover letter that is the creed in which I live.

I learned a lot about Structural Family Therapy and how to do social work with families referred from the Administration for Children's Services. This job is ideal for someone looking to get their hours for their license and who doesn't mind working in the field. Many clients will be resistant to coming into the office based on the nature of the work and this often causes social workers to have to do more than the minimum once per month home visits.

There is a lot of paperwork involved as with most social work jobs, but management has made several changes over the past year which was frustrating to employees. The management comes across as supportive but when it comes to making changes to ease tension for social workers, nothing gets done. 

Hardest part of the job is working with clients who don't want you to work with them. Most enjoy able part of the job is seeing change in families who do want to improve.

I've never encountered management so inept. Rules change daily. Teachers are not given adequate supplies, or even the most basic tools to teach. For example, I repeatedly asked for textbooks, even just one for each class to make copies from, and never received a single one.

The management at the Education Center is unqualified and inexperienced. For my first year, no one in administration had any experience in the industry whatsoever. In my entire time there, none of my classes were ever observed by the director.

The workplace culture is toxic and management is abusive, inspiring fear in employees. Disagree with management and get ready to be a scapegoat.

There are organizations who run these programs competently. There are management teams with experience and leadership qualities. Just not at BCS.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Gosh…bad experience all around.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Completely disorganized. Bad culture. Don’t care about employees and service recipients. No commitment to quality. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The worst workplace culture you could possibly experience. Hostile work environment all around. To make it in this environment, you have to unlearn what it is to be a professional. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
The organization is 150 plus years old a still operating in the Stone Age. No policies and procedures, your success is not dependent on your work but your allegiance and likeability. If you don’t learn how to play game quickly, you’re out, period!

When I got into the office, I would have two main duties. That was insisting the director of youth stand and covering front desk. A lot of the tasks that I had dealt with organization such as filing or rewriting notes on available programs for the community, and every now and then I would have to perform costumer service tasks at the front desk. At times when youth stand was in session, I would assist the directors and the assistants with ice breakers and tasks for the youth in the community.
Opportunities were given to me to lead youth stand sessions to reach the youth and gain experience in leadership with the youth.
Everyone at BCS was encouraging and very helpful with the resources they had.
Once you're familiar with the process, the job becomes extremely easy.

I've worked in multiple positions with this organization and also spoke to others in different programs and we all seem to complain about similar things- the low pay, lack of support from upper management or the agency overall, and disorganization. It's ridiculous that an agency that's been around so long is this disorganized.  They don't provide raises and it can sometimes be difficult to get a promotion without switching programs. The good part is that you get a lot of vacation days... but you'll need it with how hard they'll work you. I looked at my job description recently and it looked so minimal to all I have to do.

They are very understaffed and you will often be doing things that aren’t exactly your job. And you are suddenly told that it is your job. The vision and understanding of the job as you work, is often unclear. 

I feel like the workload wasn’t bad but things are constantly sprung on you and you don’t really have much support from administration. There is good work life balance within my role and department but don’t stay there for long. People who stay long are usually miserable in their personal lives. 

Worked for 17 years as Director of Central Services and Facilities.  Position was challenging and presented many opportunities in a versatile work place.  Position required one to be a self-starter and allowed one to problem solve which was an enjoyable aspect of the position.  I was able to use my experience in accounting to help set up systems and administer and supervise vendors.  Purchasing was a major part of my responsibility where I supervised the clerical staff and worked with vendors.

This was a satisfying workplace for many years,

If you intend to work at BCS there is no pay increase. You get COLA at the end of the year. No financial incentive to keep employees. Now that more companies are giving incentives most non profit are not doing the same. More people will prefer working at McDonald's. Some employees get too comfortable  working there that it is hard to advocate for more pay. You don't want to be the lone wolf. Managers could care less about challenging upper management. I don't understand  performance reviews with no pay.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Case manager 29 salaries reported	$53,500 per year
Program director 26 salaries reported	$79,319 per year
Assistant teacher 31 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Activity specialist 26 salaries reported	$17.39 per hour
Social worker 17 salaries reported	$62,588 per year

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