residential counselor

monitor

program manager

assistant director

direct support professional

Community Resources for Justice

Management Does little to nothing in comparison to Staff that actually work at each house. Management falsifies documents to save themselves time, steal money from programs, forge documents to save their careers and hurt others', and threaten staff with punishments for not complying. Mentally and emotionally, not worth the poor compensation they offer, which is hardly above minimum wage. 

A typical day at work for me entails being verbally assaulted, sometimes physically assaulted by the individuals I care for. And, in some cases, I have to prevent 'grooming' upon myself and co-workers . Even though this happens, I must provide them with meals ( they cannot cook safely ), driving them to appointments, transportation for public shopping and enjoyment. Staff also is responsible for keeping a good stock of medications for each individual, in case of emergencies. Some of these medications are controlled substances, so staff must secure them, and maintain a watchful eye, for they are deadly in high dosage. As staff you are also responsible for administering these medications to each one of your individuals, safely, so none are missed/lost/overdosed. Staff must maintain a clean house, and healthy environment, since the individuals cannot be left responsible to do so. Staff is required to be PAC certified to safely be able to restrain and control individuals, as well as being MAP(med.) certified, and CPR/AED certified. Staff must stay up to date on all medications, and their side affects, and stay up to date on all online training required by the company. All of this for $11.30 an hour.

Overall
My experience working at Community Resources for Justice was not always the greatest. The Pay is very low and therefore I had to Work doubles 2-3 times per week just to earn enough to live. The management covers their own behind and stick together. This company does not care about their employees! You have some houses where employees are relatives or dating each other and are given certain privileges to each other. You have managers hiring their best friends and letting them drink on the job. Reports to HR or your Managers just get you into trouble or they take away your overtime and state there are budget issues. When others OT isn't touched. 
There is no room for advancement here. Managers get staff members to do their Relias trainings for them. They have clients plans signed off at staff meetings without the plans ever having been reviewed. I was fire & water safety Certified each year, never have even experienced a fire drill there in my many years with the company. They send clients on cruises with staff who only get paid for half the hours that they work. 
Clients are treated unfairly. There are no boundaries between some staff & clients. The rules aren't the same for each staff member. 
Accidents aren't reported accurately and they still expept you to show up at work during blizzards.

Management targets employees that they personally do not like, using wordage like "poor comprehension" to ignore their own teaching flaws.
Management also does not follow through on opportunities for career advancement/raises/etc.
Communication is extremely lackluster at my particular facility. Monthly meetings will be referenced often, but in my year working here, we've only had a handful of them.
Management hands out official write ups without taking any opportunities to teach employees what they could have done better, and talk down to staff with a condescending tone during almost every single conversation.
You are expected to never make mistakes here, despite management openly admitting to "hiring literally anyone off the street", and then expecting you to do perfect, grade A work. You will not be given grace for messing up. Just an official write up.
On call management is incredibly rude whenever they are contacted off shift, creating anxiety and avoidance around texting/calling when necessary.
The individuals at this facility are wonderful, each have their own unique personalities and are fun to work with. Days go by quickly and are usually very quiet.

What is the best part of working at the company?
We have such a Supportive Upper Management Team. As a Facilitator, I can say we have a great team!  I've worked for the agency for 6+ yrs and can say the team has always worked well together and are supportive of one another. Any and every issue or concerns I may have had were hand in a professional manner and those experiences were turned into teaching moments for staff.  They provide staff with several options for monthly Clinical Supervision, which I feel is wonderful and allows for professional growth and development. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
I think the population we work with is a stressor especially when clients are new. They have to learn to trust you and the stress reduces as you build rapports and begin the real work that's needed. It's hard because every stressor has been met with viable solutions. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Most are skilled and have learned how to be effective in time management and communication. I would have to say supportive again. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I have a consistent group so preparing for any upcoming groups and then presenting it.

Pros:
	•	Rewarding when working directly with the residents
	•	The individuals in the home are great to work with and make the job meaningful

Cons:
	•	New management is overly focused on micromanaging staff instead of prioritizing residents’ wellbeing
	•	Strict rules now limit flexibility and creativity in supporting the residents
	•	Staff are criticized for small things (like trash or cleaning) rather than appreciated
	•	Atmosphere has shifted from relaxed and positive to stressful and punitive

Overall Review:
When I first started here, this job was rewarding, relaxed, and centered on making sure the residents were happy, healthy, and engaged. We were encouraged to spend quality time with them, whether that meant playing video games, watching movies, or going on outings. Since new management came in, the focus has completely shifted. Now, staff are micromanaged to the smallest detail, criticized for every minor task, and discouraged from doing activities that bring joy to the residents. The environment has become stressful and negative, with more attention placed on spotless cleaning and rigid schedules than on the residents’ actual quality of life. What was once a meaningful and fulfilling job has turned into a frustrating and demoralizing one.

Working with CRJ for 3 years has been a true live's experience. Some days are glorious but there are gory days too. It is satisfactory for me and fulfilling to be of service, even when it is difficult. The training process in CRJ is great and timely. Most days are interesting with activities from doctor's appointments to meaningful day activities, and it gets easy when service is the primary motivation. The work culture is nice and we get paid for every hours spent on the job. The job is quite relaxing but dealing with humans turns to be difficult especially when dealing with persons with disabilities and behaviors. I like the job because it is like a vocation but as a vocation, the payment is still a little under the level of competing non-profit making companies around, even though CRJ has some great benefits.

The pay rate is disrespectful to say the least. There is little to no work/life balance. All the facilities are ran very sloppy and unorganized. There is not a lack of diversity in direct care staff but there sure is a lack of cultural competency amongst administration. The re-entry houses are far from re-entry as they are ran like correctional facilities which make for an uneasy and toxic work environment. The way clients are treated is disgusting. When I worked here I made SEVERAL complaints to HR, and little was done to hold staff accountable. Administration/management are stuck in their ways, take a punitive approach to "helping others in re-entry" and many humiliate clients. I have never been so disgusted by a "non-profit organization" in my life. Favoritism is also something that goes on in this organization leaving little to no room for work advancement. Very unrewarding. There are little to no benefits of working here. My safety and the safety of my colleagues was constantly jeopardized in many different ways making this not only a toxic work environment but an unsafe one as well. 

•	Pat search all residents before they are allowed to go to their rooms
•	Once pat search is negative, you have resident blow into the breathalyzer to check alcohol level. If  alcohol level is negative, then, resident, is logged-in and is allowed to go into his room
•	Formal and informal counts per shift to account for residents
•	Front desk duty (phone call mediator)
•	Random spot checks on residents at work and at home(home confinement)
•	Collect random and ordered urine analysis samples from residents
•	Assign residents who are on extra duty with maintenance and cleanliness of the facility
•	Administer medications to residents
•	Random shakedowns of residents’ rooms
•	Log residents out when they are going to work , attending an appointment or meeting with their PO
•	Ensure that residents adhere to facilities’ policies at all times
•	Issue disciplinary resolutions (incident reports) to residents when they don’t adhere to the facility’s rules and regulations
•	Investigate incident reports issued to the residents by other staff members

Most days at CRJ are usually laid back, but some of the time it becomes very stressful depending on the clients you work with. In one of the houses, the clients are very stressful, and there are a lot of restraints sometimes. We are the lowest paid Residential Counselors in Massachusetts. We only get paid 12.50-13 for the hazardous work we do as some clients can be violent. Corporate hardly knows anything about what goes on with the Residential Counseling branch of the company. Corporate lives in their own world where they think our jobs are easy and we don't deserve 15 an hour which isn't true at all. Not only that, but the paper work we do is archaic, the timesheets are on paper and there is no clock in/clock out method. I got into this job thinking it would be great, and that greatness only lasted two months. CRJ needs to pay their employees more if they want their employees to stay and work for them. If it wasn't for us our clients would have nothing and they'd be in a mental institute.

This job expects you to be flexible and dependable but does not hold themselves to the same. You are paid much less than competitors or even other jobs but their reasoning is you can make good money with all the overtime you want. However, to afford life you have to waste it at a job working way too many hours and getting stuck working a lot more than you want due to being constantly short staffed (can you imagine people don’t want to work for 50 cents more than minimum wage?) The company is always coming up with new responsibilities and demands but does not compensate for them. The individuals can be very dangerous (violent, behavioral, opportunists) and CRJ being so short staffed and having such a high turnover rate makes things much more dangerous and stressful. There is no shift differential, time and a half on Sundays, nothing. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Residential counselor 36 salaries reported	$19.89 per hour
Monitor 19 salaries reported	$19.89 per hour
Program manager 4 salaries reported	$22.00 per hour
Assistant director 6 salaries reported	$64,108 per year
Direct support professional 5 salaries reported	$21.00 per hour

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