resident aide

direct support professional

maintenance technician

cook

coach

Empowering Abilities

The CRS Department is well ran by the Program Director. She has built great working relationships with her employees. The CRS office has great team unity. Each Case Manager would bend over backwards to help their fellow co-worker. 
The days are a little hectic with all of the different job duties we are expected to complete. The Case Managers have to complete paperwork, assist individuals with finding new homes, complete household maintenance for our individuals, assist the individuals with moving into new homes, fill hours for programs, supervise the employees and the individuals that we serve, assist with medical appointment, complete financials, act as a counselor for the individuals we serve, provide crisis management for the individuals, and any other duty that is thrown our way.
I feel that Upper Management does not truly understand what the CRS Department has to deal with on a daily basis. There is not much opportunity for advancement once you reach the Case Manager position. There is also not much difference in pay from a Case Manager who has been there numerous years and one who has just started. The CRS Department deals with a lot of turnover and has trouble retaining it's employees. I feel it is because at times the CRS Department is unappreciated for everything they have to deal with.
Overall it one of the, if not the best ran company in the Quad-City area providing services to individuals with Intellectual Disabilities. I would say that I have enjoyed my time and learned a lot while working for this company.

When I first arrive at work my day starts with assisting residents off vans after arriving home from work. This job is very fast paced and requires a lot of patients. I complete multiple tasks daily. Including but not limited to  feeding or assisting with feeding two snacks and dinner, assisting with shower, and toileting/changing those who need assistance. During my shift we also have a minimum of 1 activity that  involves all 13 residents on the wing. These activities vary daily and may include watching movies, coloring or other crafts, general conversation, general care (Nail clipping, painting,or filing, massages, applying lotion). The hardest part of my day is keeping everything going smooth and making sure things get done. Its like a domino effect, if one thing goes wrong the rest of the day is thrown off. Another hard part of the job and reason I think HDC has a hard time keeping staff is behaviors. Many of the residents have severe behavioral issues.These behaviors can be display by simple screaming or sometimes hitting, biting, spitting, kicking, pushing, throwing things. This job takes lots of patience.  I think the best thing about this job is the residents. I love spending quality time with them, watching them smile, laugh and enjoy life despite their health issues.

I have worked in Home care for people with both mental and physical disabilities for four years. HDC was my first home care job and it still remains the best home care place I worked - which isn't a very hard thing to accomplish, in my book. Mind you, this was 4 years ago and anyone in the industry knows keeping the same staff for more than a year is practically a god send so who knows what it's like now. That being said, HDC did the best job at keeping people around for years (some up to 20!). They for sure make you feel more appreciated then any other home care job I ever did.

THAT BEING SAID, while HDC does a good job in terms on their business, Home Care as a whole is a flawed system in which the employees get hardly any benefits, the hours are long and tiring, you have a chance to experience violence, and yet you'd still be lucky to make above poverty level (IMO) which is just ridiculous for the jobs these people do.

If you have a heart of gold and love helping others without care for money, then by all means I would recommend HDC over any other home care place I've worked for, but until government steps in and supplies more funding to give staff fair pay and benefits for the grueling work they do, I will never suggest someone works in home care.

Everyone knows everything about anyone and the management is horrible. They do talk about you behind your back. They always redirect your problems, comments and or concerns as if they can’t do anything about it or that you as an employee is over reacting. If you are missing hours on your work week they use it against you, to make you stay or come in on a day off. They more or less harass you by calling you on your days off to see if you’d be interested in coming in. If you ever agree to coming in they lie about who will be covering you at the time they say you will be released leaving you no choice but to stay longer. If you happen to get in trouble for whatever reason they will wait until your scheduled shift is over to write you up, suspended, etc. Or wait a week or more to issue it to you, since staff placement is a major problem. All they care about is spots filled, they don’t care about how you feel. Job is seriously not worth the stress. The job you work hard for does not pay out to what they make it seem. State is constantly called there for problems, that’s when you really see management going by company policies.

Clients are mostly awesome. This job can be great or horrible depending on where you are working and who your supervisor is. I loved this job when i first started but things changed when staff changed. It used to be very fulfilling, but eventually I felt like an underpaid babysitter who was constantly being micromanaged. Some things that were consistent: Always Short staffed causing staff to be overwhelmed by constantly being asked to pick up shifts after already working 60-70hrs a week. Must work OT as pay is so low, they let good staff go over trivial things, you have to work most holidays. Long shifts. Lots of trainings that are mandatory during time off. Lots of turnover in staff/management. 
Good things: good health insurance and 401k contribution, They are good about giving raises annually but are like $.20-$.30 an hr per cent a year. They do a very good job at involving the clients in community activities for example: They do lots of dances and outreach to ensure the clients are integrated and included in social settings.  

I started my career with HDC as an Administrative Assistant 7 years ago and was given the opportunity after 5 1/2 years to move up in the company as a Casemanager. I enjoy coming to work everyday to be with the individuals we serve. Seeing the smiles on their faces from even the small things that made their day truly brightens my day. We strive for each individual to succeed, to achieve, to grow, and to be happy like everyone else in this world and it's rewarding for me to know that I was apart of that for them. I am happy to have been apart of it for the last 7 years and will continue to be apart of it as long as I can! I know that I have a good team of coworkers and management to lean on when needed. They are compassionate for not only the individuals in services but the employees as well and they do their best to help everyone succeed. No company is perfect, but I can tell you HDC tries their hardest to meet the needs of all families, individuals, and employees. If you are compassionate, like to have fun, like to smile, and enjoy the satisfaction of making a difference in someone's lives then come join our HDC team! 

Coworkers are amazing to work with, for the most part, some you need to watch your back with, as they are fast to run and tell on whatever is possible. You also have staff around there who do absolutely nothing for your loved ones, that get the most rewarded, then you have your overworked, bending over backwards, paying out of pocket for items for your loved ones, who get treated like nothing but the last chip crumble nobody wants at the bottom of the bag. You have some good supervisors (mostly just one on first shift, and 1 on third), the other ones, like to just bully staff, and treat everyone like the bottom of a rotten milk barrel. You also have an organization that supports people who are actually HURTING your loved ones. 2 cases recently actually, and the staff is yet to be fired. The place has gone down hill. It’s sad. It makes me sick to my stomach. 

I worked 2nd shift. Most horrible job I've ever had. Don't get me wrong, the residents are a joy. But they have you on a schedule with all these different things that must be done by bedtime. So it's about 3 or 4 workers on one shift & 20 or less residents. Each worker gets their group for the day, who you must feed multiple times (of course), toilet throughout the day (of course), give physical therapy to, put them in & out of bed several times, bathe & everything else all on their schedule. If one of your residents is in the bed, & 3 people are required to get them out, which most are, the "seasoned" workers will sneak and move them with only 2 because they know you'll be waiting & try to blame the new person if caught. You never get any breaks except lunch (maybe). Understaffed, overworked, & underpaid. This is surely CNA+ work. The only thing we didn't do was pass meds. Needless to say I wasn't there long, by choice.

all hdc employees r  working non stop They need more staff desperately. hdc is not bad place to work but the last couple years been hard. Has a okay wage if ur new! if u done been here for a while u get what u had n that’s it. All these new staff making more then those that been here, smh. Hdc needs to get they priorities in order if they ain’t want all they staff to start walking away. I ain't able to do any type of work n home life balance. They work u so much u ain’t got time off to take care ure own self n family. n when u r off they call u to come in and some supervisors text u non stop to come work even if u say no. employees is stressed and frustrated about Hdc. The participants r the best part. It’s sad When employees is so tired n run down they aint providing proper care. 

If you do your job duties as required, which at times can be a lot, you will love working at HDC. The benefits offered are pretty good, not a fan of newest health insurance policy with large detectable, but the 401-3b is good, life insurance, employee recognition program are great. I gave management a 5, because they all work so hard everyday, especially CRS. I do believe they treat everyone fairly, if you don’t do your job correctly, then yes, they’ll call you out and write you up. Wages need to be higher. For everyone, except probably HDC president, he makes a good salary. I think HDC needs to figure out a way to make compensation better for employees. Best part of the job is participants/clients. They are the best, when you have a rough day many times they will be able to put a smile on your face.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Resident aide 4 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour
Direct support professional 2 salaries reported	$17.00 per hour
Maintenance technician 2 salaries reported	$18.00 per hour
Cook 3 salaries reported	$14.00 per hour
Coach 3 salaries reported	$15.50 per hour

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