direct support professional

activity assistant

licensed practical nurse

employment specialist

registered nurse - pediatrics

Hattie-Larlham

I was thrilled to get an opportunity to work at hatties. To start off with, the job itself is not bad and i genuinely enjoyed working with the individuals, it is sad that they don't get to spend much one on one time with the people who care for them. 1st shift is very fast paced and in my opinion there should be more staff on 1st and 2nd always or give those girls a raise because when it comes to the job they deserve it. I could not handle 1st so I went to 3rd which was easier for me. With that said though, the people who work there have been there for years working with each other and even though they say you are welcome, they show you in different ways that you indeed are not and they let you know your an outsider, so you better hope you got a family member who's been there for years to watch out for you. Everyone is two faced even some of the nurses but most try to just do what they need to and go home cause they don't want any part of it. The supervisors play favorites and take sides with the staff who have been there for years. I had many issues with the girls and when I brought it up I was pretty much told I was the problem, I had staff stand right in front of me and tell management that it was a lie when it wasent. One time the supervisor brought me to the coworkers I was having an issue with and I was pretty much yelled at, by two of them at the same time one of them was the supervisor, gas lit, and was not given a chance to talk without repeatedly being interrupted and yelled at more, it did not help the situation and after that I felt I needed to move on to other opportunities as no one would talk to me afterwards. I did not leave because the job itself was bad, I left because the employees at hattie larlhams are not nice people and at one point I felt I was a target on some occasions because I was new. I was told by many DSP'S that you have to have "tough skin" to work there but they do not mean "tough skin" because the job is hard, they mean "tough skin" because 95% of them are not nice people and are rude. They say they want more staff and complain about not having any but they will not take the steps to make DSP'S want to stay and when you leave they again act like you were the problem. They will not train you on different units except one and it's not for long and though it's not a huge deal because we as DSP's do have the skills to provide care, it would be safer for the individual and DSP as each individual is unique and has their own specific needs and also could you imagine how scary it would be to be a person who is not verbal but knows what is going on and has a random DSP that they have never met come up and start giving them care, knowing that they have not been trained on that specific individual. I have been a DSP since I was 18 and I do not think I will be going back to any Healthcare place after hatties. 

I loved waking up everyday knowing i was going to help others. Working with individuals who have DD's is a rewarding field and i was so lucky to have made friendships with everyone at Hattie Larlham. 
I already knew not everyone is the same we are all different. The individuals i worked with were so beautiful inside and out and taught me so much. I learned everyone has their own way of communication. Some of the individuals were unable to communicate  normal so they used high pitched noises to get your attention, their hands and facial expressions. One of the individuals i worked with was unable to talk but he could still make noises, he was in a wheelchair and would always dance (turn in circles) to christmas music with his eyes closed and a smile on his face. This same individual during christmas time would inspect the room to make sure all the christmas lights were on. One day i forgot to turn a glass house light on and he went over to it and started to make a lot of noise. He came over to me making even louder noises and i asked him what was wrong, he started shaking his head and brought me over to the glass house and he lifted his hand and pointed at it. As soon as i turned the light on he smiled and reached for my hand to hold it. It's sometimes the smallest little things like this that made me appreciate my job, The hardest part of my job was when i couldnt understand what someone was saying or trying to tell me. I worked with a woman who was such an inspiration. She has many different disabilities including speech but that didnt stop her from going to college and getting degrees. She told me God made her special, God made her this was for a reason. She used to be upset becuase she didn't understand why she had to be different. Everytime i spoke with her i struggled to understand what she said and sometimes she would have to repeat herself several times before i could understand what she was saying because i have a hearing disability. This woman was so strong, beautiful and smart, i admired her for so many reasons but the main reason i admired her was for keeping her faith strong and for showing everyone that just because you have a disabity that doesnt mean you are not smart or not capable of achieving what any normal person can. I would love to find another job where i can help individuals again and connect with them on the same level.

A typical day at work would be arriving at 6:30am and getting all 5-6 of my individuals for the day bathed and fed between 8-10, depending on what time they go to school or work. When they get home after school/work I then get them fed and then get them down in their beds and I change and position them. Aside from feeding, changing and bathing them they also have "programs" they do. Some individuals have programs such as a switch where they have to hit a switch in order to make something work, sing, talk etc., other individuals have programs such as stomach lying or side lying where you put them on a stomach lying or side lying positioner in order to stretch out trunks. 

The management is awful. They force their full time employees to work one extra shift every other week and if you don't pick up a day from a list then they decide which day/shift you work. The call off policy is also very poor. If you call off 4 or more times within a 3 month period you get a corrective action, it doesn't matter if your sick or you have a doctors note, your automatically written up, no excuses.

My co-workers for the most part are wonderful. They are mostly female, but we do have some male staff. Most of our staff are very committed to their jobs and they love what they do, but there are some that you can tell are only there to make money. 

The hardest part of my job is seeing how few families of our individuals actually come in and see them. It absolutely breaks my heart to see how some families just put their kids in our facility and "forgot" about them. 

The most enjoyable part of my job is being able to work with the individuals. They truly are inspirational to me. They do not have one care in the world and they always have smiles on their faces. They make you realize how much in life you truly take for granted.

I worked as a DSP at Hattie. I was hired as Part-time but NEVER worked part time hours out of my own choice, so yes there are plenty of hour available; however, you work all those hours for a paycheck that doesn't reflect how much time you spent at work. I worked in their supported living communities. I worked at a house that was easy (Low need from residents). The hard part came from management and other coworkers. It's incredibly difficult to work somewhere in which you feel like you care more than a coworker you're with all the time. My manager was full of empty promises ( to both myself, my coworkers, and the clients). The manager had no organization. This job could have been the easiest thing you every did see, despite this. The hiring process takes a little longer than I liked, but overall was easy. You have an opportunity to work at other houses and transfer to different types of work ( like a different house as your main house, different shift, or even a different job title) since Hattie offers a lot to their clients. I don't know anything about their benefits besides that they have some (I do know part-time people do get sick and vacation time, but I don't know when. Also, unused time gets cashed into your check. They do yearly raises and you don't have to work there for the who year to receive the raise either). I found a love for this career field through this job. If you find yourself in this job, PLEASE love the clients like they are your family. Play games with them, notice their favorite foods, what makes them laugh, etc. They'll ask about you for a lifetime, really.

Nurses are overworked. There isn't enough time in a 12 hour shift to complete all treatments and tasks for 23-28 residents per unit per nurse. Patient to nurse ratio is dangerously high for the amount of care the residents need. There's animosity between day shift and night shift as day shift leaves work for night shift. Night shift is actually busier for nurses due to the fact every resident is on the unit compared to day shift when most are either at school or doing activities off the unit. This facility has many cliques. If you aren't friends with the right nurses, they will try to get you fired or sabotage your work. The HA's have cliques of their own as well. If they don't like a nurse they will try to make their shift as hard as possible. There are plenty of good people working here, but the ones that cause drama make it difficult to want to stay. This place can be wonderful to work at or be difficult depending on who you work with. Because they are so short staffed they seem to tolerate more from employees than is reasonable. The residents are what kept me coming to work every day.

I got hired when I was in school as an HR Intern. Although the internship was unpaid, I was excited to work in HR to help advance my career. Unfortunately no one had the time or energy to teach me anything. On a typical day I would sit at my desk and work on a tiny stack of paperwork that took me about 30 minutes. When I would ask for more tasks, I would usually be informed that there’s nothing at the moment and then just sit there for the rest of my shift. Calling out to potential employees and their references was fun and enjoyable but one of the HR workers was quite controlling and didn’t take your work for what it was (often redid it) I was directed to decorate the office for Halloween and when I came back the next day it was all redone. Extreme power complex. One of the HR workers was extremely nice but since they worked in a different office sometimes it was rare to work with them. The worst part was the training that was mandatory for me to be at. It was three unpaid days of me missing my actual job to be trained in a nursing position that was not mine. (How to lift patients, feed etc) A nurse came in and gave us all shots and then forgot to give me my second one so I had to get two more shots. They were quite unpleasant to deal with as well. Overall, did not help me further my career or learn anything that I could take with me in the future. Disappointing 

From day one, going through training was okay, but the employees are like high school kids...there's PLENTY DRAMA to go around. Management isn't that professional, they don't handle situations with certain employees properly in order to be sure the work environment is healthy and welcoming. These managers don't even have the balls to SPEAK UP and tell you if an issue exists or there could be improvement on your part, they just run to the next person and talk about you. Next thing you know, you'll hear anchor it from someone else. They pick and choose who they give "chances" to. They hold on to employees who don't do their jobs properly, yet let go off others for the simplest of things. It's a complete joke. They are ALWAYS HIRING!! Retention rates is high and I see why. I definitely got screwed over by this company and that's unfortunate. Apart from all of that, working side by side with the individuals is the MOST humbling feeling ever. They are some of the most honest and funny people you'll ever meet because they are always themselves and they are genuine!

They preach about how it’s all about the individuals but don’t act accordingly. They don’t care about their dsps and want you to play good soldier and do everything they want even if it’s not convenient or beneficial to the individuals. Many medical errors. Nobody listens to genuine health concerns about the individuals. Their slogan is COMFORT, joy and achievement but you can tell by the attitudes of the individuals that they certainly fail in many aspects to hit the first word in the slogan of comfort. If we can’t even abide by the goal of the company then maybe there should be some changes. Do not work here even if you have a heart I promise there’s bigger and better opportunities out there to help this population because at Hattie larlham their only goal is to get more funding from the state. They take on more complex people all the time and refuse to hire more people to give the quality of care that the disabled population deserves. 

Where to start, well the pay is horrible, management is a joke, and the co-workers will lie on you to management. I loved and cared about those participants but the co-workers could care less about them but they will have their job, if you work hard and give them love, you can kiss your job goodbye and your good reputation. Co-workers bullied me and harassed me and even though I reported them, guess whose working there and who isn't? If you make a mistake, believe you won't have your job for long. They make you take care of the participants, clean the center, drive their vehicles, clean behind the animals there under slave wages. If you're a float, don't do it because it'll be more stress on you, I haven't worked there for a few months now and I still have emotional scars and nightmares from this company and been through a lot of scars I'm trying to heal still since I lost my job here. If you value everything about yourself, you will avoid this company at all cost!!! It was the WORST I have ever worked for and I wish I could tell the family to not to put their love ones in here!!!

Unfortunately I was recently let go from this wonderful organization due to downsizing and restructuring.  I cannot say enough wonderful things about the company.  I thoroughly enjoyed working for Hattie Larlham.  I was very proud of the work we did to serve the individuals.  I worked in the the vocational services department first as a facility manager for one of the vocational training programs, then was promoted to a position where I coordinated the employment assessments.  The management was extremely supportive and encouraged growth.  There was lots of opportunity for advancement.  The workplace culture was second to none.  I'll be hard pressed to find another group as passionate about they do.  The only downside to this organization is that their wages are not at all competitive and staff are severely underpaid.  Then again, you do not do this type of work for the money and the great culture and knowing you are making a difference made it all worthwhile.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Direct support professional 31 salaries reported	$19.15 per hour
Activity assistant 54 salaries reported	$17.01 per hour
Licensed practical nurse 8 salaries reported	$31.41 per hour
Employment specialist 1 salary reported	$17.50 per hour
Registered nurse - pediatrics 6 salaries reported	$35.88 per hour

Working at Hattie Larlham: Company Overview and Reviews

Hattie Larlham

Hattie Larlham Ratings

Popular jobs at Hattie Larlham

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected