youth worker

case manager

housing specialist

program supervisor

clinical practitioner

Heartland Human Care Services

I currently work with CHA/Roosevelt Square Community in the Plan for Transformation. I Provide case management supportive services for over 150 families. 100% of this caseload has to be engaged within a 2 month time friend; at least an attempt to engage/support. A typical day at work can be overwhelming depending upon scheduled events or activities taking place. I've learned that each individual should be met where there as it relates to what there needs are; I focus upon building strengths that a person may not even realize they possess; this gives them hope. When I address a family needs assessment with a family, my primary focus is to encourage my families but more importantly to listen. My co-workers are very involved as well as vital towards making this model work; they are a great supporting cast. The most difficult part of the job is seeing a family being evicted for violating their lease agreement(i.e.-criminal activity). The most rewarding is helping families attain their goals; personal as well as career goals from; graduating college to becoming self-sufficient and purchasing a home.

Most of my day is spent in the office, taking phone calls as they come in, to help assist families with the youth in the household. It is great that I work on a development, because most of the residents will come in and meet with me one on one. It is a constant learning process because I work with different people all throughout the week. Whenever there is an environment working with people, there are many personalities, therefore you must be able to adjust and learn from the experience overall. My co-workers are all pretty independent, some share a strong passion to truly be there for the people, and some do not. In regards to what makes this job difficult, I would say getting the people involved consistently can be challenging. This is a voluntary program, most of our residents only call when they really need something, which then makes it hard on us to get them to do involuntary activities. The most rewarding part of my job is simply being able to create a positive impact on the youth that do come in daily, and want the help that is provided for them.

4 directors in under 2 years says a lot about one program. A revolving door of highly motivated, exceptional staff who left because those same directors either did not support them or actively ignored their requests for work/life balance or request for professional development. HA has the potential to be an incredible human rights organization but it needs to make strides to meet the minimum basic rights of what could be loyal, lifelong employees. If you work here, be prepared to work and perform only 20% of your actual work duties, the rest of the time you will be asked to perform duties that have nothing to do with your qualifications and everything to do with the low staff coverage because everyone has either quit or is too exhausted with the unreal expectations set by those directors. Be prepared to have your work schedule changed on a whim, your judgment constantly second guessed and remaining, traumatized coworkers become too afraid to speak up about program abuses going on.

The turnover in this place is insane. Organization spends a lot of time and money on, training new hires and have no idea how to retain the employees. There is zero accountability from higher ups to low level employees, the blame game and dismissing the tiny mistakes is the biggest issue here. The new employees wants to practice their own ideas which at times are not fit for the program and they dont consult with old employees and constant competition is insane. There is no accountability by supervisors from every dept and mgmt in certain areas. DIE does not work in mgmt team. The internal dept dramas, and favoritism played by supervisors regardless of which dept it is, is horrible. Oh the departmental office politics in clinical dept is insane and the favoritism. 

Work at Heartland has left me very disappointed. The job itself is gratifying as you work with a population in much need of support. Unfortunately management is not supportive, does not trust their employees to do their job and is often disrespectful and has little care for employees and participants. I am a counselor and I experienced constant put downs, micromanagement and little to no consideration as a professional. Yes, you get a lot of time off but you're often unable to take it as management denies you every chance of getting days off during regular days as well as holidays. Even when you call in sick you are asked a million questions and told to still show up. Really poor management and social skills by management. Very disappointing.

I believe this position had significant potential; however, it has devolved into a scenario characterized by a lack of accountability among senior and executive leadership. The decision-making process is extremely poor, and the organization overall appears to be indifferent towards its staff. Culture constitutes a major issue, particularly in relation to balancing responsibilities. The environment is characterized by favoritism, which significantly hampers the professional growth of many directors and managers. I would not recommend employment here for individuals seeking leadership development. 

The people I worked with in the northsidewere the kindest, most respectful team I have ever worked with. I have never felt so at home at a work place. Management was always checking on everyone, making sure everything was OK. Everyone loved their job. I had a crazy amount of unused PTO by the time I left, I had been working there a handful of years. You could call of literally the day of and use it. However, it was hard to move up (the reason I had to leave), and the pay isn't very good. As much as I liked the team, it felt like a lot of work was being put on me even though we had someone that was supposedly in charge of anything I was not able to do.

Typical day would include scheduling appointments and completing intake forms with prospective clients. I've learned that every client's situation is different and every crisis has to be dealt with in a manner that is appropriate for the client. My co-workers were extremely helpful. The hardest part of the job was listening to the client's depiction of trauma. The most enjoyable part of the job is to interact and build a confidential and trustworthy relationship with the client while assessing their situation; as well as discovering ways to provide case management and appropriate counseling.

The work is rewarding. The senior leadership lacks direction and vision for the organization. It promotes those who are like them yo leadership roles hence the cycle of incompetence continues. There is absolutely no DIE especially in leadership roles as senior leadership tends to promote those who look like them even when their actions are antithetical to the values the organization espouses. The "working with coverage" slogan that the organization has even its employees annual evaluation is a mere bumper sticker. The senior leadership reviles and retaliates against employees who speak up.

People are great.
Job is awesome and not stressful (for the most part)
Very rewarding.
Responsiveness and communication overall needs work; specifically from Director/Supervisor to their subordinate(s).
Inadequately trained FR staff
Little to no follow up to the good ideas presented in meetings.
Its HR Dept. and company directors vs all staff when It comes to grievances or complaints/whistle blowers. Dictation instead of cooperation.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Youth worker 38 salaries reported	$19.05 per hour
Case manager 13 salaries reported	$55,613 per year
Housing specialist 12 salaries reported	$22.41 per hour
Program supervisor 16 salaries reported	$49,311 per year
Clinical practitioner 7 salaries reported	$62,928 per year

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