Howard Center

I have worked for Howard for two years and it is literally the worst job experience I've ever had in my life. Let's get the pros out of the way since that list is rather short: pretty generous paid time off, good health and dental insurance, offers a 401K plan after you've worked there for a year. The bad: your college degree is irrelevant to your pay, as is any years of experience you've had in the field. They do NOT give raises unless the union negotiates a new contract, which usually happens every 2-4 years or so. Management treats the direct service workers like absolute garbage and like you're replaceable (which is ironic given that they are chronically understaffed all the time), you will be lied to, and coerced into working with clients you don't have the experience for out of the fear of losing your job. Many, many employees have reported instances of discrimination and harassment, but management looks the other way to protect their own. I personally witnessed documents be falsified, and saw clients receive poor treatment---not abuse or anything---just really low-quality care, and I reported all of it to upper management and HR but nothing ever came of it. Oh, and don't get hurt on the job because you will get denied workers comp, or HR will just simply ignore your repeated phone calls, emails, and meeting requests. There is a cycle of abuse, corruption, and frankly immoral behavior that exists in this company by the management. If you speak out about these things happening around you, you will be blacklisted. You will not be given enough info about a new client before you go to work with them, which often causes employees to get physically hurt. Your schedule is NOT flexible, you have a set schedule week after week, and in many positions you are required to work weekends, but they don't tell you that when you apply for the job. Run far away from this abusive agency.

Fresh out of college I came here pretty naive to what the working world was. So with that fresh energy I put my head down and worked hard. My coworkers looked to be enthusiastic people so I was excited. What I learned after a while is your hard work is not rewarded. In fact, if management sees you can handle it, they will give you more work; without any incentives, any room for upward mobility, or flexibility within your role. Yet with the amount CTO and just enough money to get by, you will shut you because you need a job and you know if you’re a Burlington resident looking for entry level jobs, it’s slim pickings. Howard knows this, they’ve done it for decades. They use their company’s culture of inclusivity to attract students from UVM, St. Michael’s, and Champlain to feed into this process. Get a few solid years out of them till they burn out, rinse, repeat. The company treats their management like nobility. They hire middle managers that know how to follow orders and lack the actual empathy to follow what the actual company mission is. The ones that do care are completely powerless to change anything out of fear/reprisal from program leaders. The best part about the work is your coworkers at the clinician level. They are the most selfless people I have ever met. Depending on your department some of your clients will also genuinely make your day. It’s truly a shame that Howard cares more about their reputation than the ones who keep their company afloat.

I was excited and did my job above and beyond. Worked extra when asked, rarely asked for vacation time. Once my boss retired it was game over. I was pushed out by the newer coworkers. My boss never talked to me any issues brought up about me but I always went to them about situations or issues. My final straw was accusations made to the union board that could have ruined my future careers so I quit. If someone came to me to discuss any issues or miscommunications then it would have been fine. There's supposed to be a chain of commands but if you go to the union board instead they open a full investigation on you without any warnings or discussions. Your coworkers will talk about you behind your back and to your boss but smile in your face without any issues. Everyone has their own little work family but don't take it too seriously cuz you can be outcasted and pushed out without hesitation. The residents don't like it there, there's zero organization, zero room for advancement, no one is held accountable just kicked out. Once the manager that hired me left and my coworker that trained me left, I should have left. Never again will I work for a company I can't trust or support. 

I worked an asleep overnight position at a group home for individuals with developmental disabilities. Although I was regularly scheduled for over 20 hours per week, the agency gets around giving benefits and exploits workers by using the contracted employee designation. I enjoyed the majority of my co-workers. However, management was out of touch with the needs of clients and employees and offered little guidance or support but a lot of criticism. The hardest part of the job was having ultimate responsibility for the well-being of clients overnight. This in itself would have been manageable, but I was given almost no support or guidance from my immediate supervisors. There were no consistent expectations or requirements for clients to be accountable for their whereabouts, so I was left in the extremely difficult position of being responsible for their safety without any authority to enforce what few lax protocols were in place should they not return to the residence. Beware:this agency doesn't reward commitment or hard work. They know they will always be able to find another schmuck to replace you, so they don't care how burned out you get.

Howard Center is a great place to glean skill (i.e. intern) in the short term, however the management is top-down and athoritarian.  You are constantly reminded of your poor work performance without help or training, and the never ending need to bill for services.  There is very little training other than the mandatory safety training.  You will never be "good enough" unless you are friends with the boss.  There is high turnover due to this, not to mention the low low pay rate.  Top management has no vision and keeps doing things they way they always have and it doesn't work.  There is no accountability for top management or chance for feedback.  They are demoralizing to the staff.  Middle managers try, but they are met with the same devaluation if they don't do what they are told.  Change is not valued.  Sad really, that this is how they treat those who care for our most vulnerable.

A great mission to support people who need support. Working with clients to become more independent or supported to meet their needs is very rewarding.

The ratio of middle managers to direct support staff is very bad. It seems like the organization is somehow more concerned with creating good paying jobs for certain people rather than what is most important for helping clients. Or it just looks that way from the inside, which is not good.

Communication from the top down is often bad or not there. Training is getting better but is largely unrelated to the actual difficulties of the work. You have to wonder what many of the people in the mid to high part of the hierarchy are actually doing that positively impacts people's lives. 

Clients are often unaware of their rights or are not encouraged to advocate for themselves when being treated unfairly, like if they need staff, are funded for staff, but have no steady staff to work with them.

I absolutely loved what I did at the Howard center but the management was a disaster. From being told one thing and then arriving to do it, and then they tell you “oh I forgot” or have some excuse as to how they messed up. The communication was horrible. It took my supervisor days to respond to me. He was super unprofessional. And I had several issues with him and ended up going to HR, after an on going battle to have HR to even get back to me (several phone calls, emails, etc) I advised him that I did not enjoy working with him and why I was going to HR to get things figured out, he retaliated and fired me for taking APPROVED time off due to medical reasons. Well, in the state of Vermont that is acceptable because it’s an “at will” state. So, be sure that even when you get approved time off, to make sure you’re in good terms first.

I have worked at Howard Center for many years and in many different positions. I enjoy the people that I work with and the work that I do. When I first started here, my pay was low but now I feel I am fairly compensated - the agency has done a lot of work to bring salaries up in recent years. The culture here is positive - employee wellness is a priority and there is a great wellness program! I have been able to grow professionally and learn so many new skills.  I feel supported in my role and appreciate the flexibility afforded to me in my schedule.

Working for the Howard center you will find yourself around amazing teammates. But never expect a pay raise because no matter how good you are at your job, your skills and merit will never be praised with financial compensation, but instead only with verbal acknowledgement. During my time here I have had amazing supervisors who advocate and care about my work life balance. Upper management seems to be the crux of the issues. HR does not attend to problematic employees in a timely manner which disintegrates community and culture. Employees who do half the work of ther peers and are known to be problematic remain employed.  During my 9 years I experienced 2 max exodus of staff in which positions saw the exit of 30-60+ staff with no attempted from the company to maintain employees. 

To be the provider for all of the mental health services in Chittenden County, you would think they would be empathetic to their employees own mental health needs. They aren’t. If you get off on a bad start with a manager, they will pick at you until you leave. Unprofessional relationships within company, unclear job descriptions, lack of support. You will drive your car in to the ground for Howard. I recently heard a HC employee refer to us as just a warm body. Warm bodies and your rental car. That’s what the position is made of.

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