direct support professional

program supervisor

autism support professional

program director

community associate

Keystone Human Services

A typical day at work varies greatly depending on what house you are in and how healthy the residents are at that program. When the health of your residents is stable then your typical work day is very consistent. Your residents all have routines and you assist them as they follow those routines.

Management: I had several really great supervisors who went above and beyond to ensure the wellbeing of the individuals in their care. That being said there is a huge seperation between people who work direct support and those in the office making decisions( supervisors serve as intermediaries). When your in training your told that your role is a very important one because you work with the clients everyday. However, I later learned that when it comes time to make major decisions you are rarely included in that process.

Culture: The culture varies so greatly from one house to another it largely boils down to luck. Most of the houses are very inviting and the staff is very friendly and helpful. At other houses staff is reserved and there is competition as far as who gets overtime. I trained at more than a half dozen homes and what I found is that there is a pretty significant culture of drinking and drug use, Keystone should really consider drug testing their employees randomly. Keystone is so lenient that it breeds apathy among employees. Many employees don't take their role as seriously because there are no consequences. Although investigations are plentiful, people rarely get fired. Which made it difficult for me personally to report anything because I knew that I would make a lot of enemies and the issue would not get resolved (I know of staff who pushed residents and otherwise endangered residents and didn't get fired).

The hardest part of the job is when you disagree with the decisions being made for the individuals you serve and there is nothing you can do for them. What I learned is that if you give people an inch they will take a mile. Its important to maintain a professional relationship with your coworkers because if you establish a friendship with them they will expect you to let them slide for things they shouldn't be doing. It starts off with little things like leaving five minutes early but it quickly escalates.

What I loved about this job was working with the clients. Watching them learn and grow, earning their trust and building a bond. Figuring out what works for them and what doesn't, helping them solve problems and overcome difficulties was so rewarding and I learned so much.

● Work-life balance
They expect you to give your while life to a company that cant even take your home.life or situations into consideration. They expect you to stay for hours longer than expected if the person who is supposed to relieve you. The BHS is supposed to.come cover because it is THEIR case but the BHS will give you excuses and make you sit there knowing you have kids in daycare and everything...its pretty ridiculous.

● Pay & benefits
Their insurance barely covers anything and you get paid $1 more than a target worker to run your car into the ground and be harrassed by BHS and other superiors that barely keep their organization together.

● Job security and advancement
You can stay here forever if you want, simply because everyone quits so quickly once they realise what a joke this whole organization is. They dont help the participants and they expect the actual souls of the CSPs who care about said participants...I know people who have been watching movies while their supposed to be helping participants for the last...5 or 10 years...but you'll have your job here forever, that's for sure. And they honestly do have a lot of education opportunities for those who genuinely want to learn and do well for themselves. But a lot of people just use the classes to get out of regular shifts to be paid for sitting...as they usually do.

● Management
They dont value you. They dont value the mental health of their patients. They hype of these small "success stories" when a lot more could be being done if certain BHSs would actually schedule things properly and keep up with the requirements of their position instead of just "checking in" every now and then.

● Culture
The other CSPs are very nice and understanding and accepting. One BHS, Katie, is the sweetest of them all and really cares about what she does there..otherwise it's people collecting paychecks for the bare minimum. If that's your kind of job, you'll feel right at home with KHS.

● Overall
There are 2 or 3 great BHSs and other superiors that work with the dauphin county branch, the rest make this whole program a joke by continuously giving the minimum to group of people who really need this program to create a better life for themselves. I wanted to work here to make a difference and this system does not do that. There is little organization and constant finger pointing.

In the beginning of my work experience at Keystone. It was great. Everyone was so nice and helpful and I immediately became close with the individuals. As time went on I noticed everyone you work with asks to cover shifts all the time because you cant call off even if your sick you basically get harrassed and you get calls ALL the time, even on your day off. I even got stalked once by my supervisor. Even when you go all out for the job and go above and beyond, you dont get recognition unless you worked there for 17 years. YOU NEVER GET A PAY RAISE. You will help someone out and cover their shift and work on your day off but no one will do the same for you. Most of the houses are filthy. Most of the employees are filthy and so lazy. After a few months working for Keystone I found myself doing WAY more than what the job description told me i was going to do. Every day was a sweat. You get hit all the time depending on the individuals. The supervisors dont help and they train horrible when they tell you what you need to do in your work home. I basically taught myself everything I needed to do in the work house i was placed in. Some employees sleep on the job, let the individuals sit in their urine and feces all day, some employees mis treat the individuals and the list goes on. I tried quitting and they begged me not to leave. Theyre desperate. I stayed but i switched to part time "casual" and I stopped picking up hrs and now im looking for a better job. Keystone is un organized and they teach you to treat the individuals like human beings and they want them to have a normal life as they should and live life to the fullest but its hypocritical if you ask me. Ive seen a few houses run by Keystone and how the individuals are living and its nothing better than a nursing home, maybe even worse because there arent any cameras in any of the homes and everyone does whatever they please not to mention the Medication thats suppose to be given to the individuals. Thats another long, sad story. Dont work at Keystone.

I worked for this particular agency which was based out of Downingtown PA. I have been in various aspects of the healthcare industry for more then 20 years and I was completely at a loss for words at the level of unprofessionalism within this agency. My first impression in walking into the office as a new employee was less then impressive....you were not met with a smile and a "nice to meet you" attitude...instead the staff barely made eye contact and would then shuffle off into there little hiding spots that they called offices...human resources was less then resourceful to say the least and pretty much stayed behind a closed door with the blinds down and shut 95% of the time. The orientation process was drawn out to an almost month long process that could have been done within 4days...and then there was the mandatory trip to Harrisburg for yet another orientation...that basically was a repeat of what you had already been told previously for the 10th time that week...then you finally got to go work at the program for which you were hired...let me just say..again..unprofessionalism at its finest...high school gossip and drama permeated so thickly I think it was ingrained into the actual walls of the program. I did enjoy caring for the individuals who I supported and that in itself kept me going back for the short time I stayed until I just decided I could not work under those conditions any longer. I will say that there were a few shining stars within the agency that really do care and know how to present themselves and I  find it very sad that they are the rare gems I saw in this agency as a whole and I do hope things change for not only those individuals who know how to present and conduct themselves in the workplace but also that others within the agency will learn from them and can hopefully someday lead by the example they had shown me while I was with this agency.

Management never acknowledge the hard working employees that go above and beyond there job Im a former employee and was hired with another company before keystone took over when my former company was taken over by keystone they kept us separated from the rest of the company. Keystone is not the place to work!!! They hire people that can't barely speak english and treat them way better then people who can speak proper english they also don't teach people that comes there to work from foreign countries properly and those problems are put on the american staff alot of people from other countries (Men) are not accustomed to cooking cleaning and doing certain types of work which puts alot of stress on other staff Keystone fired me over a new director coming in not doing there job correctly and wanted me to do all of the directors work the director never wanted to come to the houses the director had staff doing their job and making the job very over whelming and stressful. They barely gave staff raises the directors get all the raises the hottest new iphones laptop computers while staff is struggling with a bunch of work with low pay. The paper and computer work is so heavy that you really cant focus on the individuals.  Very high turn over rate they find petty reasons to fire employees so they dont have to pay out unemployment they make the job hard for you so you can just quit and leave being a former employee and being with the company for 7 years nobody never reach out to me to see if I was ok I was very dedicated to my job as a direct care employee Keystone dont really care about the staff that has been loyal to them and dedicated to the job and individuals most times putting the job before your own family keystone lost alot of good caring people due to the poor management and pay.

I was hired with the intention that I will be full time as this was an entry level position, currently I've been in the system as a casual employee working sometimes less than 25 hours in a week. This was not what I had expected from Keystone. My assumption is that they have me in as casual so they do not have to pay me the benefits. Although, they just recently hired someone new but are not willingly to give me more hours. I am becoming fed up with this company as the weeks go by. There is no guidance as to what is expected of you, and there is never any help. You pretty much are just thrown into the job field with not much training. You have to write a lot of notes on each individuals after every shift which is understandable so that they can keep track of their progress within their goals. The issue I have with this is the deadlines are weekly for notes and only during office hours are you allowed to hand them in so if you are busy with individuals throughout the week it becomes difficult to maintain this obligation. Not to mention nobody ever asks you what you want or how are you doing they just tell you what to do and do not give you a choice. You work very closely with individuals families more than you work with the staff at Keystone. It is a lot of he said she said type of stuff. The families will tell you one thing but the organization will tell you another thing and it becomes very conflicting. Another thing that is worth mentioning is you are on the road for the majority of the day taking individuals places which is semi alright because they pay you for your mileage but it is a liability if you were to get into an accident with an individual. I do not think the company would back you up if you got into an accident.

A typical work day was very relaxed. I would make sure the individuals had their medications, meals, and their home was clean and organized in a manner they could live independently.  

I learned the basics as far as administration skills. I made the schedule, made sure the binders with ISP (etc.) were prepared for licensing, I did time sheet input, I held meetings with staff, etc. 

I also learned individual personal care for each individual in the home depending on the independence level. I would teach different skills to the individuals based on the goals set for them.

Management was difficult for me.  In the home I was working in the program director had a gambling issue and this transferred over into the work place.  

My co-workers were very open to communication, even though they disagreed with the program director I was able to communicate with them needs and wants for the home and they completed the task.

The hardest part of the job was being able to keep my emotions in check with a member was showing Self Injurious Behavior. Once I was use to the behavior and understood it was not me that was the issue and I did not do anything wrong, I was able to better understand the situation and adapt to it.

The most enjoyable part of the job was the understanding and flexibility.  There was a blizzard one winter I worked for them (I worked for this organization twice), and they allowed me to stay there all three days to be with the individuals.  I volunteered to do this because I knew it would be difficult to find staff and I honestly loved doing it! I got to get to know the individuals at a deeper level because I saw their whole daily routine and they got to see mine.

I worked in the Griswold location in CT. It was a total pleasure, I had to leave due to moving. The manager helped me find another job close to my new home location, which she did not have to do. When I was hired my impression of her was not the best. She said to me I do not ask staff to do what I wouldn't do. I lead by example and I expect others to do the same, so i was a bit intimated. She always made sure the staff followed the mission statement with the people that lived int he home. Which was to live the best life possible to their abilities. They sure did, she did not let their disabilities get in the way of what they wanted to do. She guided staff to teach them new things, have great days and on the bad one she gave reminders that we all have them. When I first started  she told me, the staff here run the show she just gets the ball rolling. It was a pleasure to work with the staff there and the people who lived there. The money could of been better, but the manager would get upset if we didn't take advantage of the perks as she would call it. Such as, if you went out for a meal with someone and you didn't get one she would threatened to give a warning. She would give little treats for thank yous. There was not one staff there I did not enjoy working with. Job was rewarding. The hardest part of the job was dealing with some behaviors that was rough at times, but I was also new.  Not sure about other Key homes, but this is a great one to work for! I wish I would of kept in touch, but I am happy were I am now and thanks to this experience working here I have found success elsewhere. 

It's nice how you can pick which days you work and what hours you work (going by the clients schedule too though). It's a good job if youre going to school or if you have other obligations and can't work a job with set hours and days. It worked for me as a mom. I would have loved to continue working for them and creating my own schedule but it took 2 years just to get a raise. I was told in 6 months you get a raise but I never did. It's alot of driving back and forth since you drive your clients in your own personal car. You drive them to the store or to work. You drive to each clients house and you can't always assume you'll be staying at the house with them so it's terrible if you're without a car...there's just no hope for the job then. I worked in the autism program. I loved assisting the clients. They were all adults but good people and before covid it was fun how there would be Friday group outtings. The bosses and your clients and other clients from the program would all come together, you'd Meet your co workers and it was nice. 
This job is good if you enjoy working alone. You are by yourself with the client unless they have a bcba assigned then you have that person once a week with you. So it gets alittle lonley with no coworkers but I liked it because I could work at my own pace in my own way and it's an easy job. You're making calls for your clients, running errands. It just isn't a job to expect raises often or to grow in. Key does have other programs such as birth to 3, I stayed in autism. Not sure how the other programs paid or were....but I know a life skills coach or job coach or community mentor gives you flexibility with your schedule. 

A typical day at work is overseeing and caring for clients with various types of IDD/Autism.  This work alone is very rewarding, but how the company wants you to do things, as opposed to how you have to do things to actually better the life of the clients are 2 very different things.  I don't plan to leave unless I would get the job of my dreams because of various factors such as: huge amounts of overtime available (basically this makes the job worthwhile as there is always OT somewhere in the company), 4 weeks of PTO, including paid holidays, pay is fair for how laid back the work can be and how much downtime there is to recollect yourself.  Management is mediocre though, not a fault of their own, but they need to pay the managers hourly as opposed to salary, as most Direct Care Staff end up making considerably more than their program supervisors due to getting paid for OT.  If you are in management, your yearly average of hours worked per week is probably 55-60.  It's not really worth it for 33-34k per year to work that many hours.  Benefits are great though in how good they are and how affordable they are.  This is another reason that I stay with the company.  The hardest part of the job is the amount of hours that you have to work, but it is enjoyable working with the clients, and it doesn't really feel like work half the time which is nice.  You can make decent money if you like OT, and it's not (usually) a stressful job, but be prepared to work all 3 shifts to help out when people call off or are on vacation.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Direct support professional 1069 salaries reported	$19.84 per hour
Program supervisor 232 salaries reported	$23.55 per hour
Autism support professional 205 salaries reported	$19.74 per hour
Program director 36 salaries reported	$22.04 per hour
Community associate 115 salaries reported	$21.28 per hour

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