python developer

human resources assistant

behavioral specialist

Koinonia Family Services

I transitioned from an MSW Intern to a full-time social worker with Koinonia and the experienced gained has been invaluable. In my time working here I have become certified to write home studies for incoming applicant Resource Families and use my skills in Motivational Interviewing, Problem-Solving, and Solution-Focused Therapy to evaluate the applicant family's motivation to foster and adopt and how they will meet and work through challenges presented by placed children.

Typically days are self-scheduled with one morning each week set aside for staff meetings and case conferences. Time is spent updating client notes and reports, individual needs and service plans, scheduling a home or school visit with clients and resource parents, monthly home evaluations, attending meetings with county social workers, and working with the County on the placement of children into resource homes.

I have been able to work collaboratively with both Koinonia staff on projects or schedules related to Resource Parents, as well as work with County Social Workers regarding the placement and stabilization of placed foster children. My Supervisor is amazing and does their best to ensure we have a supportive and efficient work environment with regards to our office budget. Our Supervisor works with their staff from a place of understanding and experience and conducts regular individual case supervision and employee check-ins to ensure we are all balancing our work and personal time to reduce the risks of burn out and fatigue.

There are a number of areas that lead to difficulties in ensuring task completion for the job as a case manager. There is the issue of redundant and unnecessary documents required by the system and County, a lot of materialistic waste including paper and ink as the company slowly migrates to a more technology-based system, and changes to policies and required documentation are not well communicated in advance by upper management leaving case managers to scramble last minute to update documents or expectations with small windows of correction time. The task list is never-ending and there is never really a sense of accomplishment or completion which can make one feel a bit demoralized. Also, if you expect most of the County Social Workers to behave in professional ways then FFA Workers will be disappointed as it is extremely common for County Workers to demand appointments less than 24-hours in advance, not invite FFA Workers to mandatory meetings, and not notify the FFA of case changes until the last minute. Additionally, it is also common for County Workers to never return phone calls or emails, or sign required documents such as reports and return them to the Agency. It has become common practice to inform them that the document will be sent to their Supervisor which only then elicits compliance towards a county-wide mandatory policy of report signing.

However, the job presents a lot of successes and joyous moments as well. When children are placed in homes coming from extremely dire situations and you get to see them blossom under the care of their Resource Parents, and when you see Birth Parents actually put in the work to complete their case plans and become stable and healthy individuals then those are the rewarding moments on the job. If a reunification plan is no longer an option and you get to see children adopted by their Resource Parents and breathe freely knowing they won't have to move anymore and will have their needs met are some of the highlights of this job.

This position is great for individuals starting out in the Social Work field, it is a wonderful place to grow and learn about your individual preferences and skills, however, it is not a place to stay long-term as there are very few opportunities for internal career advancement. Two to three years is about the amount of time one should spend in this particular company before moving on to the next growth potential.

Salary: Low pay in general, although compared to similar jobs in the field, they actually pay much more. 

Benefits: They have excellent benefits. Unfortunately, direct care staff are offered employee only benefits. For some reason, if you work in the office (behind the scenes), you receive benefits for your family, which is sad considering many times direct care staff has more experience or education than corporate. 

Much of upper management are given positions based on being family, family friend, or knowing someone through church. This can be awkward for those with education, because you are being managed by people that know less than you do in the field. With that being said, 90% of the employees and management are wonderful, caring, nice people, and I would rather work for that compared to a well qualified individual that is a horrible boss. 

This is a great place for those who have just graduated and looking for experience, but don't expect to grow in the company due to the nepotism. 

Management is pretty flexible with time off (regardless if you have pto or not). They truly do care and understand that life happens, and they will do everything to make things work out- changing up your schedule. They also understand that it is easy to get burnt out and are open to giving you change of scenery short term.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Collaboration with other staff and programs, mistakes are viewed as opportunities for learning, and the agency values high integrity.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Restrictions on how the agency can use funds, increasingly high needs of clients (and the resulting high direct care staff turnover), understanding the needs of our staff in order to set them up for success, many competing priorities.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Everyone seems to really love their co-workers, but everyone is also stretched pretty thin, so there is less time to connect and "decompress". 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Nowadays, a lot of zoom meetings, intervening in relationship conflicts (clients, county staff, resource parents). Over the course of nearly two decades at Koinonia, I have experienced the workload demands placed on our agency by state and county contracts, which has impacted the work environment at all levels, but it also allows us to collaborate and consider new ways to restructure.

Koinonia Homes for Teens (HFT) was great to work for a year ago. However, in the last few months, this company has gone downhill. They lost two of their best facility administrators due to a hostile work environment and the staff is consistently underpaid and undersupported. Staff is left alone to supervise clients for several hours and management does not care that staff does not feel safe being alone with multiple escalated clients.

HFT is transitioning all of their homes over to Behavioral Health Programs, even the STRTP homes. Due to the lack of support, resources, and structure the job is now glorified babysitting and crisis management. I no longer feel like Koinonia is helping their clients. Faulty management is a big problem here.

A typical day at work at Koinonia is both fulfilling and dynamic. Whether supporting foster families, collaborating with community partners, or working on initiatives to improve the lives of youth, every day brings a new opportunity to make a meaningful impact. There’s always a sense of purpose, knowing that the work we do directly supports children and families in need.

Through my time at Koinonia, I have learned the true value of resilience, teamwork, and compassion. The work teaches you to adapt, problem-solve, and continuously grow—both professionally and personally. It has deepened my understanding of the foster care system, the importance of trauma-informed care, and the ways in which community support can change lives.

I worked there for almost a year, and I loved what I did but I would not recommend it from what happened my last month there. There was never enough training and what we did get was not applicable to what we did on a regular basis. I had a pretty good supervisor but towards the end I worked with another supervisor who seemed to be excited by threatening staff and did not communicate effectively with the staff that were at the house while he was not, he ultimately put a child at risk. I had great coworkers and the kids I took care of were, overall, great, but none of it could make up for the poor management.

I enjoyed and loved working here! The people are great and fun to be around! They train their employees very well,  I Iearned so much!  Getting together with all the foster parents, staff and management on training day's was the bomb! What I liked most about working for Koinonia, was serving and making a difference in the lives of so many children and in the community!

Very poor management ethics
Management  uses technology to watch employees work. 
No in house training 
Shortage of experienced than the I. Experienced
Work life balance is not here. 
Long hours burn out the staff causing kids to complain and feel mistreated
Team work is little to nothing

Al lot of fvored staff before un favored

Not a fit place and environment for a direct care worker working with  terrible lvl 14+ youths 

Highly do not recommend this place

The behavior of the kids can switch fast at any moment. Your co workers and training are your only source of protection when it gets violent. Of course, you can call the cops for help, but it is a hit or miss with the officer in how they handle the situation. Aside from that, there can be really great moments with the kids when having one on one convos, taking them on outings, and doing fun arts and crafts. But always remember to never let your guard down, even in those vulnerable moments.

A family company, that strives to incorporate evidence-based practice. Not at all flexible with alternative schedules or hours, even when shown to benefit the company. Love co-workers and overall work environment. Manager is not the best I've worked with, but there are different managers in each office. Really nice person, but micromanages. Benefits are good, and the company pays for supervision hours for those looking to be licensed.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Python developer 3 salaries reported	$90,000 per year
Human resources assistant 1 salary reported	$50,114 per year
Behavioral specialist 1 salary reported	$16.00 per hour

Working at Koinonia Family Services: Company Overview and Reviews

Koinonia Family Services

Koinonia Family Services Ratings

Popular jobs at Koinonia Family Services

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected