caregiver

program aide

direct care worker

caregiver/companion

direct support professional

Lifesteps

I started working for this company and loved it until I started defending the defenseless. They tell you that all residents should be treated equally and with respect. They lie! One resident wanted to buy a questionable item. Nothing against any rules. I went up the chain to ask for advice and got no answer. I got retaliation for it. But what really made me despise this company was turning in abuse. I worked at a house in Penn Hills where a low functioning adult was abused. In fact he sustained broken bones by a worker who was MUCH bigger than him. Everyone in the house knew it but did nothing. The resident was too afraid to say anything so I told him to tell someone at his day program. He did. Then the higher ups got involved. I was interviewed along with other workers. The entire house turned on me and I was not the great worker that I once was all of a sudden. The man below the CEO told me if I was retaliated against, call him. I called him for DAYS and he never returned my call. On top of that, not a single person in the house was disaplined. After that I moved to a different area and worked at a different house where I did VERY well with the residents but this did not stop them trying to get rid of me because of the stain on their company. Eventually they said I needed to fill in at a house. This is where they set me up. The two workers at the house lied on me and said I slept in my shift which I never ever did. Two against one. They fired me. I was one of the best employees they had. Shame, SHAME ON YOU LIFESTEPS. How much abuse may be going in and not being reported. Disgusting. Completely immoral company. 
PS  they passed me over so many times for advancement when I was the clear choice. House supervisor's quit left and right and I knew how to do their jobs better than them but I guess that's what happens when you report abuse.

While the job itself is beneficial and rewarding by helping, this is not a job to survive on. They will tell you there’s an open door policy, but sadly they don’t take concerns seriously. There’s preferential treatment, though they claim there’s no favoritism. They have a dress code that you are supposed to blend in with the community, but you’re not allowed to show tattoos and only certain amounts of jewelry like one ring one . The company doesn’t care much about anything, but a hot body that can maintain state regulations for staffing ratio. . I would not recommend unless you like being paid in special moments. The coworkers and management DO NOT KEEP YOU at this agency. set of earringsmanagement may be the biggest problem that agency has.  If you’re not in it for the money and only to help folks in challenging positions I’d say apply, but remember what you read in this review.they can’t get you back soon enough. Staff are not a priority in any other sense then use for state maintained ratio guidelines. ws are the reason certain decisions are made.  It’s never the clients, always the middle aged women who like to have peeing contests on who can stir up trouble or rattle to cause drama since they’re bored. Love the clients, dislike the employees and management. They will not listen to your concerns.ding if I have to change my appreance

I worked there for several years at first i loved it and couldnt have asked for a better job! However, management changed and was on a downward spiral things was changing! They always stress follow chain of command however it doesn't matter who you talk to or notify things too nothing ever happens. Ive witnessed good hard workers be fired for petty things and horrible repeated offenders do horrible things and it be justified and they keep a job. After several years of taking it all end i end up with mental health issues of my own due to the high stress environment! They all are in a clique and if you dont fit in you'll  know it. It's  sad that the clients have to end up suffering from it. On the plus side the benefit are good if you can handle all the bad and you dont have a heart go apply you'll fit right in. Also, they dont tell you but they are so short help that you think your working at your base station in which your hired for then they rip you around everywhere never mentioned that travel was part of the job. Its crazy ridiculous because the places they send you you will have no training for and maybe single staffed and it causes issues with clients. It used to be a rewarding job especially if you love taking care of people however lifesteps management and all their secret rules that will appear when it pleases them will change your mind.

I worked in one of the "most hated houses" in our region. I LOVED my individuals. The individuals are the only highlight of the job. The management is a joke. You will probably be overworked and underappreciated. I would work my butt off for this company. I worked back to back 16 hour shifts and so much overtime. I worked so much that they did not have time to schedule me for trainings because we were so understaffed. The house i worked at had the highest employee turn around rate in the region and it made it extremely difficult. I was suspended without warning because I did not receive my trainings within their time frame. They did this because they were currently getting audited. I thin had to wait 3 weeks unpaid until they were able to have another training. I was then let go without my knowledge and only found this out after a co worker had contacted me asking what happened after hearing from our manager that I had left. Meanwhile I was still waiting for the training. The management is awful along with HR. The pay was not worth the work. The only good part was the individuals and some of the coworkers. That was very rewarding. 

Lifesteps is a fantastic company, as far as I have seen. They treat their employees well, management is very helpful, and the work that they do in their community is top-notch.

They have such a dizzying array of programs that it's honestly tough to keep track. They operate homes for individuals with disabilities (about 50), provide disability/ Autism screenings, provide resources for those who need them, operate programs for families, have career-placement and day programs for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, operate preschools, have affordable care for the elderly, and have a few additional programs in addition to those. Because of this, working here makes you feel like you're genuinely giving back to your community.

My only real complaint is that things here operate about 15 years behind most of the corporate world, technologically and organizationally speaking. Management headaches and bureaucracy mean that projects can go painfully slowly, and it is very difficult to start new initiatives without getting bogged down. 

Overall, very good

I absolutely implore you not to work for this company. They have absolutely no compassion for their employees, especially when their employees have health problems they give you PTO and then decline your request to take it. More often than not your single staffed with three hands on individuals to take care of I get paid more now for doing the same job with less responsibilities, the amount of responsibility, at this place, for the pay, is a major discrepancy. Not to mention they have you mow grass in the summer. I worked there for three years, my last year I had intermittent FMLA, Approved by the benefits department and my Doctor. They continued to ask me to provide doctors slips when I used that FMLA time Even though the paperwork serves as a permanent doctors excuse until recertification My doctors office was even getting upset that I Had to keep asking for excuses. They gave me a bad performance review during the time that I had intermittent FMLA. They also told people that my attendance was poor While I have the medical problem And then they docked my last two paychecks.

I worked independently and often alone.  I went into the houses, most of the time when  the residents and staff were out, to review the reports.  I would pull the accounts and check all receipts and ensure balances were correct.  I also checked petty cash to ensure everything was done according to policy.  I wrote up a report on each house after every visit, with a correction plan in place for all errors found.
The houses were well maintained and clean. I thought the staff dealing with the residents were very good, I never saw any problems. 
I really did not have much contact with management, but when I did they were helpful and informative.
I can't really comment on workplace culture cause each house had their own personality because of staff and residents.
I didn't find any part of the job difficult.
I like being able to teach the house staff what they needed to do to keep things organized and correct so that anyone who would audit them would have and easy time.

Just like most companies similar to Lifesteps the upper management is terrible. They do not value their employees enough for the hard work and tough situations we may come across. Working with the clients can be fun and enjoyable but as well as stressful. Management isn't very understanding and isn't much help in crisis situations. Management doesn't always stick to ratio. Also there is always drama between staff and sometimes clients parents. Some managment/staff and clients families are prejudice towards African Americans. And management picks favorites and treat them differently than other employees and sweep certain things under the rug to avoid investigations. This company has some good qualities such as benefits and PTO and can be cool to work for starting out but after being with the company for a while the bad definitely out weighs the good.

Working at Lifesteps provides great experience in caring for individuals with disabilities. The clients are so sweet and will love every staff member. Even though the work can be physically draining sometimes, because of the non-stop person-to-person care, we still have a lot of fun and joke around with clients and coworkers every day. The pay is a little low for all of the orientations, education, and trainings required prior to going "out in the field". It takes a special type of person to go through all of that and still choose this kind of work, because you love working with this population. Overall, Lifesteps is a great company and I'm proud to say that I was part of making the quality of life for these individuals better.

The management sucks and are very hypocritical at times. If you have a good supervisor you will do well but some houses have too much drama going on and barely anything is done about it. There is way too much that gets swept under the rug and getting anyone higher up to hear you is difficult. They have been working on and still are improving their wages and they have good benefits and time off. The clients you meet there make your day and they make it all worth it but you have to be ready for the behaviors, which can be intense at times. The biggest downside is that they can pull you to any location within the company with little warning, even mid-shift. You could be pulled to a nearby location or somewhere an hour plus away in any weather. All the training is in Butler, there is plenty of OT since they can't keep staff, and it is a hard to balance work and home life there so good luck.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Caregiver 20 salaries reported	$16.54 per hour
Program aide 39 salaries reported	$15.50 per hour
Direct care worker 25 salaries reported	$16.71 per hour
Caregiver/companion 10 salaries reported	$16.25 per hour
Direct support professional 8 salaries reported	$16.25 per hour

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