facilitator

direct support professional

career counselor

personal care assistant

service coordinator

Lifeworks Services, Inc.

you will be able to learn so much about services here.  There are a lot of opportunities to try things - but the administration is terrible, HR is even worse, and getting a competent manager is a toss-up.  I think it's a really great job to use as you transition after college or during the summers if you are a Sped teacher or something but don't plan on this company taking care of you in any real way or being a place for staying at for more than a year or two max.

most of the lifers are there because they don't have degrees or work with others nicely enough to be hired anywhere else.  Its too bad because the people there who are great are like GREAT.  The managers who don't suck are AWESOME.  Its just literally left to chance if work sucks every day or is the best thing ever with zero consistency.  You can be in one room and everything can be great and all of a sudden they move the managers around and its like a dark storm cloud over everything.

Also, I don't think anyone talks to each other at admin before making decisions.  When I was there it was absolutely ridiculous how often they would have us start something only to never really talk about it again.  Like, we would have to have a big training, then somehow still get all of our paperwork done without going into overtime and the managers would be so stressed and then when we would ask about it they would just tell us they weren't doing it anymore with no explanation.  Unorganized, chaotic, and especially weird when photographers from admin would come and have us pose for pictures with our clients for their marketing.  They wouldn't even ask us our names or anything.  Nice people but clearly not working at the right job.  Treated clients like actual props.

Started working here in 2007, and very much enjoyed the atmosphere and approach for working with adults with developmental disabilities as well as significant physical disabilities.  Creativity was encouraged and budgets were supportive of engaging in projects and activities.  Company decided to go with a more corporate image (remained non profit) including hiring marketing vp, corporate bonding (colors, logo, etc) went top heavy in admin for a little bit, then began chipping away at it.  Attitudes dropped, firings became commonplace, budgets seriously decreased as work loads increased.  It really seemed to become much more about the image than the actual (great) work we did.  My job included driving daily bus routes (twice daily) as well as developing goals/outcomes, attending quarterly meetings, conducting some craft/leisure groups and providing personal cares such as changes and assisting with feeding.  Hardest part of the job was trying to fit all this in.  Lots of physical work as well as mental stress of working with dissatisfied co workers.  Most enjoyable:  of course, the clients.  I worked with many nonverbal people and was afforded the amazing opportunity to learn about and practice communication techniques that allowed folks to share themselves and be heard, sometimes for the first time in their lives.

In a typical day, my focus is on reviewing applicants, conducting background checks, corresponding with my manager.  We check-in with one another every morning, and start our day.  We tend to joke around when we need a break especially if she calls me or I call her (our offices were next to each other), if neither of us responded to one another we knew we were in the zone!  We'd take a 5 minute break then get back on track.  Sometimes a manager would stop by to verify information relating to a staff's address or phone number.   Payroll may question something regarding a start date, or an applicant may call to find out the status of their application.
The best part of the job is connecting with applicants to inform them they are hired and arranging a start date.  Its a great feeling to hear their enthusiasm of knowing they are going to be working.  

The part of the job which I'm not crazy about is when conducting a background and a person has a poor motor vehicle history and then more digging take place; and then I have to discuss with a manager and see if they can hire an applicant without having them drive.  The hardest part of the job is when filling piles up, and all of us have to rally together to complete the task of filing; no one likes it, but we come together and get the job done.

Lifeworks is a fiscal support entity that works with the community at large and to match individuals, families or companies for various kinds of service or support. As a Direct Support Professional, I worked in the home of a family that utilized Lifework's services for one of their children that had physical, cognitive and precognitive disabilities. Per whatever the health initiative stated that my client would require care for I would communicate daily with the parents and nurse to execute the initiatives mandated. Whatever tasks the deemed best practice to provide care on a daily basis could include but not be limited to client care are: direct lifesaving intervention under nurse or parents supervision, physically lifting and transporting the client through the home, playing or quiet time while preparing for rest, laundry for the client, preparing and administering feedings, grooming and hygiene, bathing, giving and receiving communication between the healthcare professionals, school and parents via communication binders that traveled with the client in their wheelchair, traveling with client and parent to doctor visits, fun outings.

Lifeworks mission statement is to serve our community and people with disabilities as we live and work together. I am a strong advocate for the clients I work closest with; those with severe physical and develomental disabilities. Their focus is to enjoy, be heard, explore new adventures, discover new abilities and interests and make the most of their day. There is nothing more heartwarming and fullfilling then when a client smiles. I like to be able to put that smile there! It may be in a gesture so small as to help them get their non-verbal message/thought across to someone else, play a favored game, reposition them, find a way to adapt an actitivity so the person can paint or use the computer without another persons assistance after they are set up or as big as exploring their technological communication options and make it a reality.

On a typical Tuesday at work I would pick my client up from the bus stop and take him home to eat lunch. We could chat about school while he ate his snack and shortly after we would get ready for therapy. Every time before we left I would make sure he had on a clean pull-up, and if not, I would clean him up. After therapy, my client always gets Mac Donald’s; that would be his treat for having a successful day. Depending on how he was feeling that day we would go on an extra activity, such as the park, pool, or even zoo. I would always ask him question him about what was going on around us so he could work on his verbal skills, and try to put things together at the same time. Throughout the entire day we would also work on him requesting things, and wanting to do thing, using all the opportunities we had for extra learning in. After our adventures Tuesday, I would bring him home and his mother would bath him, feed him again, and get him ready for bed. Every Tuesday was almost the same.

I was the supervisor for 10-15 PCAs who cared for 3 young adult medically fragile clients and 5 medically fragile foster care children.I handled scheduling shifts, management all paperwork for clients, staff and state regulations. Filled in when shift empty. Worked and was responsible for entire household (24/7) when parents were gone on vacations, meetings, etc.

The hardest part of the job was caring so much for the clients when they were so fragile and in pain. One client died on 3/2/12 and her adoptive brother diened on 8/2/12.  It was like losing my own children after caring for them for 12 + years.

The most enjoyable part of the job was helping the young adult PCAs making the clients feel like a "normal" child/teenager/young adult. We came up with get togethers, movie times and just hanging out together.  The absolute best part of my job was seeing and being with the clients daily.

I appreciate the opportunity to have worked with this organization and to contribute to the team. However, my overall experience highlighted several areas for improvement.

In particular, I found that leadership practices could benefit from greater consistency and professionalism in communication and decision-making. Clear expectations were not always established, which at times created confusion around roles, responsibilities, and performance standards.

Additionally, there appeared to be instances where opportunities and decisions were not always applied uniformly across team members, which could be perceived as favoritism. A more transparent and structured approach to leadership and employee development would strengthen both team morale and organizational effectiveness.

I share this feedback with the hope that it supports continued growth and improvement within the organization.

A typical day involves making sure the two autistic kids have fun where ever we go. Make sure the kids have there bathroom breaks and meals. I keep them happy with good hygiene, meals, beverages and make sure i keep them in there routines as far as meals and there day to day life. I keep up with what they learned in school and apply that while we are out and about. I really enjoy taking the kids out with there main PCA and seeing them having fun and smiling it is rewarding to me when I see them happy. The hardest part of the job is taking care of the kids when they are sick. It breaks my heart to see them miserable and sick. This job is a blast. The kids main PCA and I get along very well and we have there routines down and this makes the time we take them out more enjoyable. I have learned alot about autism and enjoy working with special needs people.

I am an artist and I volunteered at Lifeworks, helping disabled people participate in Art classes when I worked there.  The income that I made was by selling Art through Lifeworks at local shops as Art program participants do, giving a percentage of sales to Lifeworks.  The staff there were very fun to work with.

The Art director would teach most of the lessons and I would assist people individually as she taught.  Fairly regularly, I taught step by step drawing lessons, beadwork, coil weaving, drawing techniques (pointillism, cross-hatching, linear shading and abstract drawing) and other various kinds of projects.  

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Facilitator 1 salary reported	$24.00 per hour
Direct support professional 18 salaries reported	$18.64 per hour
Career counselor 1 salary reported	$44,750 per year
Personal care assistant 3 salaries reported	$13.43 per hour
Service coordinator 6 salaries reported	$52,250 per year

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