direct support professional

case worker

therapist

caregiver

family support specialist

Lutheran Services in Iowa

 I would like to provide some insights into my experience working at this organization. I advise all to stay away from LSI:

1. Organizational Structure: The absence of a structured onboarding process and adequate training across programs led to a disorganized environment. During my initial weeks, I did not receive essential equipment for 6 weeks, and had no communication with my supervisor for the first 2 weeks, impacting my ability to perform effectively.

2. Employee Recognition and Retention: The lack of employee appreciation and recognition for contributions, coupled with instances of letting go of dedicated employees, created a demotivating atmosphere. Employees are always overworked, expected to handle tasks beyond their job description without due acknowledgment or compensation.

3. Resistance to Change: The resistance from longstanding members of the management team to adapt to new ideas hindered progress and efficiency. Suggestions for improvement or innovation were met with retaliation, stifling opportunities for growth and development.

4. Work-Life Balance and Compensation: The demanding workload, coupled with below-market compensation, made it challenging to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Expect to be on-call 24/7/365 because management is not organized enough to make an on-call schedule. If you take PTO and/or FMLA, the organization will still reach out to you during your time off. They have no boundaries. Additionally, the benefits provided were more than insufficient.

5. HR and Support: Simply put, HR and management is non-existent if you are in a protected class. If you are in a protected class, this may be a great place for you because HR offers all the support. Instances of insufficient support from HR and management, particularly in cases of harassment or lack of confidentiality, occurred numerous times- another reason this organization makes employees feeling unprotected and undervalued.  

6. The organization's standing in the community has been affected by a perceived lack of effective leadership. There appears to be a tendency to prioritize the opinions of a select few individuals within the community, leading to a loss of credibility and respect among both immigrant and local communities.

7. They appear to undervalue teamwork and individual growth, offering little support for team or personal development. Opportunities for career advancement are limited, and there is a noticeable absence of staff training for skill enhancement and career progression. Additionally, the hiring of individuals, who do not meet the minimum requirements, due to very low number of applications, has led to challenges, including the need for additional support and training for staff members, diverting attention from core responsibilities.

Based on my personal experience, I am confident that you can find an organization that values your individual contributions, respects your work-life balance, compensates you in line with your qualifications and experience, and actively supports your professional growth. I encourage you to seek opportunities that align more closely with your career aspirations and values, and ultimately, you deserve better than what LSI would offer you. 

As the title states, DO NOT DO IT. I got into social work to HELP families stay together, reunite if they were already broken & to overall help families make positive changes in their lives. 

When I first started at LSI in 2016, my caseload was average (about 10 cases), but quickly jumped to anywhere between 15 and 21 cases. After that,I never had below 13 cases up until I quit. Your case load is lopsided, some staff would have 15 cases but did no supervised visits & completed work week in 40 hours or less, & then some had 13 cases but 30 hours of visits alone, not including travel, case notes, court, reports etc. 

You are told you create your own schedule & will work in Scott County. This was false. While I was not on a "9-5" schedule, your schedule was based on your clients availability. So if they worked until 6 pm and you had to supervise visits,  you worked late into the night.Most of my time at LSI, I worked AT LEAST TWO 12 hour shifts a week,not by choice. When I asked for help from supervisors, it was rare that I actually got it.  

I drove ALL OVER IOWA. I had actual cases in Clinton County, Muscatine County, & made weekly trips to Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Burlington & Maquoketa. I went through FIVE supervisors in 3.5 years, all of which did things entirely different. 

I loved my first supervisor, she was the one who made me feel most supported when i was struggling. After she left, none of the supervisors measured up. THEIR supervisor was no help either.

 LSI preaches they are a "family oriented program", but you better believe the MOUNTAINS of case notes & reports came before anything you had planned with your family. You are told you wont work weekends, THIS IS FALSE. If you have a safety case,  you may work up to 30 days in a row including weekends. 

Although I had a lack of supportive supervisor the majority of the time, I had AMAZING co-workers, who banded together to lift each other up because no one else would, nor understood the struggle. This job created significant mental health issues, child custody issues, personal struggles and work related struggles for staff that upper management completely ignored until brought to their attention in a manner they did not like.

 Most of 2019, some staff were begging to be fired, some took a mental health leave of absence, and things still did not change much. 

You get paid a garbage amount of money for the blood, sweat and tears you pour into this job. There is ZERO room for moving up, and you WONT get a raise. 

In order to get my work done and serve all my clients i would have to work about 90 hours a pay period on average, yet i would get in trouble for too much overtime. I asked for help to alleviate this issue, but was told "eh". 

 And do not get me started on trying to go through HR to help solve some of the work place cultural issues. They were too scared to take action on those who NEEDED to be fired for work place bullying (which was RAMPANT with certain employees), yet they attacked those who DID THEIR JOBS with a passion. 

I cannot stress how much this company just DOES NOT CARE about their staff, which is sad, because they have AMAZING care coordinators busting their butts to make them look good as a company.

To rate LSI overall is difficult, as you are generally going to be within a small bubble of your service line and site. This is regarding the Ames - Beloit site. LSI has the best intentions regarding company culture and appreciation of staff.

Prior to entering a direct care role, you should be told explicitly what to expect. This does include potential to be injured and to be physically assaulted - really, it is more likely than not that you will be hit, spit on, bitten, etc. during crisis situations. This does vary somewhat based on your crisis intervention skills, the support you have around you, your gender, your size, and your relationship with the client. However, this is something that needs to be made incredibly clear early in the hiring process. When I interviewed potential staff, I was specific, detailed, and honest answering difficult questions. 

You will likely become deeply connected to your team - if you do not, please advocate for yourself and talk to members of leadership until someone listens and really hears you. This is key to success and longevity. 

The clients are different every day and you will learn new things every day, whether it's how a client likes to be tucked in or the life story of some new celebrity. Listen to the clients; they deserve this, and they're worth hearing as human beings. 

Over the length of my time with the company, I was overseen by multiple management teams and eventually joined one. There is room for advancement if you advocate for yourself and prove yourself through your work. Again, if you do not feel connected to your team - even in a leadership role - bring it up frequently until you're heard. Generally, there is a lot of emphasis on team culture and creating a supportive environment from the top down. 

The hardest part of the job should ideally be the client crisis situations (if something else is harder, that is a problem). The most enjoyable, however, is most of the other times, when you're able to enjoy achieving goals with the clients or with the staff team. The clients are just kids who have been dealt a difficult hand; getting to have times with them reminding them how to be kids is the greatest gift. Reflecting on how the kids have grown makes everything worth it. Remember to step back, check your perceptions, and consider multiple perspectives. Maybe you're frustrated with one of the kids throwing things around their room every time they're upset, but they used to hit people instead of throwing items. Little victories all need celebrated. 

Retention is always a huge concern in direct care, and even if you are given the right information during the hiring process, comprehensive trainings, and a supportive team, working in this environment may not be for you. However, if it is, only give what you can. You can't pour from an empty cup. Communicate when your cup is getting low. 

The biggest positive of working in residential care for LSI is that you are given opportunities to really impact the lives of children who have experienced significant trauma. It's hard work but personally fulfilling.

The most challenging part of working in a residential setting managed by LSI as I witnessed, but did not personally experience, is having a good work-life balance which was encouraged by management. But then employees who were raised up as those who were great examples to follow were those who were sacrificing greatly in their personal lives for the company.  You can't have it both ways.  

Additionally, it is my opinion that clinical staff should not ever work the floors and therefore possibly have to restrain kids, including their own clients.  The damage that is done to the therapeutic relationship by choosing to have clinical staff in these situations is huge.  It does not have to be this way.  I have worked other residential treatment settings before where clinical staff were never put on the floor to work nor required to restrain kids.  Clinical staff are supposed to build trust and relationships. If they restrain one of their own clients, most, if not all of the trust that has been built is gone.  

My biggest criticisms are not related to Beloit specifically, but to benefits that LSI chooses to offer.  The health insurance plans offered to employees are basically meeting criteria for ACA but effectively covering nothing until your several thousand dollar deductible was reached. Pretty worthless unless you're hospitalized or have long-term treatment for something. They did have an HSA for employees which helps, but this healthcare plan overall was the worst one I have ever been offered in nearly 40 years of working in a variety of settings.

Another benefit which left me flabbergasted was their PTO policy.  On the surface LSI offers a competitive PTO package.  I believe a starting full-time employee earns 20 days of time in their first year.  What they may neglect to tell you is that you lose 7 of those days through the choice they have made as an agency to have employees use their own PTO time to cover those days. This is not optional either. You are mandated to take the time off and mandated to use the PTO you have earned to cover the agency's expense for each holiday.  Here's a revolutionary concept LSI:  Just give full-time workers paid holidays.  In nearly 40 years of working I have never had to pay for my own time off, which essentially is what this policy does.  Crazy.  LSI employees deserve better! At the very least do what nearly every other human service agency in Iowa does for it's full-time workers: paid holidays. And adding the Friday after Thanksgiving to the days of holidays wouldn't kill you either.

I absolutely love my job. There are tons of educational and training opportunities to learn and grow as a professional. I love and appreciate the flexibility, support, positive environment, and encouragement that I receive on a weekly basis (and that's with working from home due to COVID-19) . I am highly supported in my position and completely respect and appreciate my supervisor and director. A typical day includes coaching and supporting the individuals I supervise, reading and analyzing program data, documentation and preparing plans for increasing positive outcomes for our families. The team work and workplace culture is like nothing I have ever experienced before in the social work field - I am supported, nurtured, understood, and there is always someone cheering you on or helping you out when things get tough. I feel that my feedback and suggestions for the programs are welcome and encouraged .The relationships are positive, warm and welcoming and definitely provide protection from the difficulties that social work brings. The depth of knowledge runs deep and every management position makes it a point to get to know you, appreciate you and will remember you by name. LSI invests in the emotional and mental well being of their staff by providing mental health webinar series, often encourages self-care and has impressive flexibility and PTO packages. Don't get me wrong - social work can be hard, but I have never been more supported in this environment than I am here with LSI - supported in growth, supported in self-care and work/life balance, and supported in collaborating with a larger team to achieve positive outcomes for the families we serve all across Iowa. I have freedom to identify strengths and areas I particularly love about my job and I was then given the opportunity to lead and expand my skill set and share those strengths and areas with others. There are a couple of "weak points", but they are more than compensated for with the above positives I mentioned. The opportunity for growth is slightly limited based on different areas and could be difficult in rural, smaller service areas.  Another con is that the pay rate is not necessarily the best in the field; however, I will say LSI compensates with PTO package, tuition assistance programs, flexibility, and "bonus" opportunities that are easily attainable.  I also feel that the management and directors advocate and support advocacy around pay increases when possible. LSI is very fiscally responsible with their funds. The health insurance is not the best I have ever had; however, it is "adequate". 

The communication is very poor. When I was first hired I had to take control of my own training and ended up getting more accomplished than the other person who was hired at the same time as me.  I was lied to about were I was going to be working.  I had to drive 100+ miles a day and my car could not handle it.  LSI is not a good place to be working if you are pregnant, I was physically assaulted twice and nothing was done. They refused to move me to a different location or give me safer job. Still  required me to drive an insane amount.
I felt like I could no longer provide quality care for the clients but they made me to continue working there. The clients deserved better and someone who can adequately provide the care that they need.  I was doing full on CNA work at one point which was dangerous and due to short staff that wasn't much help. 
Staff is not adequately trained on how to do medications, it's very shady. No way for accountability , there's no way to cross check meds -- staff could easily sneak meds if they wanted to.
The method of how they do charting is horrible and way more complicated than it needs to be. It is not adequate and it can easily take an hr to do 1 note. If you want to do them at home you need to get permission or you get yelled at if you don't complete them you get yelled at. Charting isn't supposed to be that complicated. 
Ideas were on how to better improve work environment were not listened to.  Pay is insanely low, other states pay way more for less amount of work.  There is a high turn in staff because everyone is overworked and expected to do things that they were not trained to do.  Supervisors are hard to get a hold of, my supervisor never pick up my calls,  i had to go above her constantly. She always took time off too so there wasn't anyone to contact.  It was obvious that I had more experience than her.
If you want experience on how not to run a company then you should work here. If you want a place where you can advanced and get promoted this in a not a good place .

I worked at LSI for a total of 2 years, I worked part time in the Ames office and Full time in the DSM office. The work is more demanding but the rewards and people you work with are so worth it!

The typical duties of the job include building individuals up to be the most independent versions of themselves, helping individuals to navigate in a community that is typically non-accepting, and documenting on your sessions. 

Working for LSI helped me to grow so much as an individual but also as an employee. I learned patience, time management, writing skills, de-escalation techniques, and also how to advocate for others as well as myself. 

The hardest part of the job was time management. Eventually I learned a rhythm and was able to balance work and personal life. There were certain clients that could only meet at certain times of the day and I was able to move some to Saturdays if I had a personal event during the weekdays. If I had an appointment, I never had to ask for permission to get time off, but instead I just changed around my schedule and met the required hours.

LSI is so accommodating, I was able to utilize office space at LSI for documenting as I often got side tracked at home. When my car broke down I also got to use the company car in order to not miss out on work. The best part about the job was the flexibility and understanding of management staff.  I openly communicated with them when I felt burnt out and in doing so, I was given multiple resources for self help by my supervisors and they helped to decrease or ease my caseload when asked.

I genuinely miss my time at LSI, especially the clientele. I would encourage anyone to join the amazing staff at LSI, even if just on a part time basis.

Imagine being on a new huge ship, and the captain being blind & deaf...  that pretty much describes LSI as an organization. It had to be the worst employment opportunity I've ever had. Terrible management with the main leaders of programs always adding more and more to your plate and never the pay. The organization was always short staffed for the time I worked there, forcing the team members still working there to learn someone else's position and do it until replaced (Which rarely happened!) Management only points out the few things you're doing wrong, and rarely all the great things you're doing right.
It really shocked me the clients we served from all different countries were often very rude, greedy, and ungrateful. I would say 80% fit that description unfortunately making your day to day job feel draining and unappreciated. The job description doesn't say you have to be on call, but you pretty much have to be after hours, weekends, and even holidays in case of emergencies with very little to no support from your upper management. They get to enjoy their time off. 
Luckily, the other 20% of my clients that actually were polite, happy, and grateful to be in the US were the only reason I held on to this job. Overall though, if you want to be grossly over worked and underpaid, have terrible work/life balance, & never have peace of mind, this is the perfect place for you! 

I loved working at LSI! My time as a DSP was some of my favorite in my career thus far. My supervisor was very supportive and helped me to grow as a professional. This support and collaboration ultimately helped me to direct my career deeper into psychology. The upper management was equally supportive; oftentimes checking in on how I was handling my caseload and how I felt the relationship was with my supervisor. 

A typical day included seeing a range of clients with a range of disorders and disabilities. I could visit anywhere between 2-5 clients in one day, depending on how long sessions were with each client. Each client had their own unique diagnoses and set of goals with which I was there to assist. This was both the most enjoyable and the most challenging portion of the job. I was able to see so many different individuals that individualizing how I could best serve them was equally challenging and rewarding. 

The culture of LSI is clearly something they've spent a long time cultivating. Their persons-served always come first, and their employees come a close second. While I worked there, I always felt like I was a valued member of the team and that my opinions were important. LSI is a great place to work, and I miss it there every day! I would highly recommend LSI to anyone looking to get their foot in the door of human services, sociology, or psychology. Anyone with a heart for people and a mind for service will love it here!

I LOVED my time at LSI! The hiring process was smooth and I feel like I connected instantly with my supervisors. I had fairly specific limitations on my availability as it was just a part time job for me, and my supervisors were so flexible and accommodating. I was hired as a direct support professional, meaning I assisted disabled adults in the community with working on their goals. I was trained thoroughly, and any time I had a question I felt the supervisors really cared about making sure I was given clear direction. They made me feel like they actually WANTED me to work there, and wanted me to succeed, which was a different experience than my other direct support jobs. Though I didn't work on a team on a day-to-day basis, we would have meetings regularly where I had a chance to get to know the other workers in my department, and the workplace culture was so welcoming and positive. There's a really strong push to know your "WHY" as an employee, why we do what we do, and I think that really contributed to the positivity. The hardest part of the job was probably documentation, as it felt tedious and time consuming. The most enjoyable part of the job was the people I worked for and worked with! Though I am no longer working at LSI, I think about the people I worked with often, and someday plan to go back.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Direct support professional 7 salaries reported	$15.14 per hour
Case worker 37 salaries reported	$17.24 per hour
Therapist 5 salaries reported	$52,094 per year
Caregiver 55 salaries reported	$70,000 per year
Family support specialist 7 salaries reported	$18.50 per hour

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