case manager

clinician

licensed vocational nurse

counselor

mental health technician

Mental Health Systems, Inc.

I chose to swim. Lots of clients, lots of agenda's, not enough time in the day! Yes its a challenge, but I rise to it every day. There are Doctors, Therapists, Nurse Practitioners, Nurses, Counselors, Peers, Generalists, Program managers, and a lot more.. I read all the reviews, and saw an awful lot of  talking down, so I gotta intervene. MHS is a company that trains there employee's well and we also have an IT department and computer system that is not at all "old school." These people are complaining about gossip and unethical practice? I think they are just bitter about there experience still.  I don't personally find it to be a gossipy place.  MHS is a fine place with plenty of fine people.  The people I gravitate too are the veterans of the company ,or just great for whatever reason,  and young ones that work hard and are humble to learn. MHS has a lot of clients, and its no place to think, your at a cushy office job kicking back with people that want help.  We have the toughest population of people.  If you want  educating, helping, re-focusing, and therapy to be a walk in the park, you better go to the park instead,  Yes we have some wonderful moments where people have those changing life moments of clarity, however we work with clients who want help, but often need more than they know.  Then on top of that you have a lot of documentation to do.  This is the place to learn how to sink or swim. If you do not make it, or produce what MHS wants, don't be upset and give them 1 star! Its a fast paced place with difficult clients. MHS cares about clients and staff. The people that gave MHS a bad rap seem bitter. I hope they find greener on the other side of the fence. Probably not though because MHS is a fine outfit, and the same scenario is somewhere else. Lots of work and clients.  We have a ton of county referrals, and we do very well. Be prepared to work here and you'll do fine, while getting a great experience.. MHS rocks!

The organization is terrible to work for and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The COO of the organization exhibits more addictive behaviors than our clients and has contributed to the organization being very incestutious, gossipy, and has created an environment of overly confident and underperforming staff as well as has made decisions that are unethical and unhelpful clinically to clients and staff. Turnover is very high because home office and upper management (VP's, COO, CEO) do not provide training and support for their programs. They are overly confident about what they do however are very disconnected from the programs and seem to forget that their pay comes through program contracts. Along with the home office staff being overly confident, they do not exhibit any accountability for their mess ups or acknowledge their role in issues that arise. Good leadership comes from the top down so if the leader at the top presents the way that she does, that's the 'model' that her VP's and managers see. I'd love to write more however would like to remain annoynomous. Why? Because it's not safe to communicate how you feel to the organization because they are not open to any feedback and make your position worse in the organization if you voice your concerns. Oh, unless it's in the union tribune and they receive mass attention for it. Then they appear to accept accountability while having an attitude about in when not in the public eye.

I want to clarify that this review is specifically about North Star ACT, one of Turn’s (MHS) programs. I’m grateful for the pay, experience, and networking opportunities I gained while working here. However, looking back, the toll it took wasn’t worth it. Staff receive little to no support from management unless their productivity is high. Everything revolves around numbers—it no longer feels client-centered. While some team members are trauma-informed and truly care about the clients, this doesn’t include most of leadership, such as the Program Manager (PM) or county CORs.

Expectations are unrealistic, and no matter how much you give, it’s never enough. Things were constantly changing, often without warning, because management doesn’t seem to trust their staff. This led to a lot of micromanaging and confusion. We couldn’t even get a small amount of funding for a bonding activity. It’s hard to take the talk of “self-care” seriously when the team isn’t supported in practicing it. Burnout is expected in ACT, but at North Star ACT, the lack of support made it significantly worse. After traumatic client events (like overdoses or deaths), we were given only a brief debriefing—led by our supervisor, not even the PM. The PM seemed more focused on the image of the program than on actually supporting the team or the clients.

This program has the potential to do good work, but it has lost sight of what matters most.

Workday usually entails clocking in and catching up on emails or documentation, then a team meeting. Afterwards, you spend the rest of the day seeing clients, running groups, or doing documentation. 
Looking back on this experience there’s a weird dynamic at play… Management are all bffs. You can be part of the clique if you’re a clinician or are another “yes man”. If you offer different personalities or opinions, this contributes to the divide. With it being a small team, it’s very easy to become enmeshed into the clique bs. 
If you want to gain experience, this place can be useful. But it seems rare that employees stay for more than a couple years. This can be attributed to multiple reasons such as low pay, safety risks, lack of support, and burnout. 
Some red flags I overlooked are as  follows:
During my time I was expected to attend an 80 hr mandatory training for my position for a few weeks. Some of the training sessions were on my days off but I was told to not clock in for those sessions because I was to already have completed the training prior to being hired.
PM and supervisor often talked poorly about colleagues they didn’t like - this is permitted when you’re in the clique. 
At the time of my hiring, they had no case managers - wonder why everyone left?
By the time I left, so had 3 others. 

Nonprofit work is hard, but can be rewarding and have high levels of personal satisfaction. A few of the reasons I stayed for as long as I did was because I had great workers, program managers, and was able to work with clients.  
The biggest problem with Mental Health Systems is the leaders at the head office. It's hard to work day in and day out at program levels when you have incompetent, careless, unprofessional, and out-of-touch executive leaders. The leaders in this organization have little to no regard for their employees and this is evident in the way that they mismanage staff, resources, funds, and programs. There is constant and chronic turnovers. Programs are chronically understaffed and the leaders of the organization don't care to address or analyze the root cause of this. 
Also, be prepared to have HR not communicate with you for at least a month after they make an offer. Then take about another month to complete your onboarding and then forget to tell you when to start. The whole process seemed unprofessional which was a red flag that I clearly missed. 

MHS, Inc is a wonderful work environment. I received positive and constructive criticism regarding my duties. My supervisor was instrumental in my success as a case manager working with severe/chronic and dual-diagnosis clients.
A typical day at work entailed looking at phone messages and immediately responding to my client's needs. Then after, visiting my clients (28) a week. My day ended writing documentions and assessments. I learned that Case management offered me the opportunity to promote higher levels of wellness, stability, and qualityof life as well as assist in the prevention of acute psychiatric or substance abuse relapses. I worked with co-workers that were motivated and shared the same passion of meeting the needs of our clients.The hardest part of the job was the problems of helping my clients access residential treatment, and providing assistance to the homeless. The most enjoyable part of the job was observing the milestones of each client. It was rewarding to know that inspite of their disability, many demonstrated strengths in their abilities.

I worked as a case manager at Turn Behavioral Health Services in Escondido, and my experience was overwhelmingly negative. From day one, it was clear that this was a toxic and disorganized environment.

The front office staff were consistently rude and unwelcoming, and often acted as though they ran the place. They frequently brought up how they’d been there for 16+ years, as if that excused their unprofessional behavior. Unfortunately, longevity doesn’t always equal competence or leadership.

There was little to no real training, and the lack of support for new hires was alarming. In under three months, I saw six new hires come into the company, not including myself. That alone was a huge red flag and reflected the high turnover and instability.

The work itself was entirely numbers-driven, focused on productivity over people. There was no real investment in client outcomes or staff development. It quickly became obvious that this was not a place for meaningful work or professional growth.

If you’re considering working here, think twice. The environment is unprofessional, draining, and centered around quotas rather than care. I’m glad I left when I did.

I don't really know what to say about this company right now.  I am being given a chance to work, but I wish I could learn more about assessments and interventions.  I wish there were more time for helping individuals through their situations rather than helping connect people with checks/housing.  

Overall, i think everyone works together really hard.  I hear a lot of people complaining about stress and workloads.  You may end up seeing up to five or six clients a day - though not really - but they are going to be in different areas of town.

There seems to be a lot of overlap when reaching clients - which is somewhat understandable given the nature of the community we serve.  

There are some grumblings and some office politics but you get that wherever you go.  A lot of people there are professional and try to stay so.  I wish there were opportunities to learn more, but a lot of that I blame on covid and the zoom culture that has emerged from it.  

I have looked over a few reviews here...and you cannot please anyone. I am happy to be in a place that is trying to make connections with the community and help a population that would usually be ignored.


Some days were extremely busy and other days you were able to get your work done. At times, county and home office would overload us with work and we were expected to finish our tasks and county billings on time which was not a problem but sometimes there were too many crisis that occurred in the week that one would be emotionally and physically drained. I enjoyed the time off and at time some our staff (who rarely stayed long at the company). Perks were free food, unlimited time off, and good benefits. I learned  a plethora about being organized myself, multitasking, dealing with extreme conflict, and assuring my work always got done on time. The most stressful part was the safety issue, because we dealt with clients with extreme mental illness, the admin staff were not protected and we would get assaulted physically (at times) and emotionally. This job is, I would say, for the tough kids. If you can't handle stress well I wouldn't take the chance. Overall it was a learning experience I will never forget.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Good place to get experience . For someone who needs hours for license it is awesome, you provide  individual and group therapy.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
No training when you start working, you will learn with your mistakes;
Company focus on productivity and not on quality and well being of clients
Salary is below average
Coworkers are mean and disrespectful.
Communication is all through teams not a formal email to tell you about important changes with County. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Awful, no respect, no communication, some people try to be the boss but they are not.  Some co workers make fun of client’s condition and situations. No respect for co workers and clients. Company should have  HR involved to train on diversity.  

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Work work to achieve productivity , numbers not quality . On the computer all day.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Case manager 74 salaries reported	$29.68 per hour
Clinician 77 salaries reported	$37.66 per hour
Licensed vocational nurse 15 salaries reported	$37.63 per hour
Counselor 37 salaries reported	$26.66 per hour
Mental health technician 3 salaries reported	$34.58 per hour

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