investigator

administrative assistant

service technician

senior supervisor

program specialist

Mountaineer-Investigation-&amp

a typical day at ausslc  castner or sunrise was getting singed in doing body checks on the residents before the overnight shift leaves reporting any changes bruises to home nurse,supervisor shift coordinator , possibly psychologist ,O.D write what was found in the residents ,I Book and in the communication log  plus log on to avatar to make injury report. then start getting the residents up and get there clothes out giving them a choice to choose from . then if they use addaptive equipment you would assist them in applying the shoes gait belt etc.. and you would help them to walk to the restroom or if they are in a whhel chair and cant help you in getting up then that person would be some one who needs to be gotten up useing a mechanical lift using a mesh sling or specially made sling and you would put them into there own wheel chair ,assist them into the rest room maybe to the toilet afterwards you would help them in to the shower chair or bathing trolley and according to their training plans you would try to get them to help bath them selves, afterwards get them dressed, do all hygeine tasks that you would do for your self .get them to help comb there hair then when done active treatment starts you would get5-8 people in a group and do things like beauty hour ,or excercise group yoga,or teach them insanitizing their hands for meal time ,then you take them to go eat in the dining room .but first stopping to wash their hands if they can feed them selves then you just give them their plates and keep an eye on them to make sure they are not eating to fast and the ones who cannot feed them selves you would sit down an d help them to eat or just feed them always offering at least 2-3 choices of drinks  and always looking at the meal card and adaptive eqipment cards to make sure they are eating the right texture of food and drink so not to choke,and makeing sure they are sitting up correctly so to promote swollowing.  Every thing you do at ausslc is on a time frame so soon after the last person eats or 8:30 hits or which  ever comes first .you are to start taking the residents to work shops ,sensory etc..  and 30mins-1hour after that you take them to another place then its snack time  then you do more active treatment ,and inbetween you chaeck and change them or toilet them and or change their clothes again because in no way are they to look messy or have the smallest wet spot.they are to be clean smelling good ,looking good at all times . 
I learned that when working with these residents you dont know what they can and cannot do until you try it their are some residents thatjust look at you but cant talk or walk but when doing certian activites you will see them start smiling some times for the first time in weeks or even months  all because you tried something new .
every now and then you will get a supervisor that is compassionate and understanding and wont curse you out over the phone because you or your child is sick .but there are a few supervisors and unit directors that you cant figure out for the life of you why they are still holding their positions. but you find that those supervisors are friends with the unit director so when you make a complaint theydont get as much as a slap on the wrist. but you better belive if they dont do it now thenin a few days they will retaliate against you or if te unit director on  sunrise decides out the blue that she does not want you on her unit any more then she will grab on to the littlest thing you do or that some one says and she will not seek to resole the problem but she will gladly get rid of you ,but like i said their are some god supervisors at ausslc and sometimes the ones that just irritate you and you just feel like you want to getaway from them even those are good supervisors and they will stick up for you as much as they can. i know i mss my supervisor on 732 dove  evn though se got on my nerves sometimes and i rushed to get away from her thinking i was going to somethng better,she always gave me and all the staff a figurative pat on the back .and i was never looking for one but she always complimented me and encouraged me to do better.so there are good management out there .
on castner your coworkers all worked as a team well at least on 732 dove  but that is said to be one of the hardest homes to work on because so much is expected of you, on 791 sunrise the residents were really hard to deal with (beating up on the staff and all) but the direct care staff there was rally easy to get along with and you go on lots of outing son that home.
the hardest part of the job i have to say was moving to sunrise to a behavior home where i was constantly making 6 phone calls for  every 3-5 behaviors that went on from the moment i stepped in the front door there was a resident banging her head kicking staff running punching other residents ,making staff have to do a follwo diown restraint  or basket hold then having to write down in detail everything that happened ,who ,when, why, what time, where who else was envolved etc.. writing all that down for each resident envolved on the communiction log ,observation notes in I Book, and on avatar .and more...
the most enjoyable part of working there at ausslc was working with the residents they all have different personalities some quiet ,some loud ,some violent at times but then sweet the next day, some saying things that you would never expect them to say and even if you heard it befor from them you will still sit there in aww..i mean you could have been working ther for years and never hear a certain person talk ever but then one day out of the blue they would say "i want to get on the #21  bus"and you ask them did you just say that and theysay "yeah why?" oh man, you would just be in aww...but then the momnet would pass and months would go by and no talking but you know it will happen again,   in all if i had it to do all over again  i would stay with my home that i knew best and with my supervisor,beside that i would still come back to work at the ausslc. minus all the hold overs.with all the bad i metioned it was still a great experiance.

Generally, I believe that in time, things will be headed in the right direction over time provided that some individuals toxic to the mission of DFPS are ushered out of, usher themselves out of or are fired from their present positions.  Overall, this is a decent entry level position for recent graduates, NOT those who have years of experience and are more seasoned in their careers/fields relative to social work, counseling, psychology, etc.  If you come to this job with a wealth of knowledge, experience, and education you WILL feel overworked, underpaid, unacknowledged.  Work/life balance is promoted often, but almost impossible to truly be successful in helping your families, keeping up with face to face contacts, and all the other paperwork, referrals, etc. that are a part of this position. The best part about this job is equally the worst, as you are a salaried employee expected to be available 24/7 and in order to truly make an impact with families and complete your tasks, you have to work overtime (some even work weekends and late into the evenings).


Regardless of the experience, education, and abilities that you possess/have acquired, the starting salary is not negotiable (unless you have a BSW/MSW).  As a single 20-something with no children, higher education, and years of experience, I managed to barely live off of and bring in $2,026 a month (after taxes).  Raises are given based on tenure and not work performance (i.e. in order to receive an incentive- you have to have been employed here for at least 2 years and even if you have out performed- both qualitatively and quantitatively- people who may have been with the agency for years, you still won't be eligible to move up until you've reached certain time benchmarks (i.e. 9 months, then 18 months, and so on).


A major issue that I was faced with, depending on the supervisor that you have, is the degree to which many people are judgmental about how the families and clients served live their lives.  We are intrusive in their lives to begin with, but to also "tell them" how they should be living their lives as well as trying to rehabilitate families in a social service setting often feels as though we are setting families up for failure.  This is also reinforces why many, if not most people absolutely dread having CPS involvement.  Many of my families were either scared of CPS or felt that we had some extreme power in the way their lives and children's lives go, which couldn't be any further from the truth.  Know your rights and as an employee, don't abuse the fact that many families don't know their rights.  It's absolutely sickening to witness how forceful and rude some employees could be, forgetting that the families we work with are people just like us.  

Those who are the best at their jobs, have years of relevant experience/higher education here will make the same amount of money/be eligible to "move up" levels (i.e. FBSS Specialist I, II, III, IV) at the same rate that people who do the bare minimum or less/just graduated with their Bachelor's or now with their Associate's.  The turnover rate is very high, and for a reason.  What's all the more sad is that (for the most part), no one cares, as you are quickly "replaced" in the physical sense.  It's a revolving door and there's no attention paid to retaining staff. No exit interview. No communication from HR about what to do/what happens post-employment outside of just turning in your equipment.

It baffles me because we all start off with the same exact trainings on cultural competence, empathy, etc., yet over time, being out in the "field" as a "worker" definitely jades many employees.  I found myself feeling that and feared that this job would change who I am as a person, and that led to me quitting. I had to be true to myself and respect the families that I interacted with by not doing them a disservice.  

You'll know very soon after employment here whether or not this job is worth the stress.  For me, it wasn't.  Good luck!

     I had the opportunity of having a good supervisor, but not everyone is lucky. It is a great places to gain experience, but there is no upward progress after you hit investigator IV (SI’s are V). The work load is too heavy to manage for most and most times they expect you to put your own family on the back burner to cater to other families that can’t get their lifestyles together. 
     Job security is somewhat there, but depending on your sup and PD you can easily be given a developmental note and fired if you don’t improve. Which is hard to do when you’re delinquent. Taking time off also is a “no-go” when you’re delinquent. There’s so many rotations and on-call lists, and case rotation lists, etc. and too many workers that cheat the systems to get out of getting cases. The turnover rate is extremely hit because of this, and for other reasons as well. Not to mention your state phone is constantly ringing when something happens on one of your cases. (Which is very frequent) 
     The pay is decent to be honest, but for the amount of work you do, it’s not worth it. Another issue you have too is only being able to use 10 hours of Over time each week. Which is unrealistic for the amount of cases you get, families you deal with, and visits/ follow ups you have to do. Especially when you have 15 other cases on top of the 2-3 cases you get assigned per week. So by not being able to use an appropriate amount of OT you stay in the same cycle of delinquency. Then the Department wants to question why you’re still delinquent on your cases. When they don’t give you the appropriate time to work them. This happens to a lot of people and then they get burned out, because they’re trying to manage a workload of 20-30 cases. I was burned out my first month, but somehow lasted there for 5 years. 
     You also do a number on your vehicle with all the miles you put on it. The wear and tear adds up. Plus the issues you get sometimes with the state NOT approving your travel pay reimbursements is ridiculous. 
     The department has its perks. Times off balances roll over and add up over time, benefits are amazing (health), 401k, and Texas ERS retirement, discounted gym memberships, state employee discount website for a variety of purchases. (I.E. electronics, vacations, a vehicle, etc.).  But unfortunately, the bads out weight the goods with this job. There are some good people you’ll meet here, but in my opinion, if you’re looking into a field of investigations; start applying to local law enforcements agencies and or federal jobs before coming to DFPS/CPI. 


When I started working at Texas Health and Human Services commission it was great. This was back in 2015. I was very proud to work for this company. However, when BPR rolled out, things changed drastically. Managers actually cared before this whole process started. Now, it is all about impressing the PM or even higher than that. We work 10 + hours a day and get not appreciation. They think they can decide to not approve any leave for us hard-working individuals. I feel bad for those who had plans and a plane ticket that they cannot use because they are forced to be at work. It really is a shame that I have to leave this job because this was an actual job that I use to love. Now it's all about controlling who. You can't ask questions and get told to ask your supervisor but then have them bounce you are or they are not able to answer your question. They have you work additional assignments after you pull your task but then send you daily stats and ask you why your time was so high for this day. Well yeah, when you tell me to work on case readings after pulling a task, that will happen. We aren't a bunch of robots who can do thing quick. We can't do things quick, because if we do then something will be wrong with the case. You get asked on the daily that your sick if you have gone to the doctor and asked to bring a doctors note, we don't need one until the 3rd day but get asked for one on the 1st day. I don't know who to turn to anymore, I don't know if I should report this to the labor board, because everything they are doing is wrong. And then they wonder why our STATS drop. Another thing is they have us to do TW work and wonder why OUR MEPD cases are so far behind and make us work Mandatory OT which will never stop. Really take a look at this company before you start applying for it. You wont be able to ask questions to your peers and end up sitting at your desk for hours just to have a simple question answered. Once they had has work from 7am-7:30 pm and have use come in on Saturdays. MEPD really has it bad compared to the other departments unfortunately. I honestly don't think its worth the time and stress so save yourself. This will really come down on your health. Today, trump came into town, every other company was leaving at 2/3 due to road closures, our office was right next to the rally and had to work the entire shift. Except 10 minutes before 5 because they system decided to go down. Anyways, there is by article. Maybe I will actually write one to have it published in the future because some company should not be able to get away with the things that they do. Ay America. Hard-working individuals but no respect. Shame on you.

A typical work day at CPS will depend on which area you work in.  What I can say for sure is that the job comes with high stress, it comes with wanting to put families first, it comes with wanting to put children first and their well being.   This job is incredibly challenging, but rewarding at the same time.  I enjoyed my time at CPS.  I know the office I worked from was a supportive, positive and team built office.  I know not all offices are the same.

Working as a caseworker you have to be mentally prepared to hear anything, a good listener, empathetic, patience, calm, tolerant, organized, and good with data entry skills. As a worker you have to be willing to have a voice to speak of the facts that you have found that serves in the best interest of the child.  This can mean having different opinions from other caseworkers, supervisors or court.  It is important that all facts are gathered to best serve the child and or family.

The best part of my job was my team, my co-workers, and the amazing children I met.  It was hard work, but rewarding when you know you made a difference in at least one child's life.  

The hardest part was not the 40-50 hours a week I put in, as I was compensated for that.  The hardest part was pouring your heart into a job to help reunite a family and doing your best to help the parents only to see that they continued to choose drugs or lifestyle over the priority of the child. The other hard part is becoming too close to foster families only to find you have to send in a report due to suspected abuse or other issues. You do learn to balance it all and make boundaries where necessary. 

People think working for CPS would be terrible and that they couldn't do it.  CPS puts all new employees in an intensive training program.  I think an employee quickly is able to compartmentalize their jobs and the stories they hear in order to work in this field.  Keeping positive and remembering your purpose helps to keep one focused and grateful for what they do.  

My management team was amazing and didn't throw me to the wolves.  CPS trained me and my team also worked with me. I had a very good experience with CPS.

This organization is the epitome of government waste. When the HHSC computer mainframe went down this past year there were literally buildings full of people paid to do absolutely nothing for days. The culture is go along to get along and no one is rewarded for doing more. In fact, you’re likely to be looked at like something is wrong with you if you think doing more gets you anywhere-it won’t with HHSC. Deadlines and commitments are very laissez faire and rarely are either consistently kept by those above or below you. They have on average 2-3 people to complete the work that one person would do in the real world, so you won’t have to worry about working hard, unless the others you work with do nothing, which happens. Pay raises are non-existent and the word bonus is like something from a foreign language. This is the place you hire on if you can’t make it in the real world or you simply need a paycheck until you die. They claim the hiring process is fair, but be aware, there are internal candidates already being eyed for 90% of the job postings. So, don’t sit around waiting for anyone to call you for an interview, unless you apply for one of the bottom level positions that are notoriously low wage and no one is willing to take. The hiring panel is typically made up of others you will work with, so if you come across as too competent or that you want to work harder, the panel will probably go with another candidate. Don’t make any of these delicate little flowers feel like you could possibly be the best thing that ever happened to their sorry organization or you will quickly be crossed off the list. These people are slugs and the first sign that you might raise the standard is reason to not hire you. Winners need not apply, but bobbleheads are always welcome. Taxpayers deserve to know how their money is spent. Budget uncertainty is a common term used throughout the year, meaning these people can’t even set a budget for the year. They literally spend as they go and finish the budget AFTER the year is over. No private sector organization could ever get away with this kind of incompetence. Record keeping is terrible and record requests send them all running around frantically, think 1980’s record keeping and antiquated computer systems. This place needs to be completely overhauled and led by private sector management. 

Be sure you clarify whether they're looking for a TMC or PMC caseworker.  PMC conservatorship caseworkers deal mainly with teenagers, most of whom have a significant history of mental health issues.  You will routinely be expected to transport potentially dangerous kids (including teenage boys with a history of attacking women) at all hours of the day and night on road trips that may be several hours in duration and take you through very remote areas of the state.  One of my coworkers was assaulted by a teenage boy.  He suddenly grabbed at her chest and tore her shirt off while she was driving 70 down the highway.  One out of control teenage girl grabbed my arm violently because she didn't like where I was placing her.  A schizophrenic teenage boy on my caseload left vulgar threatening messages on my work cell.   Be prepared to know what to do when a teen jumps out of your car and takes off.  Be prepared to drive 5, 10, and more hours straight without rest.  If you have kids you'll need a babysitter you can call at any hour day or night for the times you have to work all night placing a kid.  Be aware that kids, especially teens, routinely sleep in CPS offices so during those times you'll be expected to work in round the clock shifts.  Also be sure to clarify if you will be housed in the same office as your supervisor or if your supervisor will be at another office an hour away.   There are numerous articles you can access online that chronicle the recent ongoing turmoil CPS is experiencing.   Be sure you're prepared to go before judges who are becoming increasingly hostile towards CPS and may hold you personally responsible for things which you have little to no control over.  Make sure you have a reliable vehicle because you'll be running it into the ground and an AAA membership might be a wise investment.  Be aware that turnover is high and each time someone leaves your caseload will spike.  Some units are down by as much as 75% and if you're in a full strength unit you may be sent to work cases in another county that may be as far as two hours from your home.  Be aware that CPS just got a new director with a heavy law enforcement background and that has caused a lot if jitters among CPS staff.  No one yet knows if the new guy will merely continue with the status quo or really shake things up for better or worse.

SUMMARY:
•	7+years of strong experience in Software Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Testing of Object Oriented Applications and Web based Enterprise Applications using Java/J2EE on Windows and Linux platforms.
•	Extensive experience in implementing web based projects using IBM Web Sphere Application Server 5.x/6.x and IDEs like IBM Web Sphere Studio Application Developer (WSAD) 5.0 and Eclipse3.0/3.1.
•	Developed Web based Distributed and Front End applications in a three-tier architecture using Java, J2EE, HTML, XHTML, JavaScript, Ajax, JSP, Servlets, Conversations, JSF, CSS, JavaBeans.Java Swing.
•	Experience in designing and developing enterprise applications using J2EE technologies like EJB 3.0, GRNDS,Struts 1.0/2.0, JDBC, JNDI, JMS, JAXR, JMX, JAXB, Mark Logic XML Server, SAX/DOM, Web services - SOAP, UDDI, JAX-RS,JAX-WS,WS Security.
•	Expertise in OOP, Object Oriented Analysis and Design (OOAD) using Unified Modeling Language (UML). 
•	Expertise in design patterns including Front Controller, Data Access Object, Session Façade, Service Locator, MVC, Data Transfer Object and Singleton.
•	Knowledge of various components in spring such as IOC, AOP and Spring MVC.
•	Knowledge of XML and related technologies like XHR, XSL, XSLT and parsers like JAXP (SAX, DOM) and JAXB. 
•	Strong experience with JUnit in performing unit test and determining the application functionality.UsedClearQuest as a Bug Fixing tool. 
•	Experience with JMS both Synchronous and Asynchronous messaging.
•	Experience using Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) 5/6.
•	Expertise with Firebug and cross-browser like IE, Mozilla, Firefox, Netscape/cross-platform issues and web standards.
•	Strong Experience in database design using PL/SQL to write Stored Procedures, Functions, Triggers and experience in writing queries using Oracle 8i/9i, SQL Server 2000 and MySQL.
•	Expert in Various Agile methodologies like Test Driven Development, Test First Development Methodology, Incremental and Iteration methodology and Pair Programming.
•	Strong experience in different phases of Software Development Life cycle (SDLC) including Design, Implementation and Testing during the development of software applications.
•	Experience in working with different operating systems Windows 2000/XP/7, UNIX, Linux.
•	Experience in using Jasper iReport and SQR to generate forms, reports and sub-reports.

There is a lot of travel associated with this position throughout the state of Texas. You will be reimbursed for your travel expenses and be able to tour the state of Texas during your work. You will either work solo or with a team ranging from a team of 2-30. The training was on the job training and mentorship. There were annual conferences that ceased in 2014. The annual conferences were the continuing education courses/meetings that assisted the employees in increasing their knowledge base in interpreting and analyzing the Texas Administrative Code. The current work environment as a Program Specialist IV is now inundated with emails and webinars that replace face to face training due to the pandemic.  The schedule is very fluid and can change at any minute. If you have any children and no support structure at home, you will find it difficult to manage the ever changing work schedule as it will change in location and timeframes of where you will need to be during the week. For example, you can be scheduled in the city/town around your residence and start your work week there on Monday, but you may then find yourself halfway across the state of Texas by the end of the week due to schedule changes and need for support in another area of the state. You will thrive in this position if you can handle the ever changing work schedule locations throughout the week. Your work will include a lot of interviewing, documentation reading and analyzing information to draft into a cohesive report summary.  You will also deal with many difficult people you are surveying whenever you present them with violations for their contract. You will need to be very customer service oriented and be able to use conflict resolution to de-escalate some irate individuals. 

There will be times you will work overtime, but will be able to flex out the time at the end of the week if you are able to. You will be interacting with multiple populations of individuals from varying socioeconomic and psychological functioning levels residing in small towns or large metropolitan cities. 

The only reason I left this work is because the job is super sedentary. It really did not make a big differance if I went to the gym for one hour and the rest of the day I was sitting down. I really liked this place I had 2 different supervisors and both of them were super kind and understanding. You get all the benefits with this job. This is the perfect place to start your working career. I will also say that due to Covid this place is starting to turn into a call center, were half of your shift you are taking automated calls back to back. I mean, its not that bad, but previously we would call the clients and there were no time limits. Now you have to move to specific queues, and an automated system makes the calls for you back to back. I previously worked in a call center and promised myself I would never do that to myself again. Overall its a pretty good place to work, we had a daily huddle between 15 to 30 min long, now it was only 2 huddles per week. We also used to have a monthly meeting and now they were suspended due to production goals. Oh also when I started I was in a one and a half month training where previously it was 3 months long. Obviously I was sent into production not very well prepared. But if you are going to try this, once you are in production, take a day at a time and be patient with yourself, because this is the point were you will want to quit. There will be a nester available for you for a full month. There is a ton of information you will be in contact with, you will obviously memorize the information that you use the most and for the rest of the info just know were to find it. Supers will always help you when in doubt without any issues, and policy does change a lot and very frequently; that is why its essential that you stay on top of your email. Ok one last thing, the only pay raise you get is after your first year of employment and its like a 100 dollar bump on your monthly paycheck, if you want to make more you will have to advance to a super or other available positions. Which there is always space honestly since a lot of people retire.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Investigator 272 salaries reported	$17.25 per hour
Administrative assistant 233 salaries reported	$3,224 per month
Service technician 150 salaries reported	$3,407 per month
Senior supervisor 70 salaries reported	$23.37 per hour
Program specialist 67 salaries reported	$6,355 per month

Working at Texas Health and Human Services Commission: Company Overview and Reviews

Texas Health and Human Services Commission

Texas Health and Human Services Commission Ratings

Popular jobs at Texas Health and Human Services Commission

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected