social worker

youth counselor

mental health therapist

case manager

social work supervisor

National Center For Children And Families

I had a very negative experience as a foster care social worker with NCCF. The organization runs an ongoing ad seeking social workers and is currently offering a $2k recruitment bonus, which speaks to their constant turnover. Morale was extremely low and it was not uncommon for staff to leave without another job lined up, stating they preferred unemployment to continued employment at NCCF. 

An ongoing complaint from social workers was that management was not supportive of front line staff (i.e. social workers), prioritizing meeting benchmarks and foster parent satisfaction over staff safety, retention, and client outcome. Social workers regularly performed the work foster parents were contracted and being paid to do. IT and HR were incompetent with outdated technology and problematic benefit coordination further complicating matters. The Executive Director is extremely disrespectful to staff. Favoritism has resulted in the retention and promotion of incompetent employees. Support staff is non-existent or does not do their job. 

An average day at NCCF begins in the morning and staff report getting home between 6 and 8 pm then spending several hours on documentation. Staff take turns being on call 24/7 and it is not uncommon to be out over night before returning to work the following day. 

Despite it all, I still value the relationships I developed with the children on my caseload and hope that my work did something positive. Social workers are supposed to advocate on behalf of their clients and in hindsight, I regret that I was not a better advocate on behalf of myself during my time with this organization.

The National Center For Children and Families is an excellent organization. If your mission in life is to help children and families overcome the barriers that prevent them from succeeding, NCCF is the organization for you. The human service field is often ridiculed for employing individuals that only care about earning a paycheck but not NCCF.  NCCF’s mission driven employees have been able to illustrate what dedicated human service professionals look like. This organization makes its employees feel like they are a part of a unified team. The leaders of this organization empower their employees so that they will feel comfortable doing their jobs. The Executive Director and the Executive Leadership Team are equipped to lead this organization. Their combination of education and experience, provides employees with the knowledge that they need to develop and grow as human service professionals. It’s next level training that you cannot put a price tag on or receive from academic training.  Unexpected issues or problems are met with practical, effective, and timely solutions as a result of NCCF’s leadership! The culture of this organization promotes progression for its employees and the clients that we serve. I have never worked for an organization that provides as much support to employees as NCCF. If you are ready for a rewarding job, NCCF is the place for you!!

This organization is it's own worst enemy, opting to redefine itself as corporate rather than rely on the culture, individuals and work ethic that led to its recent successes. The main contributor to many of our most senior and respected workers quitting or being let go boils down to the ineptitude and rudeness of certain administrators. Whether it be clients or staff, the overriding sentiment concerning workplace culture, management and job security since they were put in place has been unimpressive to say the least. What's worse is it seems clear to everyone in the agency who the problem is but the executive team seems keen on ignoring the real issue. If this company did not pay workers the amount that it does, they would lose all of their competent staff who actually care about the mission. As it is, the turnover rate is incredible and few of the internal issues that staff have raised to the attention of administrators and executives have been reviewed or implemented regardless of necessity or practicality. Unless you are capable of doing this sort of work without emotionally investing, steer clear of this place until it sorts out what kind of organization it seeks to be and who they want to be responsible for running it. 

Child welfare is not for the faint at heart. This is hard work. Work days can be anywhere from 8-12 hours. The first 6 - 9 months after preservice training feels a lot like hazing. Your supervisor will make or break the job. If you have a knowledgeable and supportive supervisor you will make it. Burn out is real. You will want to quit almost every day during the first 6 month. Stick it out. It does get better.

CONS: 1) As NCCF social worker we are not respected. We are not respected by CFSA, GAL's, CCAN attorney's, community agencies. As a NCCF social worker it will take you twice as long to get things done for your families then a CFSA social worker. (i.e gift cards for food, visiting children in school, calling children's hospital for records, finding a car seat to transport a child). 

2) We use our personal vehicles. While we do get milage, that does not pay for the wear and tear driving 80% of the time put on our vehicles. 

3) Meetings/ visits at CFSA. We have to parking on the street & then security gives us the hardest time even though they've seen you come for this same weekly family visit for the last four weeks. 

PROS: 1) Flexibility. Essentially, you make your schedule. 

2) Supportive supervisors. Most supervisors at NCCF have case carried before. 

3) Salary. Could be higher but great, especially if you're a new grad.

Don’t do it! Management doesn’t offer proper onboarding, and are not completely  honest in your interview about the work involved. You will end up doing work you did not sign up for and training is non existent. The amount of paperwork and data entry  is ridiculous. They also say they are there to assist but get upset when you ask for assistance. The pay is what keeps people there, but it’s incredibly stressful with very little guidance from management.  The families in need are not even the issue. Upper Management is disorganized, and doesn’t take responsibility for the mess they create and expect you to clean up.It’s basically a shift the blame game. If you try to express yourself, they  flip it on you and try to make it seem like you are incompetent. They will pretend to listen, all the while they are gaslighting you, and making up lies to tell others. The turnover rate is incredibly high, and I have never worked anywhere so dysfunctional.They also expect a months notice, or else you are not rehirable. I would rather work at wal mart then go back . Go work somewhere where you are valued and where management listens to your concerns. Overall, a horrible experience with bad leadership, little guidance, and a toxic work environment. 

This agency isn't about serving the population we serve, it's about serving an dictator. The Chief Executed Officer is a bully and belittle her staff. She doesn't believe in serving the clients but an unjust management. The current Division Manager is bias and unreliable. She was never around for the clients or staff. She also slander staff reputation without proof. Management doesn't like when you're knowledgeable about the job and asked questions. They prefer someone whose a yes person and follow their illegal & unethical ways. My direct supervisor was rude and nasty to the clients we serve. She didn't take time to understand the process and lack management skills. She constantly makes mistakes with reports avoid meetings with the clients. This agency promote people who don't perform and put in effort. Management will take 2 hours lunches and never assist with the clients needs. Management wasn't about supporting their hard working front line staff especially if they're going beyond the objective of the program. I wouldn't recommend this agency to no one.

NCCF is the place for people that like to work extremely, extremely hard for little reward. As a social worker, you WILL be working 10-12 hour days on average. You will be told that you can "FLEX" your time, but in reality, you will have SO much work to do that you will never be able to flex time as you need to. There will ALWAYS be meetings, notes, clients, visits to complete. Know that the benchmarks you are required to meet are impossible with a normal 40 hour work week. Sometimes, you will be asked to attend meetings and work events on WEEKENDS. Depending on who your manager is, you will be told one thing by your manager and another by your program director. You will get sass from your co-workers at times. You will cry on your way to work at times. The clients are the easiest part of the job, really. Good luck if you look at the salary and decide that you can do this. Social workers at NCCF have a really HIGH turnover rate. Most DO NOT last more than a year.

I don't even know where to start to be honest. my co workers as far as the counselors and some of the staff was very helpful. the kids was challenging  but I enjoyed 90% of em! I didn't get trained by my supervisor I kinda learned from other people that worked there and learned on my own. I was use as a scapegoat and got fired. I never got a warning or was told I was doing a bad job but all of a sudden I get an emergency 2 month evaluation when they do 6 month evaluations. on my review it was lies about me being sleep and how my performance was poor but I was told the whole time I was doing a great job. my supervisors was on thin ice and  and they had meetings about me and blamed everything on me but smiled in my face saying im doing a great job. terrible work life balance I was payed salary but always worked passed 8 hours actually one day I worked 16 hours. but all and all if you decided to work here be careful because management is very sneaky and they fire people for any reason and the CEO doesn't really care if the kids go to school. stay blessed

What is the best part of working at the company?
Making a difference in the lives of foster care children. Meeting via-workers who genuinely care about their jobs.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The long hours and under payment of wages for the work performed by various positions.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work  is stressful and can be chaotic at times.  Management acts like dictators instead of listening to staff who do the various positions.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Lots of driving children to visits, appointments, and after school activities. Assisting social workers with clients needs, serving as a liaison between birth parent and children. Lots of work and documentation is required daily after you get off work. So it’s no work/ life balance.  Family Support Workers have long hours. Some time 12-15 days and evenings.

All the talk of promoting from within, annual raises and over respect from others here is not true. From the CEO down to the line staff working with the adolescent boys program, are liars, backstabbers, disloyal to each other and a lot of the staff have their own agendas going (i.e. personal relationships with other staff). All of which are things the youth in the program pick up on. The superiors are quick to throw each other or you under the bus just to keep the heat off of them, the youth don't respect the staff because of all of the "dirty work" going on. You definitely don't feel appreciated there. However there a literally very few people who come on the job, bust their tail, have the respect and cooperation from the youth - not because of anything wrong or mistreatment, because the boys recognize and respect "real" when they see it. Mind you it seems as if the CEO will listen to those of higher status, those who don't mind snitching or lying to be honest.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Social worker 2 salaries reported	$74,650 per year
Youth counselor 3 salaries reported	$20.83 per hour
Mental health therapist 5 salaries reported	$74,500 per year
Case manager 7 salaries reported	$65,679 per year
Social work supervisor 1 salary reported	$98,750 per year

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