mental health technician

registered nurse

teacher

nurse practitioner

therapist

Oak-Plains-Academy

It has been a true and thoroughly challenging yet rewarding experience working with this company over all! The abilities and resiliency it has molded and taught me has been unlike any other opportunity that I would have experienced with any of my previous or most normal employments that I often sought after or experienced! I have been tested abundantly and I have been beyond grateful for what it has taught me over the years. The ability to work with others no matter their disabilities, their set backs, their strengths, where they come from and much more! The ability too be tested to far greater limits then most will ever endure. To be able to assist others in a more positive life, settings and opportunities that most never experienced and most others never will! Being able to continue to grow as an individual with stronger diversities and knowledge that most places of employment will not teach, such as patience, compassion, empathy, sympathy, discipline, structure, integrity and more

I was highly excited to start working at this facility; I have a love for kids, and especially those who aren’t privileged like a lot of kids. You have to be cut out for temper tantrums and hands on tasks. 
You get one week of slideshow presentation training, and then one week of “supervised” training. 
They don’t properly teach you holds, they don’t have your back when kids get wild. You are supposed to shadow someone for a total of two weeks, that happened one day. The days following I was on my own and the only help I had was if I persistently asked for it. 
The kids aren’t the issue here, it’s poor management that doesn’t have your back, the kids backs, constantly changing protocol and having a 15 minute meeting about said protocol. They expect you to understand and know things right off the bat and God forbid you mess up. There are serious legal issues you can face if you don’t get trained right for a place like this and it’s 90% the reason I left. 
A tragic incident occurred a few days before I left and when I mentioned I just wasn’t the person for the job (minus the details of how poor the management is) all my supervisor had to say was “what were you expecting when you came here?” Everyone has a poor attitude about everything. Good luck if you want to try and make a career here. 

in my few months at OPA, I saw a lot of abuse. Mental and verbal abuse for the staff, mental, verbal and physical abuse for the children. I watch grown men and women attack, attempt to attack children. A certain supervisor would scream and cuss at people over the walkie-talkie, call us names, telling us she didn't care if we had a life or family outside of work we needed to be there when she told us. Period. Uppermanagement turned a blind eye to all of this and a blind eye to this same supervisor screaming at an employee threatening to beat her up in front of an entire unit of children. The environment is so toxic, and the children get the worst of it. Its really sad to see a break down at work because they cannot stand how the kids are being treated. They can't do it anymore. Uppermanagement allows the good, compassionate employees to be overworked, verbally abused to the point they quit and then only the abusive ones are left. I'm not sure why there isn't ever any consequences for these people, even though DCS has been involved numerous times. Its disgusting. 

"An 'Experience' You Won't Forget!" If you're someone who enjoys working in an environment where chaos and confusion are the norm, this is the company for you! Don't worry about safety— just focus on the lovely "This is a Safe Work Environment" posters scattered around the building. They do a great job of creating the illusion of security, even though real protective measures seem to be optional. Leadership here is truly a masterclass in deflecting responsibility. If something goes wrong, you can always count on them to point fingers and shift blame— accountability is definitely not their strong suit.
The disconnect between clinical teams and MHAs is almost impressive, leading to some truly remarkable moments of miscommunication that will keep you on your toes. Expect policies to change on a daily basis— especially after something goes awry. It's like a game of "Wait, what's the rule now?" which keeps things exciting for everyone involved. Corporate's priority is clearly looking good on paper rather than ensuring staff feel supported or protected. But hey, at least you get free lunch, right? It's the little things that make all the chaos worth it.

Don't ever consider working here. It is terrible. UHS, the company that owns these residential facilities and all they care about is the money they get for each at risk teen they have. The facilities are alwasy under investigation and have violated a lot of codes and have been fined numerous times. They work you overtime without you havning any say in it if you are full time. Management is terrible and do not care about anybody but themselves. Everyone is expendable and the only reason they keep you around is because they can't afford to lose you but that does not mean you will not be fired for breaking rules and yes abusing or hurting the children in any way. Always out of ratio and never enough staff to help you when you need it which then leads to kids getting hurt and you getting in trouble. 
I worked here for about a year and never was I having a good day. The only time it started getting easy was when I decided to go on PRN status. They told me that I had to work manadatory weekends but I never let them enforce it meaning that I didn't come but I did have other responsibilities that took my time. 
DO NOT WORK HERE. PLEASE DO NOT APPLY. THEY NEED TO BE SHUT DOWN.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The children and families we help despite poor or absent leadership.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Poor leadership, a CEO who enables mismanagement and abuse of power of those in director positions. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
TOXIC. Deceptive, dishonest, and a horrifying lack of accountability from those in leadership positions. They find scapegoats to place the blame on and excuses to enable the negative, narcissistic behaviors of others.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Filled with anxiety, watching my back, doing my key role responsibilities as well as those of others who prefer to hide in their offices and shirk theirs.

Looking for a job that takes advantage of you, loves “yes mans”, no pay increases, and favoritism to snitches? This is the job for you! 
Management is a joke. Overall, I loved my time at opa due to SOME of my coworkers and the kids. Other than that, the job was miserable and mentally exhausting. You do not have the support you need, they lie in training, and do not care about you. If you need a day off, goodluck. Majority of the time you have to find someone to cover your PTO even if put in months in advance. This place has never been fully staffed and I worked here going on 2 years. There have been times as a new and senior employee, you’d be on a unit with 12+ kids by yourself. Sometimes you will not get a lunch due to staffing issues. This place is terrible and I would not recommend it to any one.

This isn’t a completely terrible place to work honestly but a lot of these reviews are false advertisement. While it has gotten better over the past two to three years there’s still a lot of room for improvement. Working with the kids is amazing once they get used to you and as long as your not a pushover you’ll do fine. But management is still pretty terrible. The pay is extremely low and makes no sense. Everyone has a mandatory stay over day and has to work a double at least one weekend day. So that’s already two days of overtime each week. It’s every man for himself. The staff is amazing and pretty much become like your family. I’ve met some pretty awesome people there. Lastly, there is no such thing as a work life balance. Oh and there is a two week training period but none of it is useful on the floor except hwc.

Oak Plains operates in a difficult position.  The students there require mental health services.  Mental health in this country has become big business.  The big business running Oak Plains is interested in dividends.  Those in the trenches give their all to these kids.  Those who spend their days in the offices.... well not so much.  Due to the joint commission that Oak Plains operates under the residents have no consequences.  Since there is no incentive to do the right thing even the good kids get caught up with the conduct students who have been placed.  If Oak Plains would discriminate between conduct and true mental health they could be a GREAT facility.  Still stressful but satisfying. A few managers need to stop worrying about their bonus.

I absolutely love working here! The environment has changed enormously over the past two years and it is a wonderful place to now come to work at. If you start on the bottom rungs and show an ability to do your job proficiently there is always an opening higher up. I've seen people here pick up two promotions within a year just by showing a little common sense and work ethic. Getting into the managerial lanes is a bit more difficult, but still obtainable. 
The perks of the actual corporation that owns Oak Plains Academy,  (UHS) are absolutely stellar. Working here will definitely make you feel like you're doing something great for a lot of kids that truly need help in life.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Mental health technician 14 salaries reported	$19.19 per hour
Registered nurse 4 salaries reported	$60.00 per hour
Teacher 2 salaries reported	$72,000 per year
Nurse practitioner 2 salaries reported	$62.50 per hour
Therapist 1 salary reported	$61,000 per year

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