clinician

group leader

direct support professional

child care teacher

youth advocate

Old Colony YMCA

The branch seems nice on the surface, you'll even work here a few months before you start to notice things. The first thing you'll notice is the cliques, remember those? They are back! The clinicians have a clique, security has a clique and if you are not in the clique, be prepared to be talked down to and get little passive aggressive emails.

The passive aggressive behavior is very subtle, like nothing you can take to the clinical manager, but its just under the surface. An example will be something like, "The participant asked for you X and they told me today they haven't heard from you." They won't say that to your face, they'll do in a mass email to the entire building.

In meetings you'll hear little comments that are little digs. Like if you say something like, "I heard a participant can get help for X at this place" and someone will mumble, "That's not true" but they won't speak up or elaborate.

So this place is toxic, but in a subtle way and it kind of creeps up on you. I hear it from participants, "How can you stand it here?".

Unless you like being back in high school and enjoy the feeling of people slowing undermining you at work, stay far, far away from this place.

Working here was a disappointing experience. Rather than focusing on serving and supporting the justice-involved population, much of the work environment felt disconnected from client needs. Staff spent the majority of their time in the office with limited client engagement and little organizational structure. Efforts to improve client outreach, engagement, and enrollment were often discouraged. Additionally, workplace gossip and unprofessional discussions about clients and staff were common. Employees who expressed concerns or offered different perspectives frequently felt excluded or targeted.

The organization experiences significant staff turnover, which appears to reflect broader issues with leadership, workplace culture, and employee support. Unfortunately, concerns raised by staff were often not meaningfully addressed, contributing to ongoing retention challenges.


I worked in the Family Services division. I gave support to families experiencing homelessness. I don't think I've ever worked so hard in my life. But the families were great  sometimes a little but for a challenge, but for the most part working with them was such an amazing experience. My Supervisor was very rude. She spoke to both employees, and residents as if we were beneath her. She was not respectful of our suggestions or contributions. Our compensation was a dollar more than minimum wage. I stayed for a few years, but I never really felt I could ever advance. There was very little room for growth. So, somewhat unfortunately, I decided to leave the company. Overall I appreciated the experience I got from working there. I learned a lot about people, and I would love to work in that setting again. But I would like to work for a company who values their role in the community, has respect for both clients, and employees; and has a decent compensation for the amount of work that is required.

My work day at the Y is very scattered.  In the morning tomorrow I will be on the fitness floor from 5-8AM, then work with a client at 8:15.  I will work in my office for a few hours and then work with another client, then my own time where I will most likely go home for a short time and then come back to teach a class and train another client.  Most of my days are like this, jumping from my job in the fitness capacity to my coordinator duties for the Diabetes prevention Program.
LIfe at the Y can be good most of the time and frustrating at other times; there is not a really good work/life balance.  It has a different atmosphere than a regular business, and a different way of communicating.  That's not a bad thing, but or someone who came from the business world, it can be a bit challenging.  
Growth is encouraged and they have their own education system; I have taken several classes there to help with advancement.
The most enjoyable part of the job is the people I work with, both on staff and the members.  I enjoy assisting the health seekers who come to us, reach their goals.

Youth Sports responsibilities:
1.) Create Youth Sports Programs
2.) Supervise Staff for Youth Sports Programs
3.) Create brochures for Youth Sports Programs
4.) Create Program Data reports for Youth Sports Programs
5.) Run numerous computer programs (Publisher, Excel, Word etc)
6.) Create PO# forms for ordering equipment for Youth Sports
7.) Inventory, and order equipment for Youth Sports
8.) Address Emails and Voice messages, in regards to Youth Sports
9.) Research and create new Youth Sports Programs

Personal Trainer responsibilities:
1.) Research and create workout routines for clients
2.) Train clients in proper form and techniques in lifting
3.) Demonstrate all cardio equipment
4.) Teach programs for youths in regards to learning all gym equipment, and cardio equipment
5.) Keep up all certifications, including new trends

Working as a DYS clinician was certainly an interesting experience. I love my time working with the kids and feeling like I made a difference in their lives. I did not love upper management, the gray area between being upper management and being a regular floor staff, and how little clinical work was actually able to be done in this environment.  It was a supportive work environment in terms of floor staff making you feel safe with the kids but the management was terrible – no communication, very little positive feedback, and very little room for growth.    DYS overall is very secretive, old colony YMCA was no exception to this    And, oddly enough, they do not provide references if you do choose to work elsewhere – even if you do a very good job.

A typical day at work includes updating treatment plans, reviewing incident reports, and completing case notes for each client on my caseload.  It also includes collateral contacts and crisis intervention as needed.
I have learned a lot about systems and how they work intertwined with each other as well as independently.  I have also learned a lot of skills in supervising and program leadership.
Managers at the YMCA are personable and engaging.  At times it is difficult to receive important/necessary answers to questions due to managers being so busy.
My co-workers struggle with understanding the population whom we work with due to lack of training.  My co-clinician is wonderful to work with and we are a great team.
The hardest part of my job is working with improperly trained staff.
The most enjoyable part of my job is seeing change in the youth we work with and building bonds with them.

A typical day during the school year would be picking up the kids at school and then when they get to the program they eat snack followed by homework and free time. During the summer we go on many fieldtrips and most of them are outdoors which gives these kids an experience they don't really get in an urban city. I learned through my job at the YMCA how to be tough. Many of these kids come from tough backgrounds and their behavior showed it. It takes alot of patience to deal with these kids and also to learn how to talk to them so they can understand thier actions. I was really close to my co-workers because we all have been at the Y for many years now. The enjoyable part of the job was watching the kids have fun and actually having fun with them.

Dangerous place to work, paid awful, camp directors and her little friends like to gossip. It’s like they were born in Plymouth and never left. One unit head would follow her camp counselor boyfriend around all day and would get weirded out if he worked with other girls pathetic lol. Everyone is on a power trip about a camp.. over 100 water front violations. Camp counselors are expected to work with mentally ill children with no help. Kids try to drown & hurt others and run away. They only cared when the state came. Also kids had MERSA and it was in the pond and they never shut it down. My co counselor had it. Also encourage counselors to change children who have accidents? This place is a joke. Do not work here and do not send your children here. Also thought they lost a kid and instead of calling police they had us search for 45 minutes? Director had to call and ask parents if they had their child....

I have learned a lot during my experience at the YMCA before and after school program. Overall, we are there to supervise the children and keep them safe. We assist in helping children with homework and provide snack and breakfast. As a site coordinator/senior group leader we are required to implement curriculum in the program. There are many other tasks that can vary daily. I am required to attend trainings and meetings monthly including child abuse and neglect, cpr, first aid, etc. I have learned to do a lot of other simple things through the YMCA such as documenting 51As and learning how to recognize when a child may be possibly experiencing abuse and/or neglect at home.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Clinician 69 salaries reported	$69,130 per year
Group leader 82 salaries reported	$17.87 per hour
Direct support professional 105 salaries reported	$17.16 per hour
Child care teacher 83 salaries reported	$19.12 per hour
Youth advocate 70 salaries reported	$18.05 per hour

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