vocational rehabilitation counselor

rehabilitation assistant

claims adjudicator

program administrator

monitor

Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities

Much like many reviews have already pointed out, leadership here struggles not just with effectiveness but with fostering a healthy work environment. The culture is difficult and demoralizing—something you truly have to experience to grasp. Rather than providing meaningful support, some supervisors rely on nitpicking minor “policy violations” to assert control. Advancement seems to favor those who align with leadership's views rather than those who demonstrate strong leadership skills. Transparency and integrity are sorely lacking. Raising concerns, even constructively, often results in being labeled “negative” or “not a team player.” Of particular concern is the inconsistent treatment of employees with disabilities. Despite the organization’s mission to support individuals with disabilities, internal practices often fall short—especially for staff who request accommodations or advocate for themselves. Union protections and agency policies exist on paper, but enforcement is often selective or ignored when inconvenient. On the client services side, the new “borderless state” model has serious flaws. Staff are expected to support individuals in cities and regions they’ve never visited, relying on internet searches rather than real local insight. It’s frustrating for staff and limiting for clients. The emphasis seems to be on funding and optics rather than measurable, client-centered outcomes. Meanwhile, leadership continues to expand upper-management roles with unclear operational value. There’s even an unofficial mindset: “Spend the money so we get the same or more next year.” Strategic planning and fiscal responsibility often take a back seat. If you’ve seen reviews warning about mental health, don’t dismiss them. While some teams may offer a better experience, systemic issues persist. Proceed thoughtfully—and protect your peace of mind.

Abiding by the guidelines set by the department as well as the SSA government seems rediculous as far as the timeline that is set for processing claims. WFH virtual model does not set you up for success even after a 12 week training period that, for me, was interrupted by holidays. The clearance to even gain access to the SSA website was rediculously long. The training class I was in only had a few days of interaction with it before being released to the teams we were assigned to. Some managers are great while others a barely aware of your existence. The system sets you up on a 12 month probationary period that does include the training time. Reviews are every two weeks and monthly. If you do not hit the markers set, you can be terminated or asked to resign before the full 12 months have transpired. Being considered as overly detailed in researching documents acquired is not encouraged. You full contact with the applicants, lawyers, and providers of all kinds during the whole probationary period even though there are letters to be to gain information from these sources. The department does not allow you to use the letters while being a probate. This position, I found, is highly stressful and you are not given all of your shift to interact with the applicants and others since you are expected to consistently stop what you are doing for meetings, evaluations, researching, and being timely with your breaks. Be cautious with this position. They always say "it's not cut out for everyone" and this is the most true statement.

Although is is a great organization that can be a great resource for individuals diagnosed with disabilities, the training supervisor working out of the Cleveland and Akron office produced proper consistent training. Since 2023 there have been such a high turnover rate with 95% of new hires no longer working with that agency due inconsistent training from the training supervisor, the training supervisor and team supervisors not responding to the new hire concerns within an hour and at times 15 minutes before the workday is to end and them lacking empathy.
Also, there is the huge issue of some the participants not knowing how the return items sent in secured email because they do not know how to create the secured email account to use for communication and sending and receiving important documents. 
The Caseload Assistants were given large caseloads when they were  not supposed to have a caseload. The caseloads are for the Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors and the Caseload Assistants are to assist the team on various tasks needed. Hence the reason why in training the role of Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor is 85%  discussed through teams and VR Essentials for two weeks and the role of the Caseload Assistant training consisted of the remainder 15% of training. 
The slated office space does not accommodate enough seating for all of them employees assigned to work. So, if you want to be able to work productively, get to work as early as possible to claim your work station, prayerfully that includes both monitors with work. 

Overworked and underpaid.  You are nothing for the first year while you are on "probation." They do not care if you fail or succeed.  The training they provide is a joke. The management does not know how to communicate and no one is on the same page.  There is also a grade school culture of gossiping and telling.  The work is arcane and convoluted to the point of absurdity, but that could be because they are using systems designed 40 years ago.   The pay is low and the word is a meat grinder, staring at a computer in a cubicle all day with little human interaction, because you will get in trouble depending on who says what to whom.  The benefits are decent and the time off is attractive but the place is just about grinding through numbers (which by the way, are actual people with real disabilities and need actual help instead of needing us to get the case out the door as quickly as possible), and they grind through the employees to show it.  There is easily over a 50% attrition rate, and they do not care to keep their employees. I guess they would rather go year to year hiring and training employees only to lose them by the next year.  70% of the class I was hired with are already gone, and by the next year, I doubt they will retain mare than 5% of the class.  
If you can do mind-numbing, mindless, absurdly technical and needlessly complex low wage labor-extraction, then this may not be a bad choice.

I would do new intakes of potential consumers, enter all their information into the Aware case management site, request medical reports to help determine eligibility, determine eligibility, draw up individual plans of employment with each consumer, work with consumers on determining what type of services that they may need to help them reach their job goal, put them with the provider of their choice to provide the services that they had chosen. Monthly meetings with consumers and job developers, intervening if consumers run into difficulty with job search. Most of my co-workers were fantastic and we worked well together as a team. There was to much difference in how each supervisor did their job, for example one would teach employees one way and the other would disagree and have them do something another way. The hardest part of the job was telling an individual that already had low self-esteem and felt hopeless, that their disability was severe enough to prevent them from being able to work. The most enjoyable part was when my consumers were placed in the job they had chosen.

Great pay, meaningless work overall
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor
What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part was telework before it ended. A

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The high caseloads expectation with different clients and different needs. Half these people are like dragging a horse. I felt more like an administrative assistant, making calls, leaving messages documenting. Very few cases went anywhere. My clients couldn't get the help they needed while others were demanding and entitled of whatever they could get their hands on besides a job. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Uncomfortable at times with certain supervisors.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Dreadful. Not feeling like your helping going through the motions. Unsure of how to do things and afraid to ask as they tell you to look up the manual or ask a coworker. The training is inadequate when they're expecting you to cover a wide variety of cases they are supposed to have client specific case managers but it doesn't work out like that i
-it's a freaking mess. Seems most people that have been there for a while aren't happy but tolerate it to work out to their retirement -they have too many years in- they talk about the extremely high turnover.

I've worked here almost two decades, and when I started the work environment was ahead of it's time.  There was a lot of focus on a good community at work, work life balance, and embracing diversity.  It's become an environment that no longer supports community.  It's a place where you come in, keep your head down, and barely say hi to the person that sits directly across from you.  Work life balance is now a "privilege" give to a small chosen few.  Needless to say favoritism is very prevalent in the work environment.  In the past, if you met the minimum qualifications for any position you could apply and be given the opportunity of an interview.  Now, if you are not a favorite of directors, you won't be granted any opportunity.  Unfortunately, if it is no longer an equal opportunity work environment.  Retention is extremely poor because new hires see the writing on the wall.  Ten years ago I would've recommended friends to apply, and I actually did recommend friends.  Now I wouldn't recommend enemies.

I have worked here for close to two decades. The culture of the agency has changed. When I initially started I believed there were multiple opportunities available. As time has progressed I have found opportunities are only available if you don't question management and play by their game. Diversity is lacking within upper management and they are not open to seeing this. Management no longer shows a concern for their employees, it has become a true numbers game. Staff are expected to produce high volumes of work with no recognition. Many of the younger staff are recognizing this and are leaving within five years. Management does not try to connect with staff and there is no focus on work life balance. Many tenured staff have left due to the lack of this. The agency in general needs to change the approach they have now taken. It appears more emphasis is put on finding problems with staff but no emphasis is put on developing staff.

A typical day at work is spent working every minute on documentation or contacting participants. I learned how to budget my time to a very fine degree. Management is the single worst thing about this organization, they will get you in trouble for doing what they told you do. I know one person was fired before their probation simply because their supervisor didn't like them, even though they were good at the job. They are discriminatory against employees with non-physical disabilities. The culture is one of treadmills and grinds, and resentment, although some individuals work hard to try and make the culture appreciative and welcoming. The hardest part of the job is management. The most enjoyable part of the job is helping people.

The typical day involved doing assessments on potential new clients having physical, mental, and developmental disabilities that were looking for work in the community. It involved gathering and signing releases, answering multiple questions, sending clients for further evaluations etc.
The job was very rewarding in the fact that we were helping individuals out in the community and by providing  them opportunities at employment.
Management was okay, there were some  better than others and those that felt they had to try to hard and became overbearing.
Co-workers were fantastic. They were always wiling to help or answer any questions.
The hardest part was having to tell some clients that their disability was to severe to be employed.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Vocational rehabilitation counselor 1 salary reported	$33.85 per hour
Rehabilitation assistant 4 salaries reported	$29.47 per hour
Claims adjudicator 6 salaries reported	$62,500 per year
Program administrator 26 salaries reported	$32.39 per hour
Monitor 20 salaries reported	$20.31 per hour

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