child welfare specialist

social worker

clinician

foster care specialist

social work supervisor

Orchards Childrens Services

A typical day includes the following: 
•	Complete individualized service plans, monthly progress reports, and termination reports using FTBS model within 30 days and send to FIA worker.
•	Co-lead solution focused treatment groups every week utilizing interventions and strategies.
•	Meet with all assigned families  a minimum of 2hours per week in their home at a time convenient with the family
•	Maintain contact with FIA worker per Contract
•	Complete six to twelve month follow up survey for all families served
•	Participate in weekly supervision with supervisor and program manager
•	Maintain positive working relationships with internal and external customers of Orchards Children Services

Management has years of experience and are very open and flexible to helping an entry level employee with guidance, tips, and interventions in dealing with clients. My coworkers are very friendly. They are like a second family because we are all so close knit. The hardest part of the job in comutting to clients homes and maintaining scheduled appointments with clients, while balancing a lot of paperwork due each week. The most enjoyable part of the job was the experience, skills, and interventions learned that can be applied to any other job where you have to work with people.

When I first started at orchards, I worked for a wonderful supervisor and the overall culture of the workplace was amazing. Over the next few years, management changed, policies change, the culture took a shift and I can't say that it was a good one. Management is very diverse and it's a flip of a coin whether or not you get a good manager or not. The program manager I had, unfortunately, was not one of the good ones. Anytime someone would make a complaint about her, she would retaliate against you. She often talked poorly of other workers to her supervisors. Overall, she was just not very supportive and in a work place full of social workers, that is the exact opposite of what you need to be! The pay was really low and the benefits weren't that great but the work life balance is awesome because you get a ton of paid time off and you can work remotely most of the time. It offers a flexible schedule so that you can still do personal tasks throughout the day and also do your work later or earlier.

Orchards is a non profit , of course pay could be improved . However the type of work i have been able to do has been so amazing . I have learned so much during my time at orchards .  There have been negative comments on here about the agency related to being a huge scam and agency being more worried about profit . I’ve been with the agency for 7 years and not once have i felt this way. We care about the families in which we serve.  And we go above and beyond to service them and our efforts are acknowledged by upper managment . 

Our board members serve on our board for free, they are not paid . 

Salary is determined by education, and experience and then from there there are annual increases .  

I have observed people over my 7 years to not like the agency due to not following basic contract and agency requirements . If you care about learning and following policy and procedures and not afraid to speak to managment about realistic changes , you will excel at this agency . If you want to pick and choose what you feel like doing whenever you feel like doing it , you will not succeed . 

For the most part the culture at Orchards is great. You will love your coworkers and your supervisors. People at Orchards really care about their clients and it's a great place to learn and start out in child welfare. I have been disappointed over the years in the priorities of the upper management and the way they show their employees they are valued. Orchards has a great reputation across the state for service delivery, they should be leading the way in paying direct workers what they are worth and trying to advocate for better pay and benefits but they are not. It's profoundly disappointing. The clinical department can be quite toxic, and does not lend itself to growth and development of new clinicians and interns. You will be left largely on your own to figure things out in that department and if you ask questions or request help they will make you feel dumb and incompetent. If you are looking for clinical work go somewhere else.

I worked as a Foster Care Worker/Social Worker. My day consist of writing reports, home visits, and supervising family visits. I learned how to be more patient with people in spite of their circumstances, time management, more self respect and respect for others no matter what is going on in their lives, and to never judge even when I know what has been done is wrong. My managers showed support and concern when you were having a bad day, they were their to assist you when needed. The hardest part of my job was making the decision to ask for the rights of a parent to be terminated and then having to tell the parent that their rights were terminated. The most enjoyable part of my job was meeting different people from all walks of life and helping to make a difference in their lives and the lives of their children. This job was a stepping stone towards what I would love to do; reach out to others and be their mentor and support.

Pros: In the past, this company was a fantastic place to work. There was a genuine sense of community where everyone, including upper management, was willing to help you succeed. The flexibility was the standout feature, making the compensation feel fair. I also appreciated the genuine opportunities for personal and professional growth that existed within the organization.

Cons: Unfortunately, the environment has changed significantly. There is now a high-demand, low-support culture. Staffing has been cut, yet the workload hasn't been redistributed effectively, leading to a failure to meet client needs.

The flexibility that once balanced out the pay has been reduced, replaced by micromanagement and a lack of transparency from leadership. It is frustrating to be held to high requirements without being given the resources or the support to meet them.

The best part of this job is my coworkers, they are amazing and all work together to get stuff done since supervisors are checked out. The middle management is terrible. Supervisors don’t care about employees expressing they don’t feel safe or are overly burnt out from the constant pile on with no additional pay. New employees in lesser positions are paid more than current employees in higher positions despite this being against their own policy. They make promises that are never kept and the benefits are horrible. You won’t even be able to afford therapy which you will surely need after working here. They pay for unnecessary services and then tell employees they don’t have the money for pay raises. If you like being both depressed and anxious, give it a go! 

A typical day at work is working out in the field with clients working on their goals that were set up by Child Protective Services. I learned how to look through others eyes to see what the families are going through. There is not much support from management and the most support that I received working at Orchards was from co-workers through my team of 5 members. The hardest part of my job was working with management because work and home life collided and there was not much time for self care due to rules and changes that continue to be set into place by managers.  The most enjoyable part of my job was seeing the faces of the families that I touched.

A typical day at work consists of a friendly and fun environment.  At Orchards I learned how to be consistent with time management and meeting deadlines.  The management at Orchards very knowledgeable and competent of their roles and responsibilities. While at Orchards, I had some awesome and empathetic co workers who are very valuable to agency mission statement.  The hardest part of the job was educating families who admitted to not wanting help to reduce the risk of physical neglect or abuse in their homes.  The most enjoyable part of the job was educating and ensuring families had the basic needs to live their daily lives.

This is the type of job that completely drains and consumes you and you quickly seek a way out. You give your all to the families you serve, and take away from yourself, only to still be looked at as "small" by the company. This place will give you good experience with families and how the "system" works, but it is utterly and completely draining. Paperwork never ends and you are never caught up on your work, and support can be "iffy" with shady co-workers. The flexibility is cool, but anything may happen at any time with your families. I would aim for no more than 2 yrs at this company. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Child welfare specialist 1 salary reported	$39,500 per year
Social worker 2 salaries reported	$39,500 per year
Clinician 12 salaries reported	$41,000 per year
Foster care specialist 1 salary reported	$38,500 per year
Social work supervisor 3 salaries reported	$37,000 per year

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