direct support professional

foster parent

caregiver

mentor

in home caregiver

RISE Services, Inc.

I was in my coordinator position for several years.  In the beginning, there was a balance between the admin part of the job and in person interaction with the people we served. Initially, I found the workload doable and always made my deadlines for various projects or caseload management duties and even had time to spearhead planning for DSP and client events. I received positive feedback for the event ideas I proposed and we had early success with those.

I told the company they really needed an activity coordinator, to handle specifically the client/DSP events in order to boost attendance and also provide the clients with regular group events where they could interact with their peers and explore the community together. I expressed how I would love to take the charge on that as I had prior experience in that area, if they ever made that position available. Well, they eventually did add that position- but I was not made aware of the position in order to apply for it.

When I first started, they said if I grew my caseload to a certain point, they would add an additional coordinator to our office. I was excited to have a goal to work towards and I wholeheartedly jumped in to grow my department, as my office was one of the smaller ones and I wanted us to stand out amongst the bigger offices in our state. I would meet aforementioned goals, and they would move the goal post, and then refuse to follow through on adding more coordinators. In fact, the upper management continued to add tasks, some of which were "busy work" and not vital to operations.

They continued to increase pressure to grow my caseload beyond what could be managed by one person. I implored them to add more admin staff, so we would not need to wear more "hats" and be able to focus more on providing quality customer service to the current caseload, as it became increasingly more difficult to keep a finger on the pulse of every case. I was losing touch with what the clients were struggling with or what resources the families may need, and that was not ok with me. The upper management was more reactive than proactive to problems that would arise as a result of being stretched thin, and that frustrated me, as I was telling them what the problems were, and nothing was being done about it.

It was getting to be impossible to attend to all priority tasks within a 40 hr week (overtime was strongly discouraged, so I often would work 50+hrs in a week, with anything over 40 not being clocked, so as to not go into the OT). I was not technically “on call” but yet I was, as I was always being contacted during my “off hours” by staff, clients and families and was not encouraged to clock that time nor did I receive any “on call” differential in my pay. Even my boss would contact me when I was taking sick time, to ask me to do work duties while I was trying to recover from illness.

I communicated all these challenges to my supervisors, who would nod their head and say "tell me more", but things did not change. As time wore on, the company added more and more tasks for me to do, which made it difficult to keep on top of my caseload and effectively serve my clients and families and eliminated any free time I had prior to put together client and DSP events. 

After several years, I honestly just couldn't do it anymore. I felt underappreciated, and unheard and had no hope that things would get any better. It is a shame because I loved my job and my co-workers and really enjoyed serving my clients and families, but it got to a point where I was always tied to a desk doing admin tasks and did not have time to interact with any of the clients/families face to face anymore. This is a people serving business and to reduce the in person interaction time is a disservice to the clients and families, but also to the coordinator as well. Most coordinators got into this field due to personal experiences or history- and the work is very high paced and intense. What makes it worth all the work is having the time to see your clients benefiting from your hard work- to see the progress they are making with your own eyes. 


What is the best part of working at the company?
I enjoy working for Rise because it is an ethical organization that provides high-quality services to the individuals we support. This role is very fulfilling, and I am proud to come to work each day knowing that I am making a difference in the lives of individuals with special needs. While I may be a bit biased, I truly believe it is one of the best jobs in the world. I am grateful to be part of such a strong and supportive program.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Working for a company that provides services to individuals with special needs carries a great deal of responsibility for those who support them. While this responsibility can sometimes be stressful, it is also deeply fulfilling. Having the opportunity to meet their needs, engage with them, and enrich their lives makes the work meaningful and rewarding.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment and culture are exceptional because you have the opportunity to interact not only with the individuals we support, but also with coworkers who share similar empathetic and caring values. Working in this setting means surrounding yourself with people who are compassionate, understanding, and committed to helping others. This creates a positive, supportive, and kind environment for both staff and the individuals we serve.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Depending on their role, staff members have the opportunity to engage with individuals with special needs in a variety of ways, ensuring that no two days are ever the same. The work is dynamic and engaging, combining support for daily needs with enriching experiences such as activities, field trips, outings, and life skills training. This variety makes the job both meaningful and enjoyable, providing a stimulating environment where there is never a dull moment.

Each shift is 8hrs first normally starting at 6-7am till 3 next shift 3-11 and next 11-7am 

You will need to be timely and reliably acurate for daily med disruption, and documentation daily for each med along with a “t-log” of a summary of the whole shift. I would recommend to anyone already familiar with therap or to anyone wanting to get their foot in the door with dsp line of work. Cooking cleaning required daily along with depending on clientel hygene asistment hands on or just watching over said hygene. The work its self is very rewarding and easy to follow they are very thorough with training, great with answering questions. 

However management is a different storry. In my time at rise the whole management system well to be blunt they tell you all the time never hesitate to ask a question but they often get agitated with said questions chain of command changes to much due to “someone being sick” or someone quitting. Or someone just straight up not answering :| 

Alot of the “game of telephone “ and drama. Along with some coworkers are absolutely stellar, fantastic with paper work with cleaning, with communication to other coworkers. But others slack emenslly leaving few with picking up all their slack… to many issues with their being “favorites”..

Biweekly  or monthly house meetings,
 If the house is struggling with a area needing improvements meetings go to weekly all MANDATORY unless specifically told otherwise by management.

They always encourage coworkers supporting eachother and covering eachothers shifts HOWEVER MUST get approval by your house manager. If you dont, they can and will FIRE you for “To much unapproved overtime” 

If you dont make sure your doing your punches correctly you will not be paid.






The clients at RISE often make working there worth it. Each family, professional parent family, and client are just absolute joys to be around. Many of them will be my lifelong friends. That being said, upper management is awful, out of touch, and always seeming to be doing something sketchy. Sometimes middle management (coordinators, and the wonderful office management in Orem) are so great that it works out okay! While as a DSP, Team Lead, and program Coordinator in different areas in the organization, I often felt supported and appreciated by all of the families and clients, and some of my supervisors, staff, and coworkers. This was never shown in any other way than words, though. They expect DSPs to do the work of an RBT or other certified professional without the training, pay, or support. They also expect them to drive fairly far distances without any compensation. Due to these issues, they are perpetually understaffed, which breeds resentment at all levels within the organization and with families. 

Overall, I loved a lot about my years with RISE, but that was almost all to do with the families and clients. Even as management myself, upper management often refused to take any of my suggestions. Hourly positions like direct support are underpaid, under-appreciated, and purposely kept at not enough hours to qualify for benefits. Salaried positions will try to pay you the bare minimum to do the work of about 3 people, and expect that you work 60-70 hrs a week on 40 hrs pay. They don't give raises, no matter how long you've been there. If you try to advocate for yourself, they will find a way to circumvent that, and blame the state and the DSPD for why they can't give you a raise. 

Every time I have worked there, there have been some sort of weird financial situation that was usually due to someone "misusing" funds. 

This company is one of the worst in this field.  I will start with what I loved, I Loved the people I cared for.  I LOVED the clients I worked with, I still do.  I'm in touch with their families still and go visit as much as I can, covid has complicated that.  This is the same reason I quit however.  They pay people minimum wage to work in extremely high behavior houses, it's too much work for the wage, which leads to extremely high turnover, which leads to the ones that stick around because they care being overworked, eventually we leave too. The day I left litterally all of the long term staff left that week.  The house was in shambles, we had no manager, I couldn't in good conscience stay.  I could not give my client the care they deserved, and if I stayed, I would have been essentially giving my approval for the way the company ran things.  I couldn't do that,  I even called my clients family and apologized for leaving too.  They deserved so much more.  This company is grotesque. I moved into management hoping to change some of what I listed above, but because the company uses people like toilet paper, this resulted in me making less than minimum wage, working 70+ hours a week, they put me on salary.  I was overworked and very Very unappreciated.  They litterally push people till they break so they don't have to pay unemployment, because they can always just hire another you.  And obviously the inconsistency that creates for the clients is absolutely horrible.  They deserve better than rise will ever give them because they are a greedy money making business. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
I have been working for RISE for the last 3 years. Previously had worked in Direct Support in a Supported Living setting for 8.5 years with a couple different companies. Personally I feel like RISE in one of the better companies in the area when it comes to supporting their participants and their staff. RISE is a non profit and not a for profit company which I think makes a lot of difference. They have good benefits that a lot of other similar companies do not provide. They encourage growth in the company and there are many ways you can grow. I work with most of the departments and each team works hard to create a positive work environment and provide in depth training to make sure the staff feel comfortable in the position. Being in my position I have been a part of many different community outreach programs and events, staff appreciation events etc. I am very passionate about this field and the services we provide and am really happy working for RISE.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
My position handles a lot of support for the different departments so Multitasking and documentation is very important and things can get super busy different parts of the year. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
FRom my experience it is very positive with a lot of support and encouragement to grow. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
My position works in recruitment and marketing and supported each departments hiring team. A typical day could be applicant out reach, job fairs, community out reach events or department or staff appreciate events.

It is hard to describe a typical day at work because exact activities will vary based on each client. Work is centered around a mentor style relationship with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Typically you will go to the person's home and pick them up, then based on their individual goals, preferences and behavior plan, you accompany them on activities out in the community. This could be grocery shopping, physical recreation, service, religious worship, or even going to the movies. Clients range in age from 8-90 years old. You hardly ever actually see your supervisor, but they are very accessible through text or phone calls. After each shift you must record detailed notes of the activities you completed and record any mileage for partial reimbursement. You don't really see your fellow co-workers either. You mostly work one on one with a client. The hardest part of the job and the greatest, most enjoyable part is working with a variety of clients. Some will be non-verbal and could have behavioral issues, but others are sweet, friendly and an absolute pleasure to get to know and work with. The other downside, is clients are located throughout the county, so a lot of driving is involved if you want a lot of shifts and because each client lives with a family, family vacations, illnesses or other commitments can cut into work time unexpectedly and you don't get paid unless you actually work the shift.

I worked here for a few years, and while there were a few positives—like flexible scheduling, a decent PTO policy, and some INCREDIBLY kind coworkers—the negatives were overwhelming and deeply disturbing. The leadership culture at this company was shockingly unprofessional, with inappropriate behavior coming from individuals you’d expect to model integrity and professionalism. What makes it especially concerning is that the most unprofessional behavior often came from those in high-level leadership roles— in particular, some of the very people entrusted with fostering a positive and respectful environment. Boundaries were nonexistent, and I often felt downright unsafe. The workload was beyond immense, encompassed several positions, and far exceeded what could reasonably be expected for a wage that did not allow me to afford to live. The stress of working here severely affected my mental health, to the point that I developed several unhealthy coping mechanisms and have needed extensive therapy to recover. This was not just a challenging job—it was an immensely damaging one, and the culture enabled behavior that should simply never be tolerated in ANY workplace. If you’re considering working here, I strongly urge you not to. I simply cannot express this enough. My experience was incredibly difficult, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. If, by some unfortunate turn of events, you do find yourself working here, I would strongly recommend working in a DSP capacity rather than within administration.

I did Service Coordination for the Infant Toddler Program (contracted by the Department of Health and Welfare) for a little over a year with RISE. This is how long it takes to learn the job and be comfortable completing tasks. Since this job is under a company that is contracted by the state, your caseload is expected to be high and quality of work is expected to be even higher. However, this is not 'marketable' job and your quality of work has nothing to do with bringing families of the community to the company to make money- caseloads are assigned by the department (State). Be prepared to work harder than any other Service Coordinators of the Infant Toddler Program. Yes, they have the same position at the department that pays WAY more had has better benefits (no, the department workers do not have a higher caseload than you, and yes, they're not required to do silly things that us contractors are- they will try to tell you this!). EXPECT TO BE MIROMANAGED! It's pretty extreme and the stress is overwhelming- I never felt 'caught -up with this position and found myself working more than my paid hours so I wouldn't feel behind in my work. I do have to say that management is nice, however, they not familiar with the service coordinator position and still learning what the job entails. Overall, I would suggest applying with the Department's position of Service Coordinator before trying here. You will receive much better pay/benefits and not have to deal with the heavy micro-managing a contracted company does to meet their 'quality assurance'. It's the EXACT SAME JOB. 

I have worked for many various provider agencies across several states and throughout Oregon. RISE is, in my humble opinion, by far the most dedicated to the individuals that they serve. Every person is unique and has their own strengths and quirks. Each of those are celebrated and their Residential Support Homes feel like real homes, because that is what they are. I have never worked in a company that had such a warm and welcoming environment. Most of the management have started with RISE as DSP's and worked their way up, it is a rare exception that someone is hired into management externally.

RISE management is constantly seeking new ways to improve their services. As an entry-level manager, they took my opinion in hand and reformated their training outline and time frame for the DSP's. DSP's are the life and soul of this organization and it only serves the organization as a whole to provide quality level training. 

RISE benefits are decent - they meet the minimum but the health/dental coverage could be better. However, they offer Retirement and Sick Leave to all employees regardless of Part-time or Full-time status. 

Also, if a DSP or Team Leader is not a good fit for that area, then that person doesn't lose their job. RISE will work very hard to transfer to another program or from Family Services to Residential. RISE understands that your employment is linked to your livelihood.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Direct support professional 552 salaries reported	$19.78 per hour
Foster parent 6 salaries reported	$2,400 per month
Caregiver 32 salaries reported	$3,000 per month
Mentor 10 salaries reported	$16.00 per hour
In home caregiver 2 salaries reported	$18.50 per hour

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