youth advocate

senior clinician

maintenance technician

clinician

administrator

Roy Maas Youth Alternatives

HORRIBLE place to work that sadly could be a wonderful place but Management is TERRIBLE at their job. Don't get me wrong, some higher ups are fantastic at what they do and are truly trying to help these kids. But the majority of them are lazy, barely do anything, don't know how to work with kids, and are hardly seen and when they are seen they make situations that are already bad MUCH worse. I've watched as a horrendously behaved child run around screaming and breaking property be bribed with food from upper management to stop. I've seen management even taken consequences on multiple occasions from kids just so they don't have to deal with them personally. And management as a whole (there are one or two exceptions) but as a whole they could not care any LESS about staff. They constantly blame staff for everything that happens. A kid doesn't get his way or doesn't want to go to bed and its blamed on the staff because they 'didnt handle things right'. These kids are basically allowed to do anything they want and get away with it. Management refuses to allow the staff to hold the kids accountable and it shows. My recommendation is just to find another place to apply. You may think that you can make a difference in these kids lives, but management keeps you from doing any true good. They are more worried about how donors may think and showing a pretty picture then actually trying to work with and help these poor kids. They tear down the best staff and only promote from outside so they can keep people loyal to management and not to the cabin or the kids. Constant revolving door of staff due to how underpaid and overworked and underappreciated and downright DISGUSTING and poor treatment of staff.

This is one of the WORST companies I have ever worked for. Its a shame too because the residents deserve better. But when you have terrible employees, management that doesn't listen/care, the kids are the ones that suffer. Other workers were burned out so the energy was always horrible. Administration sits in their office all day never realizing the type of work or energy that is shared within the facility. The CEO wants to pride himself on taking care of his youth, but he can't even take care of his employees. Which has resulted in terrible work from the employees. Employees are not held accountable for anything, so the ones that are good have left. Management makes it impossible for you to receive accurate paychecks. They use the most complicated system in the world and then when you inform them of missing payment, they tell you 'its out of my hands'
No respect for their staff or residents. 
its all about profit and what they can make from the state and the employees and most importantly the kids are suffering the greatest. its not an easy job and I didnt expect it to be, but management is the reason I left that place. Even when they would interact with the kids, they lacked sensitively and patience. Which is why they sat their butts in the office all day.

- A typical day would consist of waking the residents up (total of 16 boys), having them clean their rooms, do their cabin chores, complete hygiene, get them to school. During school- staff would clean cabin, contact caseworkers/probation officers to discuss children's behavior, complete cabin documentation of incidents. Children then return home from school, staff coordinate with supervisor to take children out to activity and to arrange dinner. Children then begin leisure time and begin bedtime hygiene.

- I have learned to maintain a superior level of patience and understanding when dealing with a frustrating situation. I have learned to work with case workers and probation officers in order to help a child be ready for "the real world" upon leaving our program.

- The hardest part of the the job for me was learning to be patient with the children. Although a child might be spitting at you, kicking you, trying to bite or punch you, you must be able to keep your cool and not take anything personally.

- The most enjoyable part of the job is watching a child that you have helped overcome his problems and leave the program.

If you have a calm head on your shoulder and can handle new or stressful situations, Also passionate in helping youth experiencing any crisis, this is the place for you. I know the first half may sound bad, but for me I been in stressful situations many times and with all the training provided I was never stressed doing my job and learned a lot about myself as a person. All upper management was supportive. I had an unfortunate and unexpected medical complications that left me out of work on FMLA for three months and they were quick, supportive, and helpful while checking in on how I was doing. The only reason I left was my health or I would still be there and miss it deeply, especially watching the youth grow.

This agency opened up my eyes to the obstacles and struggles of social work..but not in a good way. When I came in, I was bright eyed, energetic, and ready to help wherever I could... The longer I was there, the more I could feel myself becoming negative and cynical. There was no healthy work/life balance, completely short staffed, and the people they hired weren't competent or had no right to be working in a childcare facility. 

They always talk about "holding the rope" and "being all in", but the director level staff are nowhere to be seen when there are holes in the shifts when someone calls out (which happened way too often."

Leaving there felt like I came out of a toxic relationship and was a breath of fresh air.

Depending on shift I worked; I come in and make breakfast or start dinner for the kids at the shelter. Host a group meeting to alert them of my expectations and plans for the shift. Assign chores and assist or ensure they were complete and their rooms were cleaned before school. I also made sure the kids participated in school and any behaviors were reported to their guardian, caseworker or probation officer.

The company's management and executives have an employee engagement goal that all employees will feel "clear, competent, confident, and connected." I think they're accomplishing this. Each employee probably feels stronger about some of these than others. But, overall, I think there is a good culture where employees know what is expected of us, have the tools and resources needed to perform our tasks, have support from our immediate supervisors, and fell like we are part of a team that is doing something big -- changing the lives of kids!

There is absolutely no help from your supervisors. Everyone is out for themselves. The kids have major behavioral disorders. You will be called every name in the book and hit by either their fist or a chair. The supervisors don't want to be bothered by your problems. 

I've really enjoyed working with this organization. Management works hard to fit your schedule needs, the work is very rewarding, fellow staff are friendly and everyone works together to make sure the children get as much out of the program as they can. There are only a couple of downsides to the job:

1. High amounts of stress daily in dealing with "at risk" children.
2. No consistent work schedule
3. No holidays
4. Paid once a month

Other than that this is the best job I have had so far.

this place was obviously not a place to work if you want to make any money. It was rewarding to be able to be there for kids that were removed from bad situations at home. we would do fun activities with them like take them to Spurs games, the movies, church or the park. it was also stressful because they were sad much of the time and would fight with each other and you are responsible to de-escalade the situation.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Youth advocate 12 salaries reported	$18.75 per hour
Senior clinician 1 salary reported	$69,000 per year
Maintenance technician 19 salaries reported	$17.26 per hour
Clinician 1 salary reported	$55,000 per year
Administrator 2 salaries reported	$45,000 per year

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