licensed vocational nurse

mental health technician

mental health therapist

clinical supervisor

psychiatric nurse

STARS Behavioral Health Group

As an exempt employee, you expect that your responsibilities might not always fit perfectly into a 40 hour work week.  But the responsibilities should "generally" be able to be met with a 40 hour work week.  I found the case loads increasing during my time there and the demands to meet productivity by doing billable activities increasing, while other non-billable responsibilities grew.  Clinicians found themselves having to work late nights and weekends and almost everyone who wasn't brand new complained about the lack of work-life balance and unreasonable demands.  They have a reward system for everyone who meets productivity for 3 straight months, of a little bonus.  When they announce who earned the bonus, there have been only a small handful of people--like 3--who have simply met the standard consistently.  This is out of 25 or 30 clinicians.  If it was reasonable, then the majority would be doing it.  Instead they are quitting. And the management has meetings about how much they care about clients and staff and want to have a great team environment and encouraging clinicians to vote for the company as a "Great Place to Work," but ultimately, all of those great words of encouragement don't amount to much and the environment is still fairly toxic.  They hire good people and then the culture there molds those good people into supervisors who are pressured to address issues around billing, productivity, accounting deadlines for progress notes and things related to the good old bottom line, rather than addressing clinical issues related to client care.  
I realized that most weeks, I was working well over 50 house per week and, toward the end, probably 60.  My supervisor gave me sympathetic nods and just told me that everything needed to be done.  
This is a great job for someone who wants to be a martyr.

As a salary employee, the responsibilities that you have are beyond what you can do in a 40 hours a week. You are literally their slave in order to make productivity, writing notes at 1-2-3 in the morning. No work-life balance, using the weekends to catch up with progress notes. Also, as a clinician you are told to work as a team but everyone goes on their own and implement their own stuff. Nobody takes accountability from program manager to employees. There is a lady who was previously the manager now seeing several programs she “pretends” that she is nice, a wolf dressed in sheep clothing. Talking about micromanaging people, she has I down. I suggest, if you are a new clinician coming out of graduate school this is not a place to start, you get little to no clinical guidance, it appears that few know their laws and ethics. People have little to no social skills, hostile environment. Can’t address anything with upper management because they aren’t any better. HR is horrible; they’ll just write you up if you go against their corrupt system. “GREAT PLACE TO WORK” that’s a joke, they bought that award. Overall, not a friendly environment to work at whether you are license or not, don’t do what I did. The sad thing, our community and our most vulnerable children are the ones who are being affected by companies like this. It’s a for-profit agency. We have other local non-profit agencies in our community that you are able to get your clinical supervision without having to deal with all the drama and poor professionalism that this place offers.

This company struggles with organization, consistency, and staff support. Policies and expectations often change without notice or proper communication, leaving employees confused and uncertain about how to proceed. There is little structure or clarity, which makes it hard to feel confident in day-to-day responsibilities.

Training is minimal or nonexistent, creating a sink-or-swim environment that sets new hires up for stress rather than success. There is a lack of true teamwork — some staff frequently call out last minute, show up late, or are absent from the unit for extended periods, leaving others to carry the load. This happens regularly with little accountability, and those who do their jobs well often feel taken advantage of.

Management appears inexperienced and unprofessional at times. Rather than offering guidance or support, they often seem disconnected from the real challenges staff face on the floor. There is little empathy or effort to understand the daily pressures employees endure. Feedback is rarely acknowledged, and there is no clear path for growth or advancement.

Morale is low due to constant short staffing, a lack of appreciation, and a culture of gossip and disrespect among team members. It’s a tough environment to thrive in, especially for those who take pride in their work and want to contribute meaningfully.

This job might work for someone who thrives in chaos and doesn’t need much support, but it’s not ideal for those seeking stability, respect, and professional development.

I can't rate other STARS programs as I've only worked at one, but have not had a great experience at the one I do work at. Management are not on the same page and give the impression they have no clue of how to run the program. Any kind of training for new staff is nonexistent. Unless you have had previous experience from working in the field at other agencies/companies you will not be shown or taught on how to work with the client's unless you happen to have an experienced person on your shift with you that's willing to teach you a few things. From what I've seen there needs to be a better vetting process regarding new employees. Almost everyone I have been paired with on my shifts thus far has been a complete disaster. Co-workers sleeping, watching TV on their phones, taking 2 hour 'breaks' etc. all while we need to be working with the client's. I'm not looking to do my job AND my co-workers. I also have been given the impression that STARS is more interested in keeping their contracts with the counties and making money then providing an actual safe place for the client's based on some of the inane decisions management has made. Needless to say I am looking for another place to work.

Working with troubled adolescents in an environment where some kids have mental disorders and are suicidal, in a level 14 locked facility can be very intense and unpredictable. A typical day included supervising adolescents in their dorms, the community area and in the school setting. As a youth counselor, I made sure they excelled in a healthy and supportive environment. I documented the client's behaviors daily, along with created behavior plans for clients. The staff members varied, on the one hand I worked with supportive team members who enjoyed working with this population, and on the other hand staff members were burnt out and treated the kids poorly. Management was not all that great or supportive but there were a select few who were leaders and supportive. The hardest part of the job was intervening a crisis and redirecting troublesome kids. The most enjoyable part of the job was interacting with the kids and using my skills to show them I cared and that I was there to support and motivate them daily.

What I have accrued through STARS behavioral health group are different approaches to a variety of different encounters with the ease of learning to meet clients/fellow staff where they are.  Management seemed to be considerate and caring in understanding the needs of the team as well as being able to provide client's within the community a view of hope whether it's providing warm meals, a place to nap or by counseling services free of charge along with psychiatry and providing staff on duty with a feel of direction in client care.  The obstacle with this position are trying to provide for clients who are unwilling to advance themselves toward recovery, recovery comes in small steps, and at times it is difficult to take the first step.  Trying to find a motivator can be at times difficult because the client will often focus on the pain and hurts instead of the solution and what it takes to get there.  The most enjoyable parts would be to see the small successes in which I have felt the team had made a difference in a client's life to which every resource had been utilized correctly and in a timely manner, which is the most rewarding.

Horrible management and lack of support from direct supervisors. Management will target specific employees for personal gain. Favoritism plays a big part at Central Stars and you will see unqualified people hold certain positions. Hostile environment where management will gossip about employees and disclose confidential information to others. Employees do not feel comfortable to report to HR or management without retaliation. Employees are not recognized for their hard work. High expectations are placed on employees, such as productivity, without proper support to achieve this goal. No proper training given to employees to adequately serve the mental health population. Client care is not valued by management and high significance is placed on billing. Bullying is overlooked by HR and management. No room for professional growth. Long working hours that interfere with home life. Stressful and will affect your overall emotional and physical health. Job description is always changing and more tasks will be thrown at you. I will never recommend a friend or family to work at Central Stars.

I loved working in mental health. I loved working at the crisis residential treatment center for the first year and a half that I was there. A few months before I resigned, supervisory staff switched, and the new supervisory staff that came in was extremely unsupportive. People started quitting and no new staff was hired on. 8hr shifts became 12hr shifts which was fine and we were told new staff was being hired. But no new staff were starting. Supervisors who would not show up for their shifts expected staff to work alone or with very little help for 12, sometimes longer hours. Residents started going without their needs due to clothing and other necessary items not being ordered. Some of the staff including myself would spend our own money to provide some of the necessities. Again, with no appreciation from supervising staff. 
Don’t do it. This place is eventually going to be shut down because of mismanagement of state funding and lack of patient care. 

I have to admit that the work is challenging working with clientele with moderate to severe mental health. There are many constraints and expectations that are required due to program sustainability, Fresno County Managed Care requirements and expectations, and to prevent any ethical and legal issues but this is the domain we have chosen to work in. I've worked at several other mental health and substance abuse programs before I have sensed more appreciation, support, encouragement, and job satisfaction working for Central Stars Behavioral Health Group- TAY-FSP. Your work experience will reflect your attitude and flexibility. The field is ever changing and that requires us to evolve and adapt. I've faced a few challenges but I have always felt supported and encouraged by my supervisors and management. I feel a sense of family with my colleagues.

You have to have knowledge of ethical and legal boundaries or they will be tested, however you work in a team, so you aren’t alone. You have to have thick skin towards unnecessarily condescending upper management, understand safety prevention isn’t a priority, and have acceptance of the environment that all creates, otherwise, you’ll just quit because the pay isn’t worth the problems. Pay increases are not meaningful unless moving into an upper management role which does not pay well enough either for what it’s worth so longevity doesn’t seem like a goal reflecting in low employee retention. 
The job itself is amazing, work load is manageable, you really get to make a difference, allows for downtime, flexible, benefits are standard, and great experience with exposure to different clients and crises. It could be an amazing place to work with better pay, routine staff education and enforcement, and a supportive, non-hostile management approach. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Licensed vocational nurse 25 salaries reported	$27.66 per hour
Mental health technician 3 salaries reported	$21.41 per hour
Mental health therapist 2 salaries reported	$84,165 per year
Clinical supervisor 1 salary reported	$115,252 per year
Psychiatric nurse 7 salaries reported	$46.43 per hour

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