case manager

family support worker

social worker

support worker

behavior technician

Saint Francis Ministries

The work-life balance is severely lacking.  The directors and vice-president have made manipulative comments to "guilt trip" case managers into not leaving (ex: "now just remember, if you quit, you're hurting your coworkers").  VERY little support from upper-management.  Their support includes things like asking a food truck to come to our parking lot, not things like monetary compensation or advocating for us.  The majority of lawyers and judges treat case managers terribly.  Condescending, eager to point out our failures instead of providing support.  Same with the directors, willing to point out what we are doing wrong, or reject suggestions, but unwilling to provide guidance or support.  While there are supervisors who work in-office to assist their case managers, a large number work from home and provide little support, guidance, or assistance in the learning process.  This has been pointed out many times to upper management with nothing in the way of changes.  The training is lacking, there are a minimum of ten weeks spent doing trainings, very little of which can be applied when beginning case management.  You will be informed that you will start with four families for thirty days, and then slowly work your way up, but it is more likely to be in the range of 20-30 children within the first 4-6 weeks.  Upper management is condescending and inappropriate.  After a recent protest involving a few employees who wanted to be at reasonable caseloads, upper management held a meeting with the entire company that spent a large amount of the meeting berating the individuals who protested only to fire them and leave their caseloads for other case managers to pick up.  At one point, the general counsel for the agency referred to the protesters as "throwing a temper tantrum".  On average, caseworkers are working 60-80 hours a week.  Upper management is usually nowhere to be found outside of business hours, while individuals with significant others, children, school commitments, or other obligations are working 10-15 hour days.  Overall, the work is amazing but the agency is greatly lacking.  The workplace culture is a disappointment, no work-life balance, and minimal support from upper management.  Positives include flexible scheduling, but usually there is too much to do to take advantage of the flexibility.  

The most toxic HR department I have ever encountered in over 30 years in the medical field.  Perception of actions and a toxic power hungry management is what governs your work day.  Patient care does not enter into the equation.  Perhaps this is why a 15,000 dollar sign on bonus must be offered for anyone to even consider working in this hostile place.  Luckily, I saw the toxic management in action prior to taking the full time position offered to me.  Typical work day consists of co workers complaining and refusing to do their share of the work.  I learned this is never a place I want to work again.  Management is  one of the worst I have ever encountered, giving micromanaging a new definition.  You are constantly threatened of termination.  If we receive a message about protocols that needs to change, it ends in a threat of a write up to  possible termination if the new implemented change is not done to their requirements.  Culture consists of bullies and laziness which goes without disciplinary actions.  "Clicks" target those they don't like and complains to HR which just believes whatever they are told as long as it's more than 1 person complaining. Hardest part of the job is the amount of patients per day. The most enjoyable was working with someone that made your job easier, but when HR finds out you enjoy working together then they call you and tell you that you are no longer allowed to work with that coworker.   I am so very thankful I never took a full time position in this hospital.  The quality of care is no longer top priority, it's the perception and personalities that drive this hospital.  Unfortunately, this new generation is lazy and couldn't care less if they provide adequate care or nor.  Management is more focused on power and control instead of fostering an environment of team work and security.  

I worked as a Permanency Specialist from the transition of DFPS to SFM until July 2023 when I moved into a role where I could be home more with my children. I thoroughly enjoyed my work,  my supervisor and my team but I will say that had I been apart of another unit I probably wouldn't have felt as comfortable in my role. My supervisors (I had 3 within my time as a PS) and program director were always supportive of the decisions I made regarding my caseload and there to assist me with any questions/problems I had.  Granted due to the high turnover at the beginning of the transition, I did have a high caseload a couple of times but I was always able to work over as needed and flex out the extra time if I could.

This is not a position for someone who is not organized or a self-starter. There were many nights that to ensure I had time to spend with my family that I was on the clock at 9, 10 or 11pm doing paperwork or computer work that didn't require being in the office. That worked for me, but it is not something that would work for everyone.  A typical day for me was clock in at 8am, take a break from 12-2, clock back in until 4 and then  be off until after my kids went to bed and I could work on the computer in peace. Although that was not always the case depending on what visits were scheduled or if I had court that day. 

Beware going into this position that you are not always going to have good experiences with families, especially if they are not motivated to do their service plan to regain custody of their children. Some of my hardest conversations were with teenagers that I had to explain that their parents rights were being terminated because they didn't work the plan. You have to be compassionate to be able to do this kind of work, it's difficult but worth it.

It's hard to overstate the sheer level of disorganization present in Saint Francis. From hiring emotionally unstable people to no training for new hires to expecting on call availability every pay period. This is of course not even mentioning the fact that offices within the state act antagonistically against other offices. Saint Francis is what happens when an organization suited for running bread lines and clothing drives manages to lobby it's way into being a child welfare agency. There is no coordination above the office level and that is often not present due to the revolving door of new employees, the cause of which is intense burnout due to poor allocation of personnel. In other words, people get used up by the management's poor direction and then either leave or burnout and get reprimanded for a mistake committed under said burnout. 

The children placed in Saint Francis' care are woefully mishandled. Group homes contracted to Saint Francis that have no smoke detectors, clean bedsheets, or even toilet paper in some locations. Respite care is used for many children who lack proper placement. This means children get shuffled from flophouse to flophouse every night and Saint Francis workers are asked to entertain them during the daylight hours. Again, a nonsensical allocation of resources. 

There is no positive I can list for this agency. They have recently lost DCF's contract for Sedgwick county after Saint Francis' organization wide inability to operate within expectations was made abundantly clear. 

Seriously consider a different agency to work for. 

As a Family support worker, I have made many good memories with the families and the children. I have learned a lot on this job and think that some of the experiences have shaped me as a person. This job has some flexibility, as you can choose one or two days that you don't work late, but this is not always expected to work as schedules change. This job can require getting off late as this job isn't a 9-5, as some may think. 
    Watching the families grow is a rewarding part of the job, as much as I love it. I wish the pay would be a little better for what is expected of this job.  Aside from the job, I wish there was more personalism among co-workers in the work setting. 
     This job requires being able to travel, time management, working independently, and solving problems under high stress. Don't rely on the support from others. This job can't be learned on training; you learn as you go. This job does change as changes are needed to ensure that this position is used to the highest capacity, spare time who ? ... yeah don't expect that  😂. 

Before speaking on the bad, I’d like to say this job is very rewarding and the relationships you build with these children are a bond to my heart and something I’ll never take for granted. Seeing families succeed after so many failures, is rewarding and restores faith back into humanity.... 


The cons are, This job pays you the bare minimum if you have any experience, and are a hard worker and do well in this field. If you have a degree in unrelated work and no experience, they pay you very well but then pressure you on deadlines, and over work you, and put helping you on the back burner. They throw you into the work, and expect you to just do it with little to no help from your trainer. If you’re lucky, they you will have a dyad. But they are  under staffed as well so you’re taking on way more than you should, always. Supervisors don’t have your back like they say, everyone will throw everyone under the bus given the chance rather than just help someone out who is struggling. They will hire you on, and make it seem like there is room to grow financially, then you attend meetings and come to find out they aren’t giving out raises to people. 

During my almost 4 years and plus my practicum for one school year, it was a roller coaster ride as the stressful moments were time of crisis for a case or two and having kids at the office during the evenings and weekend (even holidays). I had so many job title change that I only got one raise during my time while everyone else did each year. I have seen so many faces come and go as it can be a tough job at times but when you can balance it out, it's really not bad job to keep. There are some high school type drama in the office but there are some that are life long friends. When you get pair up with a good supervisor, they tend to work with you and care about you. They usually don't care if you got overtime as you easily get overtime without watching your hours. They have company cars as there are some traveling to see kids at their placement. On call is my least favorite week as it can be stressful at times but it's a couple times out of the year.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Helping the children in our communities and state that need it most!

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
If you’ve followed the headlines, the top paid “members” of this “nonprofit organization” embezzled tens of millions while social workers who achieved masters degrees make less than the local grocery store or arts and crafts store. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
This agency is unbelievably top-heavy and offers no support to staff as it is a constant cutthroat bureaucracy under the thumb of the Kansas DCF which is equally nightmarish. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Enduring stress that could probably endure a mental breakdown with no internal motivation or support system. Expect to have days that “require” you to work 16 plus hours a day and through the night.

Over the past two years, there has been three directors and none of them know what they are doing. Also, over the past two years, the workload for specialist has become so unmanageable they continue to add more and more responsibilities and tasks to the workers everything that they are asking them to do is unreasonable to expect someone to be able to do within 40 hours they don’t allow for overtime, DHHS is so difficult to work with and expect support specialist to take on the role as a caregiver of the children and care when foster parents or kinship placements missed the mark and fail to do what is expected of them so this means transporting children, schedule medical appointments, as well as even doing case management responsibilities  And this company does nothing to back up their workers. They just tell them to shut up and do as they’re told I would not work here. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
A few descent co-workers..... You have to bond together to put up with all the stress the clients and leadership bring.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Unprofessional leaders, clients with no recourse for their dangerous and violent actions.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Walking on egg shells, being watched like a hawk & treated like a criminal.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Go to office or work from home, depending on your supervisors mood that day. Do you paperwork, visit your clients and hope you don't get put on mandatory "on call" where you're stuck with violent youths with no discipline or structure.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Case manager 54 salaries reported	$23.09 per hour
Family support worker 28 salaries reported	$19.80 per hour
Social worker 9 salaries reported	$24.30 per hour
Support worker 1 salary reported	$17.10 per hour
Behavior technician 13 salaries reported	$17.59 per hour

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