registered nurse iii

correctional officer

youth specialist

nursing assistant

psychologist

State of Delaware

After student teaching, I approached a professor to ask for help locating an internship. I wanted to apply the teaching and behavior modification techniques I learned in school, but my student teaching experiences did not provide those opportunities very extensively (students had mild learning disabilities). He referred me for a position with the Delaware Autistic Program, which was only a few years old at the time. I traveled statewide to administer a functional behavior evaluation to every student served by the program, and I began working in the classrooms. I was HOOKED. These students were the most severely developmentally challenged students in the state. Many did not have vocal speech, nor any method of communication aside from basic sign language. Many demonstrated maladaptive behaviors as a result. Most, if not all, of the students had limited self-care and domestic skills, and few had any functional academic skills. None of these students had experience in the community, as most were previously housed in residential placement.

Not only did I learn a tremendous amount with regard to curriculum development and applications for a full range of skills, I was able to apply the behavioral techniques I learned (and continued to learn) to help these students become independent in a multitude of tasks. I had the pleasure of participating in development of a picture exchange communication system for our students, which provided them with the means to communicate their wants/needs, likes/dislikes, for the first time in their lives. These students blossomed into functional, capable citizens with the potential to remain in community-based settings (as opposed to institutional settings) as adults.

This was an eye-opening experience for me. I witnessed how effective techniques could transform the life of a severely disabled child into one with abilities and opportunities.

At the time, children with autism comprised a miniscule portion of children with disabilities, the incidence being 1:10,000. Being new to my career as a teacher, and not wanting to limit myself to such a rare population, I sought alternative teaching positions that would allow me to apply the techniques I learned to a wider range of students. I took a teaching position at a special high school for students with a range of developmental disabilities, hoping to expand the population of students that could benefit from the skills I learned. Evidently, they were not ready for change.

During my employment at the Department of Justice, I was really excited in the beginning. I was warned by my direct supervisor after moving to a full time casual/seasonal position to be careful. I wasn't sure that it meant at first, but now I understood. I worked incredibly hard every single minute while working here, but I was met with blatant disrespect. I was not appreciated by my supervisors. I was told to my face that I wasn't working hard enough. I was told to my face that I didn't appreciate them.

There is clear favoritism in this office, as there are plenty of people in the office who slack off consistently and are never reprimanded. It is also obvious favoritism when someone who just got hired as a casual/seasonal got a full time position, instead of someone who has worked there for 5 years and meets every criteria. (the interviewer was close friends with the interviewee)

The lack of benefits and the small amount of pay for the amount of work I did was ridiculous. I feel that anyone working there seriously needs to consider what they're worth. Not receiving benefits or time off on top of lackluster pay is not worth your time. Keep fighting and keep pushing through other applications and interviews out there. 

Everything you say will spread like wildfire. If you have the wrong opinion about someone, you will get the cold shoulder for months. You can't report any of your coworkers because management doesn't care, and they've proven that time and time again. They are vultures in there, so be prepared to put up your walls because if you let one person in, you're letting them all in.  

On top of all of that, there is no training. They throw you in there and get upset when you don't know how to do something, or if you make a mistake. You'd think the state would be a little bit better than this, but I had a better experience at a dead end job than working with the state.

I will say, however, that there was a decent work life balance. I could ask for time off as long as I made it up in that pay period. I could take my lunch at any time of the day as long as I told my supervisor.

Overall, they act like they're one big happy family, but they're not. They do not care about you. I wasn't even offered an exit interview when every other person who was employed there was offered one.

I remember when everyone coveted state jobs because the pay was competitive and the benefits were solid.

I now have 20 years of State service under my belt, working for several different DHSS Divisions.

The application and interview process hasn't changed in 20+ years. It's in desperate need of an overhaul. The applications are obscenely lengthy and ask the same questions more than once. The interview process involves a panel of 3-5 people who have to ask the same, pre-selected, pre-approved questions, they can't come up with any of their own questions (what sense does this even make?!), and it typically can take months to go from applying to actually being hired.

The quality of any state position relies heavily on the people you get stuck working for and with. If you happen to have a nice, supportive supervisor and friendly co-workers, your experience can be awesome. On the flip side, if you have an awful, critical, unfair boss or nasty co-workers, your job will be miserable. There is little consistency across state offices and departments. It's a bit of a coin toss whether you'll end up loving or hating your job.

The compensation used to be competitive with the private sector. It isn't anymore. The state is losing employees left and right because they refuse to increase salaries, and right now in the midst of record high inflation, people aren't stupid. They're going to jobs that will let them pay their bills and not be bankrupt.

There are no promotions with state jobs. If you want to move up, you have to apply for another position and compete/interview like all the other applicants. So you can work your butt off and be an exemplary worker for 20 years and get absolutely nothing for it.

The way DHSS handled Covid was the final straw for me. Employees who had given 10, 20, 30 years to the state were treated like garbage. Favoritism and inconsistencies were everywhere. Policies came out left and right, nobody had answers or clear information, the HR department was clueless or outright lying to people. The past several years really showed me just how little the state values its workers.

A typical day at work starts at 0800 AM. The department schedules appointments for client investigations/interviews in regard to disease process, immunizations, walk-in clients accepted if open appointments. Labs, DOT, weight, B/P checks, and PPD's planted as needed. Answer telephone and e-mail as needed. Lunch from 1200PM to 1300PM. Then start the process again until we close at 1630PM. There is physician clinic one morning a week, where we assist the doctor with the exam and prepare physician  recommendations by educating clients in carrying out doctors orders. Sometimes we take field trips to clients home to find the non-compliant client and/or medicate and/or educate in the home. Staff attends several offered training classes to improve and educate staff on core standards of care across the board in mandatory education, meeting/improving job objectives for the public health spectrum, personal improvement, and quality care. 
I learn everyday not to assume anything about client history and how to go deeper when it comes to the interview/investigation period which can increase critical thinking. 
Management is one on one with client, client/family, schools, daycares, physicians offices, outpatient clinics, correctional facilities, industrial plants medical departments and hospital staff. Management is a team effort with all of the above to get the best client outcome in completion/compliance of treatment.
The co-workers are open minded, helpful, fun, caring and patient. 
The hardest part of the job is to not distract and/or take too much time with the client as they tell you their life story. Some clients have very interesting and intriguing histories you can't help but get lost in time during the interview.
The most enjoyable part of the job is working as a team and taking one appointment at a time, and observing the best client outcomes being created and completed.

Lots of fast paced action, constantly thinking on your feet and collaborating with specialists and therapists to best meet student needs. Job entails the following: Teach students who have a wide range of learning, emotional, and physical abilities.  Adapt general education lessons in various subjects, such as reading, writing, and math for students with mild and moderate disabilities. Prepare and plan for assigned classes and encourage students to set and maintain high standards for classroom conduct and achievement.  Guided by student Individual Educational Plans, employ a variety of instructional techniques and media resources to differentiate instruction and promote understanding of content material.  Develop lesson plans and materials for classroom instruction to meet individual educational goals.  Collaborate with administrators, other teachers and related service specialists to develop and enhance academic outcomes.  Supervise a team of paraprofessionals to ensure coverage and academic support for each student.  Administer assessments, record progress and communicate student growth on a regular basis.   Provide accurate reports and data input to support dynamic instruction.

Work-life balance
Work-life balance at State of Delaware is very poor and needs to be looked at by speaking to employees about their needs and not management just making decisions they feel are good for employees.

Pay & benefits
My pay and benefits at State of Delaware are not commensurate with my education and experience. The medical benefits were the only reason I stuck with my job for so long.

Job security and advancement
In terms of job security at State of Delaware, I think job security is poor for those in non-union positions like mine. They terminate individuals at will without any good reason.

Management
In general, managers at State of Delaware are insensitive, uneducated and unable to understand most policies and procedures that govern their department/division. They ride the coattails of front line employees to keep their positions.

Culture
Collaboration with my colleagues at State of Delaware is difficult due to an unreasonable caseload.

Overall
My experience working at State of Delaware was the worst experience I have had in all the 40 years I have worked. They need to make sweeping changes to prevent fraud, employee mistreatment and other issues that do not promote a safe work environment for all employees not just management favorites.

6-7 years ago the job wasn't bad. Had issues, but generally you got to go home at the end of your shift and the administration supported line staff. Fast forward to today and you're getting forced to work an extra 8 hour shift 3-4 days of your 5 day work week. 16 hour shifts will burn you out quickly when you're forced to work them back to back to back with less than 8 hours to drive home, shower, sleep, and go back to do it again, let alone accomplish anything or see your family.

The administration increasingly second guesses line staff. The needs of prisoners increasing outweigh the need of officers to go home and have a life occasionally. I've watched them pile more and more responsibility on officers while simultaneously cutting staffing per building because the reality is it's a thankless job in a highly hostile environment that paid good until post COVID inflation. If you have family, avoid this job like the plague, because while they might send an occasional email about how they care, the actions of forcing people (literally) to work 3 to 4 straight 16 hour shifts is the worst work/life mix you'll ever see.

Go in at 5:45 sit and wait till 6:45-7 to get report and count narcotics. Start your shift. Moral low because you are always looked over for advancement because they hire their friends from outside. Take care of residents. 
The state definitely needs an overhaul. No advancement for employees always hire their friends from outside.The requirements are way to strict, such  as degrees, for the pay and that they are so short. Also, too too heavy. Nurses are struggling while the administration and office workers walk around drinking coffee demanding unrealistic expectations. Plus they let some get away with being lazy and slacking while others are expected to bend over backwards. During one period they had a manager ( who so happened to be administrator’s friend) not even coming in but still on payroll- Also, you had to come in at 5:45 when the others you released didn’t go until 7:00 just to make sure you got the 37.5 hours- meaning they paid all those people over an hour pay to just sit and wait. There’s your tax $$ for you. And now they can’t keep staff using agency for $60 plus an hour that don’t really care about the patients or staff. 

•	Interview clients
•	Complete assessment of needs
•	Transport residents to court
•	Conduct group & individual counseling
•	Prepare narrative reports  
•	Prepares and updates a variety of records and files.
•	Write & develop treatment plans in collaboration with clients & SHDC staff
•	Supervise in and outgoing calls and visits
•	Provide safety & security of the residents
•	Log and observe behavior of youth to report for Clinical
•	Emergency response procedures including, but not limited to, bomb threats, fire, evacuations, and medical/first aid care through on-the-job and formal training, as required by the facility.
•	Counseling through developing positive relationships with youth that leads them conforms to acceptable behavior norms.
•	Regularly perform security procedures for rooms, facility and ground checks to ensure security and well-being of youth; maintaining security keys, client files, medication, equipment, vehicles, and hazardous/toxic materials as mandated by the facility. Operator in Control Room; unlocking doors and making sure doors are secured and monitoring activity throughout the building using monitors with real time action from security cameras.

The shift starts at 2pm with a shift debriefing while the residents are being supervised by staff on the cluster. Residents will then recieve free time depending on thier behaviors or will be participating in a structured activity for an hour. Residents will then go to the gym for an hour of recreation followed by 45 minute dinner time. After Dinner, residents participate in another hour of structure activity or an evening program facilitied by staff. After this hour, Residents will recieve an evening snack and then report to their pods and lock in thier rooms while Residents shower. After showers, Residents who are eliligble for evening free time will recieve free time per thier levels. All residents are to then secured in thier rooms at 9pm. I have learned the importance of safety and security in a job enviroment.
The hardest part of the job would have to be rearranging your schedule around 2pm-10pm (b-shift) as well as working every other weekend. The most enjoyable aspect of the job is having the potential to postively influence the youth I am supervising.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse iii 1 salary reported	$54,444 per year
Correctional officer 1 salary reported	$56,160 per year
Youth specialist 3 salaries reported	$38,926 per year
Nursing assistant 4 salaries reported	$22.50 per hour
Psychologist 1 salary reported	$79,764 per year

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