direct support professional

teaching assistant

teacher's aide

daycare teacher

associate

The Center For Discovery

I can only speak to the experience as a professional/clinician working at The Center, not as a direct care worker which I imagine is a very different experience. 
The Center will be very inspiring at first, especially for recent grads, as it should be because this is a ground-breaking place for this population in many ways. The job offers a lot of opportunity to use your creativity in meaningful ways (i.e., inventing equipment, planning programs, exploring various specialties). 
However, this wealth of experience comes at a high cost in emotional/energy reserves. It is a highly cognitively and emotionally demanding position that's often thankless (most management is not going to be empathetic or appreciative of all of the unpaid overtime you're going to put into just staying above water). You are salaried and are expected to put in as many hours as it takes to meet their standards, which are challenging for even the most efficient clinicians to keep up with working just the normal 8 hours.
The clientele is the biggest plus of this job. There's never a dull moment with them and each student/resident is so different from the next that you'll learn and use every skill a clinician needs.
Unfortunately, if you want to move up in the company, you will have to drink the Kool-aid of The Center and play the networking/popularity games--you're not going to move up the ranks based on your work ethic alone. 
I worked there 5 years and it was hard to go through all the big dreams and promises that the higher-ups make/allude to but never actually pan out. Feels a lot like gaslighting. While I was there clinicians got seniority-based Christmas bonuses my first year as well as a modest but decent pay hike. This was great except that it soon became clear based on the experiences of more senior clinicians that raises in the clinical department were quite rare and pay had remained stagnant for 7 years before that. All this despite ever-present promises of more pay hikes from the CEO at staff meetings. It also set us newer clinicians up for the expectation of Christmas bonuses every year which led to 4 more years of an ever more depressing Clark Griswold swimming pool situation. That is a really unkind thing to do--especially since it could have been prevented by them just making it clear that the Christmas bonus was a one-time surprise and not to count on it being a regular thing.
There's also this weird expectation/culture there that everyone should be grateful that they work at The Center and should be kissing feet because of it. The Center wants their employees to feel indebted to them. That's a huge reason why it's hard to feel appreciated for all of the back-breaking work and missed home life you'll sink into this place. 
Here's my advice: if you're a newer grad with no spouse/kids/dog, please apply here and enjoy the heck out of it as a starter job. Earn some  decent pay and learn a ton and get inspired. If you're someone with a family, think hard about your abilities--if you are on the highly-advanced end of the multi-tasking, organizational, and paperwork efficiency scale, and you're a go-getter to the point of being "a bit much", then consider this as a great long-term career option. You can really put down some good roots here if you enjoy a sip of Kool-aid now and again. If you have a family and you're just average at being efficient or even slightly above average, I wouldn't advise getting involved with The Center's clinical department. Trust me, it will eat you up and spit you out and then stomp on your corpse. 


The hardworking staff who work in the houses are the backbone of this place and yet management continually treats them like garbage. Management only cares about money and image. They masquerade as being the best across the state with nothing to show for it, it's all fluff. They overwork and underpay staff hence the high turnover rate, and the hardworking staff that choose to stay aren't valued at all. Also, the center's rules only apply when it's convenient to management. They'll say a new hire who's still on a red badge (no clearance) cannot do specific things like float to other houses, but if they really need the staff somewhere, they'll bend those rules. One day a rule exists, and the next day it doesn't -- all depends on what makes managements job easier. Many of the staff are compassionate and caring people who love the residents they care for and want whats best for the residents,
but higher ups make decisions based on money and not necessarily whats best for the resident. So residents can be surrounded by the most caring and loving people like staff and nurses who will advocate and fight for them, but talking to management is like pulling teeth. To all the higher ups especially the ones up tope, the residents are just a number. They make decisions that affect the lives of residents negatively without even bothering to come into the house or ask the people that work with them EVERYDAY for their two cents. 

Money and greed will be the death of this place. What a shame because there's so much potential. 

A typical day at work for me would me going in at three in the afternoon, getting the kids snacks together, then waiting for four o'clock meds. After meds, the other staff and I would take our five kids on walks and down to go feed the horses.(Depending on the day we might have to collect  and clean the chicken eggs.) After we got back up by their house, we would get dinner from the kitchen and the kids would go do yoga until dinner time. Dinner time would come and go then we would have some leisure time or a set activity for them to do to improve their motor skills. Showering and night snack would come after that then the kids usually go to bed. We would fill out their behavior forms, perform bed checks, and clean until our shift was over.
One thing I have learned working with autistic children is patience. You can not rush someone who might have a longer processing time than other people. Another thing I have learned is how good it feels to work at a rewarding job. 
I had great bosses and supervisors there; they are very much involved in how their employees are doing.
The hardest part of the job I would is when the boys would get into challenging behaviors. I was SCIP-R trained, which means I can safely restrain the resident without hurting them or myself. 
The most enjoyable part about the job was when the residents learned something new. It could be something so basic like putting their toothbrush in its holder but to them that is something big. They now independently can do one more thing on their own.

Try to find other work before coming to this agency.  It is a very stressful job, and it's not because of the residents. The management from the RA's to the Chief of Human Resources would make you not want to work here.  There's not much staff support as they claim. Speak to ten different staff from Program Educators to Day Hab Associates, and you will see there's a common culture.  There's no staff appreciation.  This place will do the bare minimum, anything besides pay people for their hard work. They always expect staff to be gracious for their "generosity" when they're benefitting the most. They treat all their staff like they're disposable and only want to keep them when they're mentally drained and tired of there. So, you're only worth keeping when they're done bullying you, and you snap. There are many other places to work besides TCFD. The residents make the job feel rewarding, but that feeling dies off within a few years, and it seems like as newer staff comes in, it dies down within a few months.  Please do your research before coming to this job.  Also, please keep in mind many companies fluff their reviews, so it doesn't look as bad.  They have a 3.5 review with fluff. For the sake of your mental health and self-worth, find somewhere else to work.

The individuals that you care for are wonderful but the management and sometimes the staff make your job hard. The management and higher-ups only care about the bottom line (money/budget). There is no real room for advancement, especially if you are a person who likes to think for themselves. The residences are always understaffed (and management will leave the residence KNOWING that they are understaffed) and the staff that are there are overworked. The good staff are treated poorly and the horrible staff are treated like gold. Nurses are given poor "annual"  (I worked there for over 3 years and never received a review) reviews because if they give us a good review then we won't have anything to work on. You get reprimanded if you ask your supervisors for assistance and reprimanded for not asking for enough assistance. You are told to stay out of residential staff problems and then get in trouble if you don't get involved. Raises are almost non existent... especially for work environment that you're in.

This job has been different than any job I've ever had before. The general culture of the programs is supportive and fun! There are so many people available to help you learn how to work with the kids, but you have to be willing to take advice and work as a partner with others. I see people sometimes struggle if they can't take feedback, or they are not able to be at work consistently because of outside issues that interfere. These kids need consistency and the staff depend on each other to be here- when one member of the team does not consistently show up to work or is not enthusiastic, it impacts the whole classroom. If you are excited about working with kids in a creative environment that is not at all a typical classroom setting, then you will thrive here! If you are just looking for a job, this is not the place for you. 

TCFD is an excellent place to work if you are only looking to work there for less than a year. There is no room to grow outside of college degrees and courses such as RBT that employees now must pay out of pocket for. They also go through loopholes to not give staff full (rare) raises. It is however very difficult to be fired from what I’ve seen, supervisors give MANY chances to unreliable staff. The $14 an hour is not a living wage, and even if you stay working past your set hours, you are not ever paid for them. The only reason why myself and many ex employees stayed there for so long is because work with the students/residents is very rewarding, and you make important connections with them. My campus has been understaffed for months and our students are struggling due to it. This causes a spike in behavioral situations that an understaffed campus can’t control without serious injury. 

I love working here! It is challenging and rewarding. The pay may not be the highest, but the benefits balance out, in my opinion and I believe that they are striving to increase hourly wages. There have already been 3 raises within the past 2-3? years from what I know. 

This place is for people who Love to serve others! No body is perfect - we are all human, but if you love to give back and feel like you have made a difference in someone's life, this is the place to be. You will undoubtedly get out of it what you put in! For me, personally, the bonds made with the students and adults - and co-workers are invaluable. I love my supervisors and believe that the CEO is sincere and generous. So, while some people may see negatives, just remember there are no perfect people or places in a world of humanity, but each one can make a difference in the lives of another. Attitude is definitely key! And you will come away weekly with your heart touched by someone there.

I enjoyed working with almost all of the residents during my time here. It was a good place to start until I advanced and realized that it is all about keeping things out of the light and as they like to say "living in the gray area." A clear as day policy applies to three different people three different ways. They hide some of the behavioral issues you face during your interview and orientation and you do not find out how bad it actually is until you are in the house working. They are constantly under staffed and working under their state minimums, leaving the people supported and staff in dangerous situations. I have personally experienced a staff being talked out of reporting an abuse allegation. This place does want to help the children they support, but do not like people shedding light on clear and reportable issues.

You will be in care for a group of residents with severe developmental disabilities. This is an emotionally exhaustive job, but if you have a personality which thrives on caring for others, you will find it enjoyable. You also complete required paperwork, help the residents with daily living skills, cleaning, chores, activities and are expected to be at work no matter the weather. Management could be better, as there is little supervision of staff during the shift and as a result many of the co-workers slack off and sometimes you end up doing their work on top of your own. The hardest part of the job is dealing with behaviors from the residents and dealing with co-workers when they do not work. The most enjoyable aspect of the job is knowing you are helping people who would otherwise be overlooked, and really learning from the residents.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Direct support professional 8 salaries reported	$20.13 per hour
Teaching assistant 4 salaries reported	$18.25 per hour
Teacher's aide 4 salaries reported	$16.50 per hour
Daycare teacher 1 salary reported	$19.00 per hour
Associate 3 salaries reported	$16.50 per hour

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