direct support professional

teaching assistant

residential specialist

case manager

behavioral specialist

The Groden Network

This was a very disappointing internship experience, especially for social work students seeking meaningful, hands-on learning opportunities. I would strongly recommend looking elsewhere. At most, this placement may be a difficult fit for MSW students, but for bachelor’s-level interns, I would advise avoiding it entirely.

My responsibilities primarily consisted of sitting idle and completing my own schoolwork rather than gaining real experience with clients or developing professional skills. There was little to no supervision, as my assigned supervisor was frequently not present in the office and rarely provided guidance or structured tasks. Because of this, I often had nothing to do and would occasionally leave early due to the lack of engagement and direction.

The few tasks I was assigned were not relevant to social work practice, including cleaning out offices, counting holiday donations, and fixing over 100 business cards with incorrect information. Despite this, I later received a negative evaluation claiming I lacked initiative and professionalism. I was also criticized for my attire, which felt inconsistent given that other staff members dressed very casually.

After raising concerns with my practicum professor about the lack of learning opportunities, the environment became increasingly uncomfortable. I was questioned about whether I wanted to be there, and several months into the internship, I was told it was not an appropriate placement for a bachelor’s-level student. Ultimately, the organization informed the school that they could no longer support interns, which forced both myself and another intern to find new placements mid-semester. She also stated that she would not consider me for a future position with my BSW, even if an opportunity became available, and included negative remarks about my performance in my final evaluation.

Overall, this experience lacked the supervision, professionalism, and educational value expected from a social work internship and did not provide a supportive learning environment.


Observe clients in their home environment, analyze existing data and conduct preference assessments to increase client success. Model implementation of behavior programs/strategies in the home environment. Facilitate data collection with educational teams to monitor client progress and also give shift reports on status of residents. Collaborates with educational team to develop behavior intervention plans for clients experiencing behavioral concerns in the home environment. Provide follow up consultation to analyze success of behavior plans and assist with modifications as needed. Facilitate transitions to provide support, modifications and adaptations to support success. Provide educational training to parents on behavior modification techniques. Establish relationships with parents to provide information and support for client transitions to the least restrictive environment. Passes medications and gives treatments according to physicians’ orders and in accordance with facility policy.  Responsible for notifying charge nurse of medications needing to be refilled as well as calling in medications to the pharmacist. Assures personal and staff compliance to residents’ rights.  Responsible for maintaining a clean and organized medication cart and medication room. Assist residents with personal hygiene tasks, and other activities of daily living .Assist with psychosocial groups and or Activities.  Monitors personal and staff compliance to all State and federal requirements including but not limited to blood borne pathogens, hazardous materials, infection control, and fire safety. Engage in activities such as baseball, soccer, bike riding kickball, relaxing at the park and several other outdoor sports.

I currently work for the Groden Center day program and have been here for about two and a half years now. I started as an intern who didn't want to be in this field of work until I started! The direct care staff are amazing and always willing to lend you a hand or answer any questions if needed. Everyone is pretty laid back and understanding of life outside of work, so if you need time off you'll get it with no judgement. Management has gotten better over the years and treat you like an actual person other than just an employee. There's fives weeks of paid vacations that are spread out through the year, which will be convenient with my son's school schedule. The benefits are amazing and I can actually afford to go to the doctor's office when I'm sick. I enjoy working here because I feel that I am making a difference in the student's lives and being in an environment where I am respected and treated equal. I would recommend anyone who wants to work in the healthcare/childcare to start at the Groden Center

I started in there preschool program, which was fantastic because it was separate from the schools. I moved to the school in Providence because the preschool program closed. Everything went downhill after I moved up to the school 4 years ago. It's not a nice place to work anymore. The pay is horrible for the amount of stress and work that I encounter everyday. I only stayed to get through grad school. I am now moving on. Some staff are great but some staff are horrible. I believe they wont fire these horrible staff because they can find anyone to replace them because of the horrible pay. Management was horrible during Covid-19. I was sent to work in  group homes and there was no support during tough times. I have expressed my concerns over the years and I felt my opinion didn't matter. This is only a good job if you need experience during college and if you live at home with no bills.  By the way, the hourly wage I listed is with a master degree. Pay is based on education, which means with a BA you will start with 12.00 an hour.

Working as a behavioral therapist isn't the easiest job, so there will be emotionally and physically tiring days sometimes. But it's worth it, the kids are worth it and so sweet. My position consisted of traveling to clients' homes. Personally, most of the supervisors were very supportive, helpful, and understanding. The most enjoyable part was seeing the children progress in their therapy, the hardest part was the need to be neutral in all acts of unwanted behavior and not reacting (though this gets easier, and it depends on situation). The other hard part was that there was sometimes inconsistency among the supervisors and/or the other therapists you worked with in homes. But this could be dealt with. Overall, it is a good place to work, with lots of support, that teaches you how to think creatively on your feet and work with all sorts of co-workers, parents, and children.

As a special education teacher you are on Ratio working with students every day. It was challenging to find time to get paperwork and essential duties done.

School is very short staffed due to low pay for direct care/treatment staff. High turnover and low quality subs make it difficult to maintain a high quality of services to the students. Management does not seem to care particularly about the general well being of staff and students. Client safety and staff safety is a low priority.

Clinical supervisors do the best they can, but upper management does not listen and does not want to listen to staff on ways to make company better. 

Very few opportunities for advancement, even with advanced degrees.

The rank and file care deeply about the stated mission and strive to deliver quality services and care. It is unfortunate that many on the management team fail to match this enthusiam. The clients are wonderful to work with, although they present challenging needs.  
     At times Groden can feel like a rudderless ship. The Board of Directors seems to stifle change of any kind, even if that change translates to improvements. The workplace culture is not positive. In my experience there are disorganized processes, with lIttle strategic planning in place. This results in operating in constant reactive mode. I don't recommend working there if you care about career development or want to contribute to the advancement of the Groden mission statement.

Worked for the company for about 7 years. I enjoyed helping clients and working with some staff. If you love working with individuals with special needs then you will love it. The pay isn't the greatest but you can get so much overtime at the day programs and group homes. The benefits and ETO is great as well. 
Not sure if things have changed but years ago management wasn't the best. Some cover each other at all times. There have been many investigations where staff have physically abused the clients. REALLY BAD! Management covered them. Nothing was ever done. They say you are mandated to speak up but when you do YOU are held accountable as if you were the one abusing the clients. They don't want the state involved. 
I had enough and decided to leave the company completely. 

A typical day at work was supervising staff and residents, paperwork,trainings,answering emails,directing staff,scheduling,trouble shooting,documentation of all activities of the day,redirecting residents,teaching daily living skills,communicating with other residential managers,staff,supervisors,and schools. The staff was great they always willing to assist for any needs of the residents and scheduling issues. Most enjoyable part of the job was making an impact in the lives of the residents and developing good working relationships with the staff. The hardest part of the job was at times it was a very stressful and difficult to maintain all the residents,staff from the house and staff from the other house with all their needs.

Stay away. It's toxic. They wrote people up frequently without verbal warnings. Lots of new outside management in the past year. Inside people are resentful of this and not helpful.  It is emoyment at will with no contract to keep people on.  No parking spaces until they have someone leave. Only 27 spots for around 45 people. Parking on the street in Providence after they plow single lanes in the roads is dangerous. They offered N95 masks but then said only if you ask and they don't think it's necessary. Lots of staff and students getting Covid recently but there is no more Covid time just use up your own sick time. They have mandatory self testing weekly there. They get results in two days. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Direct support professional 5 salaries reported	$17.13 per hour
Teaching assistant 2 salaries reported	$16.65 per hour
Residential specialist 1 salary reported	$17.33 per hour
Case manager 1 salary reported	$18.00 per hour
Behavioral specialist 1 salary reported	$17.33 per hour

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