school principal

substitute teacher

behavioral specialist

cook

center head

Upbring

Working at New Life is great whether are you first entering the field or a veteran of social services. The number one overall trait is compassion followed closely by the more practical skill of multitasking. This is not a job for people who are easily offended because we work with troubled youth with, many times, severe behavioral / emotional / psychological problems stemming from past trauma or events that have negatively impacted every facet of their lives. The management does not live in the housing facilities because they are swamped with bureaucracy from a failing system enforcing many impractical, wasteful regulations. This is why other reviews make statements such as "management is out of touch". If they are, you can blame the state, not the people working in those positions. Workplace culture is really good considering the amount of stress and responsibility placed on folks at every level. Despite the weight they carry, 95% of the staff know how to laugh, support each other, and build camaraderie with their co-workers. The most enjoyable parts of the job are connecting or making real breakthroughs with a youth and a youth successfully completing the program (with New Life exceeding the normal rates for the state) and the camaraderie between staff. In the end, Upbring - New Life does really good work with the kids considering the deep wells of bureaucracy and regulations imposed on the program (and every program) by the state. 

I really enjoyed working with this population. The kids are great, respectful and very appreciative of anything and everything. You can learn a lot from working with this population. Some shifts have limited to no interaction with the residents while other shifts are able to engage more due to activity levels and resident daily schedule. 
Pay is good for the job description and good benefits/great dental. 
Management however is clueless and lack pro-activeness; does not have a sense of urgency to provide residents with much needed basic necessities. For example, inventory is done every week but may take minimum 10 days to get inventory and/or replacement items. Management does not "deny" calls but are very passive about informing residents of calls pending. Would be IDEAL place to work if management would increase professionalism, pro-activeness and empathy toward population served. Most of the time direct supervisors are indifferent to children's situations. Hardest part of the job is doing your job to advocate for children and being met with indifference and at times unprofessional demeanor by direct supervisors (shift supervisors). I have not been yelled at but some of my peers have. 
The Worst part was shelter never did anything about the caterer that brought food. Problem was hair in food, ants/flies in food, raw chicken and most of the time the milk was spoiled, juice was questionable and containers had mold and smelled like fish.

Typical Day: As a case manager, you are required to reunite unaccompanied minors from South America with family or friends in the United States. Must be bilingual. Most of your time is spent on the phone. 

Management: Favoritism plays a big role; be careful whom you trust and confide in. But not just here, everywhere. 

Hardest Part of the job: High levels of anxiety if you're a sensitive person. High levels of stress, low work morale, gossip and a lot of attempts to get you in trouble with the program director and HR happen a lot. People from the corporate office in Austin visited bokenkamp many times for many complaints of workplace bullying and gossip, but nothing was ever done. There is a high turn over rate among case managers and clinicians, wonder why.  

What I learned: Trust no one. Everyone is in it for themselves. Also be grateful for what you have, a home, family, a car, ect. These children travel with no family in an attempt to find family in the US.  

Workplace Culture: There were attempts to increase the morale, but sour apples tended to ruin everyone's good time. 

Enjoyable Part of the job: Seeing minors reunited with families in person and leaving at the end of the day. 

Move on if you can. Don't cause yourself illness just because you need the job. I learned that the hard way.

Its a great population to work with, some of these kids truly deserve a chance to be in the United States.

 However, while no job is perfect nothing drains employees motivation and crushes morale like bad management.

Poor to non-existent opportunities for grow. Management will post new jobs on the wall, will interview you,  but refuse to hire from within. 

I recommend management to provide support for employees when it's genuinely needed. 

During daily transition meetings management talk to employees in a very threatening matter when addressing concerns or issues regarding residents; your staff are not the bad guys. 

Advice to management and director, a hello to  employees in the hallways goes a long way. 

Know you will  be on call, work  weekends, major holidays including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year.  Also, supervisors will call you to come in on your days off and even vacation. 
You are also to attend mandatory trainings especially on your days off. 

The shelter is chronically understaffed for long periods of time due to high turnover resulting in one or two 12 hours shifts a week.  
At times one has to wait long periods of time to get a bathroom break.

Human Resources is unorganized and asks for personal documents over and over.

Cumbersome paperwork and reporting requirements serve the bloated bureaucracy and status quo, not the children. State regulation and investigations do NOTHING to improve quality of care. State investigators go through the motions and beat up on local leadership, but nothing ever changes. It is not possible to adequately serve the needs of at-risk children and satisfy state requirements; these are mutually exclusive concepts. A strong, well-functioning organization with strong leadership could not accomplish this. Having said that, this organization is hobbled with poor leadership at every level, specifically at the strategic level where there is little engagement, other than to demand sacrifice of care on the altar of funding. Everyone, including leadership and state officials, need to be honest about what's going on: This is a warehouse operation that serves the needs of the state as cheaply as possible. CPS pretends they're sending children to a "treatment center" and the treatment center pretends to provide adequate care. If you sent a healthy, well-adjusted youth to this center, they would develop severe mental disturbance in a matter of weeks; the environment is that toxic.

The job is rewarding by being able to build connections with the families and children in the classroom. The benefits are great in my opinion, we are off all major holiday's and are paid from day one of employment instead of having to wait a certain amount of time before getting holiday pay. However, I feel like the compensation is not based on experience, qualifications, and credentials and could be a lot better. The company also needs to understand that a COLA adjustment is NOT a raise, that is something Office of Head Start said the company HAD to give us to KEEP their grant. Annual raises should be given to employees that meet or exceeded expectations... 60 cents would really help each year.

Unfortunately since there are several people above the director's position, it is harder and takes a lot longer to get "rid" of "toxic/drama starting" employees that 'brings down" the working environment. The main focus should be the children and families. 

I do however enjoy working for this company and what they stand for, just a few things that I wish could be tweaked


The only good thing I can say about this job is that it was a rewarding job working with the boys and learning about their culture and life back home. The pay is excellent for being a overpriced "babysitter" the cons of working at this job is if you are opinionated or speak about how you feel, even after your asked to you will have a target on your back. There is WAY too much gossiping between supervisors and staff. This distracts us from our job, a which is to take care of the children. Not act like we are in high school again. We are constantly belittled by our upper management to the point where you couldn't talk or write or do anything because they nitpick every little thing you do. The rules were always constantly being changed and threatened with write ups if we didn't follow the rules. Some supervisors would ignore the kids and the staff when serious things would happen and then the staff would get in trouble and the supervisor would throw us under the bus and we would take the blame. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
I get satisfaction from knowing resident leaves, healthier physically, mentally. Knowing I play even a small part in encouraging residents to live up to their potential. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Administration  does not support management in learning and becoming better at their jobs.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Stressful, departments don't always support one another

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Arrive before 8am, ensure requests and  insurance cards ready for appointment. Follow up with team i supervise to ensure assignments completed in timely manner. Schedule appointments, order medications. Input information for various sites, count medications, count vaccines. Prepare for doctor visits, ensure files are in order. Vaccinate as per schedule, order vaccines as needed. Send reports to state for vaccines. Monitor/document temperatures for refrigerator and freezer.....

An incredibly rewarding experience. The organization fosters a supportive and collaborative environment, where clinical expertise is valued and encouraged. As a Lead Clinician, I’ve had the opportunity to guide a dedicated team of professionals, ensuring high standards of care and continuous professional development. Leadership here is approachable and responsive, promoting innovation and patient-centered care. The role has allowed me to grow not only in clinical practice but also in leadership and administrative skills. The emphasis on staff well-being and open communication has made a significant difference in job satisfaction. I’ve been especially impressed by the company’s commitment to evidence-based practices and holistic treatment approaches. Overall, this position has been both professionally and personally fulfilling. I highly recommend it to any clinician looking for a dynamic, supportive workplace where their contributions truly make a difference in the lives of patients and colleagues alike

Working at Upbring is not always easy, but it's rewarding and you are making a difference.

We are a family who are all working towards breaking the cycle of child abuse. Some people are in support of those on the front line and the others are where the rubber meets the road. All of these people are heroes in my book because their contributing to the mission in their own way.

Some positions offer flexibility to work remote and others don't because they are more involved with the children. You have to find what works best for you.

There is a lot of focus on building the culture and developing the workforce. Together everyone contributes to making this a fun and rewarding place to work. Pay could be better for some of the positions, but in a world where some jobs are just a job, Upbring truly offers it's team a career.

I really enjoy my job and those that I work with.  I would encourage everyone to see for yourself what is going on at Upbring and not let any negative reviews steer them in a different direction. 


Top Job Titles	Average Salary
School principal 20 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour
Substitute teacher 25 salaries reported	$12.28 per hour
Behavioral specialist 26 salaries reported	$14.04 per hour
Cook 20 salaries reported	$12.01 per hour
Center head 11 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour

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