senior grant writer

grant writer

philanthropy manager

case manager

certified peer specialist

WISCONSIN COMMUNITY SERVICES, INC

I worked for WCS for many years. I often felt unappreciated in the work I did with clients and faced many ethical dilemmas while employed. I found the culture to be very judgemental of the clientele - many who were dealing  with very serious mental health and addiction problems. When I alerted management of these issues - they often made excuses or short term fixes. Many upper management staff have very little education and training of the extensive problems the clients faced and therefore programming suffered. The pay was minimal for the amount of work that was required however I enjoyed the sick and vacation benefits offered. Additionally, some of the staff (including management) appeared to have their own substance use problems and it was alarming that these individuals were in charged of some of the programming. Additionally, upper management never changed and promotions of qualified staff was very rare, even when there was obvious defiencies in current management. At the end of the day - WCS treats their staff as disposable! Turnover was extremely high while I was employed here and whenever I inquired why someone was leaving  - they disclosed due to management and ethics issues.

This job is great for those fresh in the field of case management, it provides many experiences that someone in the field of criminal justice can benefit from. Participants are usually ordered to report to the program by the court as a condition of bail while pending their case. This also means that most participants have some form of drug and alcohol dependency. Case managers will get a high load of experience by working here. 

However, the workload for case mangers is large and the management has trouble with communication between themselves, leading to confusion among the employees. How well your day goes depends on the mood of the management and that can change at the drop of a hat. A lot of responsibility is placed upon the case workers with no partner to help. 

Workplace culture is great, everyone gets along and is very nice. 

Hardest part of the job is collecting fees from participants who cannot afford it. I did not sign up to be a debt collector but its a huge part of the job due to lack of funding.

liked the client population. Wonderful supervisor and co-workers/teammates.  
 Very busy and hectic, are required to work beyond pay period, which ends at 4pm and on weekends without over-time pay. Supervisors try to accommodate, however upper management lack insight into how hectic and over-crowded the workdays are, and how nearly impossible it is for workers to keep-up with the required workloads. There is no work-life balance; employees are often stressed and over-exhausted. Incredibly low-pay for the amount of workload and degree requirements.   Only benefit are the employees, who really do try to work with one-another and create a good work-environment of support for one-another, especially since do not get this support from upper-management.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The organization does a good job if addressing many concerns within the community. They really m
ake a difference within the Milwaukee community. I love being part of a larger team that makes such a positive impact in my city.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
My feeling is that there will be a certain amount of stress in any position at any organization. I have no "most stressful part".

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment is clean with respectful and caring coworkers. The culture at the organization is inclusive friendly and richly diverse.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day would be fast paced and productive.

The position was for 3rd shift, 12 hours and 11 hours shifts. Making sure that clients follow rules of the facility. Giving clients their medications, urine tests, breathalyzer tests, and entering all information into the computers. Before 8;00 am making sure clients did assigned chores. I did room checks and rounds. Also paying close attention to clients making sure they were no violations regarding facility rules. I learned to listen closely, be watchful, and not do get upset with clients. I enjoyed entering the information into the computer, and giving out medications. The hardest part of the job was staying awoke all night long. My co-workers came in during the morning, and I would brief the counselor on what had happened during the night shift, I got alone well with staff.

A typical day at work involves checking phone calls and e-mails for Department of Corrections Agents and inter-office mail. Next, call clints down to address issues related to treatment plans. Then cognitive or AODA groups are faciillitated for ongoing treatment. Notes of client interactions are noted in Secure Managment database. The hardest part of the job is unsucessful re-entry with Department of Corrections clients. A current and very difficult part of the job is seeing funds cut from programs designed to assure positive re-entry into the community. The most ejoyable part of the job is observing clients emotionally embrace stages of change and begin to apply tools learned in the program for positive outcomes.

Instead of 10 clients you will have up to 23! You don’t get overtime .. the management is lazy and doesn’t protect their employees instead they listen to the clients who are in relapse with drugs/alcohol will write you up for anything/ everything possibly! So much gossip in the office you won’t want to go into the office to work.  Doesn’t matter if your the best /on top worker they don’t show appreciation at all . Don’t compensate no where near enough for the amount of work you deal with/ stress/ your own sobriety at risk . Mental health .. nothing . They say they care but they don’t they don’t train right they throw you out on your own the same week you start . It’s a lot of wear and tear on your own vehicle .

The program director and administrator for the program I worked for didn’t care about the residents at all. When safety concerns were brought up, or concerns about resident wellbeing were brought up, it was never addressed. Management was incompetent and rarely made their presence known when issues arose. They only cared about their own reputation. Training was non existent, you were expected to know everything from the beginning without any support. The work environment was very stressful and unsafe for not only staff but residents and others. I wouldn’t recommend working for WCS because they are unethical in their practices.

Where to begin? WCS has been going downhill for years. Upper management staff are unqualified, incompetent, and unsupportive - frankly, I have no idea why or how most of them were even hired. Employees are not treated equally and the favoritism is outrageous (which perhaps explains some of the poor hiring/promotional decisions). The pay and benefits are insulting, and case managers are constantly given more work without any recognition or appreciation for the long hours they put in. Constructive criticism is not tolerated, and employees who dare to verbalize their concerns are ignored or berated for being “too negative.” Suffice it to say, I did not enjoy my time at WCS.

Clientele are difficult but provide important work and moments of real satisfaction in helping improve lives.  Culture has degraded over two decades to a value system that supports secrecy over transparency, appearances over quality, public relations over content, and MONEY over people.  Worst of all, discrimination is rampant and good values are punished.  The mission statement has become worse than meaningless but a tragic, bitter joke.


Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Senior grant writer 12 salaries reported	$72,917 per year
Grant writer 1 salary reported	$50,000 per year
Philanthropy manager 8 salaries reported	$82,188 per year
Case manager 1 salary reported	$38,500 per year
Certified peer specialist 8 salaries reported	$21.04 per hour

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