behavioral specialist

mental health therapist

administrative assistant

licensed clinical social worker

presenter

Western Youth Services

The position requires juggling multiple tasks, with a lack of training and support from the management. Most of the assignments are tedious and can be streamlined, yet no one cares enough to actually better the systems.  The work is divided unequally amongst the administrative assistants, so you'll experience high levels of stress towards the beginning and end of each month. 
Management won't provide much assistance, and will foster an unhealthy, hostile environment by constantly gossiping about co-workers. This creates tension amongst the staff and can be bad for your mental health. 
Overall, if you are looking for administrative experience, I would highly recommend finding a job elsewhere. There are so many other companies that will actually encourage growth and provide a livable wage.

Everyone works together and hard to help the clients with whatever they need. Staff is committed to helping these children succeed and recover. Families are very sweet and appreciative for everything we do for their kids. It is a place of healing and lots of love. Best company to work for. Management is amazing. they worth together for the well being of the client and the staff. They are super supportive to the staff and client. Staff was very close to each other and the clients.

Western Youth Services provide excellent training in the are of developing practicum students in learning a marketable skill in case conceptualization, assessment and documentation in compliance with state and county regulations.  Clinicians are trained in Evidenced Based Treatments and have opportunities to utilize those modalities with their clients.  Western Youth Services is often sought by practicum students that want to work with children and families and is also APPIC accredited for Doctoral students as well.

It is challenging to work for community mental health, but WYS made the experience fun and rewarding. Paperwork was difficult and very time consuming, but you learn how to document the right way. The only qualm I have is that they cater to bilingual clinicians in the hiring process. They are consistently only looking for therapists who speak Spanish and Vietnamese, which leaves out opportunity for those who don't speak those languages.  

I got a job as a temporary clinician filling in for someone who had left on maternity leave. It became very clear that as others left, my temp position might be extended indefinitely, I was never going to be offered a permanent position, as I did not speak Spanish. The work culture was a little strange - although I was able to make some friends, there was a Mean Girls clique who made things very uncomfortable for me, and so I was glad to find permanent employment elsewhere and leave. That being said, the managers were all extremely friendly and supportive!

Days at work vary depending on the needs of your clientele.  You don't get to choose your work hours or schedule. You're expected to be available whenever your clients can be seen. Lots of great learning and training opportunities. Workplace culture is the most enjoyable part of this job. Very supportive coworkers. Hardest part of the job is dealing with management and the never-ending changes to your job responsibilities.

Overall, it was a good time working with children from the community. But the management was very unsupportive and there were many misconceptions throughout my employment. They expected one to do tasks without being trained how to do them. The agency needs to be more considerate to employees and properly train them. It is unfair for one to feel as if they are blind with their work tasks. I would not recommend this workplace for further growth and development. 

WYS is a great place to acquire training in diverse treatment modalities such as FFT, TF-CBT, etc. Clinicians have high caseloads, which can be difficult to manage when working with multiple high risk patients as well as completing documentation in a timely manner. It is important to be great at time management in order to be able to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Due to the high case loads, you'll acquire the hours needed for licensure within a short period of time. 

A typical day at work is seeing 4-5 clients per day with the exception of no shows along with supervisions, meetings, and notes in between. Most enjoyable part of the job is having supportive coworkers and team bonding. Most hardest part is having 25 clients and meeting productivity. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Working with the children.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Getting referrals and training.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
I worked in schools and did not work in an office.  I traveled to different schools and worked alone.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Traveling to a school or multiple schools during a day.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Behavioral specialist 3 salaries reported	$24.60 per hour
Mental health therapist 9 salaries reported	$74,631 per year
Administrative assistant 7 salaries reported	$20.51 per hour
Licensed clinical social worker 4 salaries reported	$101,067 per year
Presenter 5 salaries reported	$25.01 per hour

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