direct support professional

registered behavior technician

social worker

intervention specialist

registered nurse

YAI - Seeing Beyond Disability

What is the best part of working at the company?
The team environment while working there was great. There were MANY training opportunities.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Meetings would never end on schedule, so it became difficult trying to schedule allotted time to other appointments because of the mandatory meetings not ending during set times. The leadership expected a great deal of dedication and loyalty, the work could not be completed by 5 ever! Approaching deadlines, you were never able to quite complete everything. Therefore, based upon prioritization were encouraged to ask for "additional time" to complete reports, notes, assessments etc. The final caveat is the note entry systems were horrendous. At times, you have to document a brief assessment in four various separate systems which can become tedious if it is only designed to be a 15–45-minute assessment. The pay is good but be cautious of burnout, even if you are a workaholic.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment overall is friendly and welcoming. The culture is what you would expect of a professional office. A slight annoyance is only leadership had assigned offices and everyone else had spaces available in a bullpen style, however, they were unassigned. The office space was clean and modern in appearance. There was a heavy emphasis on team culture and "we are in this together" sort of attitude. Everyone was relatively easy to get along with and genuinely likable people. Really, it did not feel like there were much company politics at play. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
7:00 Am Finish notes from the day before. 9:00 AM-11:00 Am Meetings and trainings. 11:00 AM-12:00 PM Report writing and revising. Take lunch 12:00-1:00 PM if in-office otherwise continue working at my desk. additional trainings clinical meetings 1:00-3:00 PM. Meet with clients directly from 4:30- 5:30 PM. Call it a day when home typically later in the night. Keep in mind the travel time inflates the time "spent" with an individual. For example, if they live an hour outside of Fresno, expect a minimum of two hours travel time and an hour or so of actual meeting time. Notice the hour and a hafl break between 3:00 and 4:30 pretty nice? Well an hour was spent drive time and the rest of the time is spent adjusting for a time cushion as to expect clinical meetings to go over time. So, if you're doing the math an ideal full schedule day is ten hours if you count the times in the morning staying updated on notes and additional drive time. Certainly, you can flex the time. The difficulty is you will have to prove it! The time tracking system makes it incredibly frustrating since you are trying to log all of your hours as they are being completed during the day. Alot of times things take longer than expected.

YAI is a great place to work in but after some time and changes (turn over rate is high), it gets tiring. Sometimes your coworkers are harder to work with than the people we support. I have left and came back, very hesitant in coming back to the same BS I walked away from. Ended up coming back to the same things. What I will say is that every place is different. And every shift is different. You have to get used to the unsteadiness and not having a constant group of coworkers each day. Sometimes you’ll have a partner to work those 8 hrs with you, other days you’ll have a body and run the shift yourself. It can be difficult for sure. Some times management is also in their own world they really don't take you into  account, your feelings, your time, and even your word (I have been questioned yet I have shown loyalty to this company). Also please don’t believe everything your supervisor tells you, I honestly suggest calling up HR or the up the call chain if you ever need to change locations, want to see if you can get a new position, or need to express some concerns. Don’t be afraid to speak up for yourself, people will walk all over you. I have been there and have been taken advantage of and become burnt out. Please SPEAK UP (nothing an email or conversation cant fix). Another thing I will add is the fulfillment you receive from helping the people we support. You will have some great times, build bonds, and laugh. Probably one of the hardest things about leaving, but you have to remind yourself that you have to move on and grow for yourself. As well as, these people have gotten used to the idea of people leaving, you leaving is not new to them no matter how much they care for you. It’s sad to say but it is true. All in all if you are looking into YAI, just tread lightly and give it some time. If you get an ounce of hesitation and feel you need to leave don’t wait just do. And please if you feel unsafe as a floater (usually your placed in different houses), if your in a house you know you cannot be in, you have the power to say NO and move on to the next house. 

I've worked for YAI for 4 years. It's a great stepping stone if you want to work in something related to Psych. But I graduated from nursing school and now i need to spread my wings. There are some employees that have worked as a DSP for longer than 5 years. Don't get stuck because this job doesn't pay that well especially living in an expensive city like NYC. Full-time is just 31k a year. And you will encounter some workers who are lazy and do not really give it their all. So sometimes i felt like I was trying too hard. Follow your dream and find something more financially stable, imo And working with the population can be challenging at some times. They might spit on you, bite you, or curse you out, try and hit you or throw something at you or just not follow instructions at all and you will have to repeat yourself multiple times. Even when you are trying to help them or when trying to deescalate a situation. That's why you need to have a lot of patience and be mentally strong to deal with it and go home like nothing happened and come back the next day to possibly deal with it all over again.  Full-time is salary based if you are working in a recreational program. So you get vacation, sick, and holiday hours where you can still get paid for not coming in. I would say the most enjoyable part of the job is  how much impact you can have in the people we support and how essential we are. If you are a good counselor who likes to teach and likes to work with people who have disabilities. This job is for you. But if you are a person with little patience and is just lazy to confront and deal with a situation and don't like writing on individual's progress with their goals. This job ain't for you.

I worked in group homes. 

This job requires the employee to do absolutely everything. When you initially start, it’ll seem great because of all of the trainings and how much the company emphasizes morals/ethics into work. The company puts a lot of effort into making sure their employees are well trained and prepared for work. 

A typical day at work is making sure the rooms in the house are clean, checking up on everyone and asking them how their day is, you might need to cook dinner for them or with the people with disabilities, you need to make sure you can multi task and be fast on your feet. Sometimes, you may need to go grocery shopping (because people don’t want to do it and want to make you do it because you’re new.), accompany people to appointments, accompany people to go shopping (clothes, items, etc). All in all, you’re solely there to ensure that everyone is safe and that their needs/wants are being met. 

The only issue is that management in most of these house are poor. The company’s mission statement clearly does not get translated over to managers. People do not know how to separate their personal feelings from their work. Therefore, higher ups tend to pick favorites and let you rot. They pick their favorites and recommend them into higher positions. If you give feedback and voice your concerns, it’s seen as snitching and that you’re complaining. You must suck up in order to move up. If you’re ok with all of this just to get paid minimum wage, then learn to keep your mouth shut. If you don’t see yourself being ok with this, then run far away. This is not an isolated situation, I have been to other group homes and have witnessed similar situations with higher ups and have witnessed immature people bad mouthing others on the job.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Pay and some opportunity to earn credentials. Although much less opportunity than most companies in the area.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Don’t work here if you want a stable and serious career. You’re treated like you’re dispensable, the leadership is lazy and not knowledgable, and the training is a disaster run by people who openly admit that they were just put in the role because no one else could do it. Almost no one I knew had longer than a couple years on except the actual directors, that includes experience outside the company too.

Clients can be very violent and staff are not at all trained or experienced enough to properly serve them. Often times untrained staff result to doing nothing at all or bullying clients. Leadership that knows better are not supported and leadership that don’t just sit around doing nothing. Basically par for the course when it comes to ABA private companies, don’t waste your time here if you want a serious job or genuinely care about the DD community.



What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Extremely toxic culture, bad training, leadership that only shows up to discipline and staff who are untrained and lazy. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Unorganized and highly dependent on the motivation of the staff running the shift. One day could be fantastic but another day would be horrible because there is no consistency. Every day it was a roll of the dice because leadership enforces no consistency, especially not enforcing actual work being done.

A typical day for me at YAI is handling the  morning responsibilties of the group home, which intells administrating medications, running assisted living goals, counsling, inventory, running medical appointments, scheduling appointments, working on special projects, interacting with vendors and physicians. 

During my course at YAI, I've learned to be a team player and that communication is key to any successful workplace/ personal relationship. 

I have built some great relationships with co-workers and its been very interesting to learn everybodys journey and what brought them to the company. It has been a great way to network and surround myself with people with different walks of life. To be able to brain storm on different projects and ideas in order to improve the "guys" lives is what really motivates people. 

  The hardest part of my job is the unknown, everyday is different and you never know what curveball is going to be thrown at you, at any given moment. Then again thats life.

The most enjoyable part of my job is the relationships I've establised with the guys ( consumers). Even though they have a disability it doesnt hender them from having personaility, humor and relatable circumstances. They are the main reason why I am here, and I look forward to seeing them every Monday morning, despite the fact that its Monday and everyone doesnt look forward to Monday. However they make it worth it. 

I am a current YAI staff who works for one of the NYL programs. The staffs there are absolutely friendly. However, the management team is the WORST because the Principal is apparently a micro-management that she does not give too much power to her management team, so everyone must listen to her. And since she is carrying so much power to "control" everyone, therefore, no one is willing to step out to say something (even the cleaning guy needs her permission to take a day off! If she okay it, you owed her a favor; if she is not signing the request, then you need to come to work no matter what happened including a request made the same day to leave early because you needed to take your mom to the doctor's but herself does not need to worry if she wants to go shopping, get her hair done or for a nail appointment). So the angers are everywhere now and it's so sad that there's just nothing the employees can do about it because if you ask HR a question they will still refer you back to her. This is not something I am making up to ruin her reputation (her bad reputation iis well-known), I am speaking for a huge amount of her 100 staffs, at least more than half of us think this way! But again, it's just too sad that none of us is brave enough to do something in this bad economy and well she is taking advantages on many of us. I thought God is always on my side, but this time I really don't know what to do. I will keep praying!!!

I've never written a company review, but this organization deserves the poor review I am writing.  I've never worked for a company that focuses more on how they can fire an employee (constantly looking for spies), as opposed to keeping them happy and on the job by just providing the basics.  I was the senior full time nurse at the facility and had only been working there one year.  Every nurse hired after me either quit or transferred to a per diem position, which has less responsibility.  The nurse management department is disorganized and immature.  They have no idea how to run a department smoothly which leaves the "people we support" at a disadvantage - there is never enough supplies, the residents are constantly running out of medication.  It is a 12 hour position and you will be overworked.   They don't advertise it, but you will work a Saturday at least 1-2 times a month.  My last day of work with the organization - I came in with the intention on working my schedule, but the disorganization that day was at an all time high which resulted in me quitting on the spot.  You are put in positions where you will feel like your license is at risk (I'd rather quit abruptly and walk away with a clean license).  I've never been happier to quit a job before in my life!!  Good luck to future nursing applicants.  Per diem is the only way to go at YAI (the benefits are horrible anyway - no vacation time until you've been there a year; bottom line insurance, bottom line 403b).

For over six years, I have grown tremendously due to being an employer at YAI/NIPD.  The individuals you meet become your family and as a worker, you provide excellent care everyday so they can live happily.  A typical day at work would be walking into the residence and embracing a warm-felt aura from staff and the clients.  Everyone at the program communicates and works well with one another.  I work at a fast yet detailed pace making sure I meet every aspect of my duties before I leave.  I help with daily living skills such as personal hygiene, dispersing medicine, humor to keep the clients amused, meal preparation, toileting, documentation for daily goals and BM charts, tidiness in the home, being a team player and considerate to my colleagues so that everyone remains confident with what they are doing and just always smiling and being bubbly.  Management is decent because the supervisors are easy to approach and will listen to anything you have to say to provide support.  What I've learned over the years would definitely be patience and being a leader.   I don't consider my position "hard" because if you're able to create a comfortable atmosphere with communication, things will run smooth.  I do enjoy my job because once again I try to make everyone smile and laugh.

Your typical day at work will vary depending on the day. Typically there’s clinical supervision once a week for 2 hours, one hour weekly individual supervision, and morning triage. Every morning at 9:00 am everyone meets for triage and to discuss any previous crisis calls after 9:15/9:30am. From about 9:30-12:00pm I would work on documentation from the previous day whether that’s clinical notes or data entry. I’ll take my hour lunch and after 1pm see clients out in the community. I learned more about the mental health factors that impact an individual with IDD and developed skills focus on crisis mitigation, facilitation skills, and conflict resolution techniques. Management in the office is helpful, but outside the office could be difficult to connect with. The workplace culture is very positive and everyone really focuses on team work. The hardest part of the job is being on call, but the perks outweigh the cons because I enjoy being able to flex that time off. The most enjoyable part of the job is being a part of the change and knowing I’m helping decrease the utilization of emergency services. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Direct support professional 626 salaries reported	$18.39 per hour
Registered behavior technician 231 salaries reported	$26.29 per hour
Social worker 41 salaries reported	$73,585 per year
Intervention specialist 17 salaries reported	$22.89 per hour
Registered nurse 51 salaries reported	$63.83 per hour

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