Pros
I worked in the residential program of the organization and the biggest positive I experienced during my time with the company was the camaraderie and relationships I built with my colleagues. There is... or was a strong sense of community on the residential campus/HEC programs when I initially started working for the organization but with the addition of the new CEO and the adoption of a more corporate business model, that sense of community disappeared. The clients that we serve are foster youth, many of which are SED and or have a variety of mental health issues. The children can be challenging and some of the kids are tough to work with, but the direct care workers do a great job in providing the best care possible under the circumstances. A couple of times a year an employee appreciation breakfast is held to give thanks to all of the hardworking staff that make hillsides what it is. Rather than give any sort of substantial pay raises, staff are bought off with some ham sandwiches.
Cons
Regardless of what your job title is, if you are employed in residential/HEC programs of the organization you will be overworked, underpaid, undervalued, and taken advantage of in one way or another. The current CEO and administrators are transitioning Hillsides into a corporate model of operation where everything comes down to dollars and cents. Clients and staff are numbers on a spreadsheet where the ultimate goal is to cut cost and maximize profits. Profits go to the CEO and other top administrators in the form of bonuses ($4,000 - $10,000) and yearly pay raises of up to $10,000 - $30,000 dollars. In comparison, cottage Staff with a BA/BS start off at $13 and each year, you will have a performance review where you will get a 2-3% raise. The 3% raise is reserved for the especially hard working or brown nosing staff. That 3% is not a given, even for the best, most dedicated staff. The pay scale for line staff looks like this: Cottage Staff: $13.00 x .03 = 0.36 pay raise (Roughly $25,650 a year) Individual Rehab: $15.00 x .03 = 0.45 pay raise (Roughly $29,000 a year) The atmosphere that existed on the main campus before I left the organization in 2015 was one of fear, (layoffs and staff cuts became a common occurrence, as we were told the organization was having issues with funding) as people were never really sure if their position was on the chopping block or not. Huge disconnection between staff and administration. The higher up the food chain you go, the more the disconnection becomes apparent. A handful of administrators meet up and make decisions on the make-up of the organization with zero to no input from the staff/children/families... the people that will be most effected by these policy decisions. Much of these decisions once again, center around a spreadsheet that is tabulating cost/benefits in the monetary sense rather than the human sense. The administrators are excellent in packaging their messages/ and or deflecting questions regarding their decisions in corporate/bureaucratic mumbo jumbo, essentially the words they use to communicate with staff are meant to confuse, intimidate, and obfuscate enough to insure everyone falls in line with the program. For instance, buzz words like "transparent" are thrown around from time to time but little action towards making the organization more transparent actually take place. The company provides no top - bottom pay scale, decisions are made in a vacuum with little employee input, even when they will be the ones most effected by these decisions. I would suggest Hillsides as a good starter job especially for those coming out of college, or those that are planning on becoming therapist. You can learn a lot here, both good and bad. I would advise most people to stay no more than 2 years. Get the experience and get out. It can be tough to leave because of the relationships you will build with staff and kids but nearly everyone I know that has left has moved on to bigger and better things. If you move into the administration side of things, and begin the move up the food chain, you will get the pay, power, and prestige (lovely job titles) but you will have to buy into the company line of treating employees and kids as objects rather than people. If you enjoy this sort of manipulation you will have a bright future at this company!