Are you Feeling unappreciated? Are you in an abusive relationship or better yet do you want to get paid to be in one and the only praise you’ll receive at the end of the day is a “high 5,” or “good job,” literally. Not enticing enough? How about working for a company where wage increases don’t exist and are instead replaced by pats on the back. This can be neatly coupled with poor schedules, client cancellations, insulting cancellation policies hidden under the guise of acceptable employee compensation. Most of this diatribe is attributed from perspective of the lowly position of Behavioral interventionist or former.
If you are looking for a full time position don't bother. You will be severely disappointed. The company cant guarantee the hours, because of client cancellations, services get terminated by either the company or the client themselves without notice. Most importantly, this is assuming that scheduling can even find you a client that is within driving distance. Most hrs will come from school cases which means you are on a school yr schedule. You will not be working for 4 months out of the yr. So if you don't have money concerns then by all means. If a school client is absent you can cover for other clients if available, but that is assuming the time and distance is worth it which most of the time is not. But that's ok, you can make up those precious hrs with a brilliant cancellation policy where you can work in the office for 2 hrs at minimum wage to make up for 1 hr of your actual pay. You can also go long periods without clients as well and I am talking months. I for one have taken clients well out of my driving range and most of the time taking at least an hr to get to, because that's all they could find me. Oh and did I mention you can get pulled off a case because of accusations from the client. Well you can and boy does it happen fast. Most of the time its because the client doesn't like you and they conjure up this little scheme to get you booted. Nobody likes a lawsuit so of course management obliges the client and your screwed for hours again. Be wary, because holding a Behavioral interventionist position means you're a victim of circumstance. Don't fret, if you file for unemployment because hrs are lacking, then grab a beer because ICT wont admit they suck and wont confirm your grief. They'd rather have you wallow in hardship while plotting their next money grab.
Don't bother asking for a raise either, I have known many hardened veterans in the field and most have never gotten a raise in years. So its pretty much unfair for anybody who starts out at base pay and put in the time, the hours and the dedication only to find out a new employee gets more because of their DOE. If you ask for a raise you will be ignored, neglected or shunned. Not in that order, the only way you will receive one is if you threaten to leave the company ,but before that make sure you have mastered the art of the ICT behavioral interventionist handbook (sarcasm) and fabricated a sense of dignity amongst your fellow supervisors so they can vouch for your outstanding abilities as a BI. Even then its a toss up. ICT prides itself on constantly spewing out nonsense about how rigorous the hiring process is or how much training the clinical team has or how it surpasses state law and guidelines blah blah blah which is true. BUT if that’s the case than why not pay your grunt workers (BI) more money and have an acceptable living wage that matches the amount of training and experience with the company. Why not focus on your core employees who have stuck it out with the company through thick and thin? They cant give wage increases but they sure as hell expand the company throughout California without delay.
All in all the turn over rate for BI's is a joke. Lets break it down shall we.If you’re starting from the BI position, good luck! There is no room for gray areas. You will either receive easy to work with clients or extremely difficult ones where your emotional sanity will be tested many times over. Physical aggression can range from hitting, biting, kicking, slapping, punching, spitting, throwing nonlethal/ lethal objects at staff or yourself, or clients running away from you. When working in home settings it can be the same with the parents. They’re either a pain or super supportive. If it’s a school client the internal politics are worse since you're abiding by Los Angeles unified school district rules which means limiting your control of the client and the environment. For ex. If a client loses his mind and tantrums and decides to destroy a room then you let him as long as he doesn't "hurt "anybody.. If this sounds like favorable working conditions then I praise you for your big heart. There are far better companies and this one is mediocre at best.
