Pros
Working at Avalon has been very beneficial to add for experiences, especially when it comes to pursuing career in social work, psychology & other related human field. I was lucky enough to have great coworkers to get through the shift, but working as a Direct Care is demanding. It was fun to work most of the time, especially when there are free perks, like going to the movies, fun parks & etc. Free food on shift.
Cons
Employees are underpaid for the service they offer. Direct Care handles a LOT of mental health issues that aren't posted on the job description. Most of the time, therapists can help, but other than that, you're basically on your own, especially on weekends since no other professional staff is working. The adolescents home can be challenging especially when it comes to restraining some kid when they run away or self-harm. The adult unit was also very demanding, especially with the set of clients who are vocally aggressive towards staff and entitled to their status. Clients deserve better treatment, which can be tricky because of the high turn-over rate for direct care staff. This makes the new-hires feel pressured to catch up on every client's needs, besides guiding them to a recovery from eating disorder. This place doesn't give direct care staff enough training to handle mental health, which is very concerning. On top of that, they schedule staff to work back-to-back shifts which makes the staff very tired & burn out. Shifts are supposed to be from 6am-2pm,2pm-10pm or 10pm-6am. But that's not always the case.