Pros
This job gave me valuable experience working with children with behavioral issues and their families. If one is looking for more experience in the field of mental health, this would be a good route, but maybe working for a different agency. This position also gave me the opportunity to be creative with activities during shifts such as picking out different treatment-related arts and crafts, etc.
Cons
I was promised $15,000 yearly salary plus incentive of $20 per hour after reaching 30 billable hours per pay period. Due to lack of clients and absurd schedule (plus driving time and trainings which do not count as billable hours), I never met my billable expectation once during the 6 months of my employment with this company. Despite advocating for myself and informing my supervisor of my financial obligations that I was unable to meet, I was not given more clients or more hours in a reasonable amount of time. I do not feel as though I received adequate support in this position, and the methods of communication between BHP staff and clinicians was extremely poor (ie: I learned 15 minutes before my shift with a family that my client had been hospitalized nearly a week before and no one told me!) I was not satisfied with the amount of supervisor feedback regarding my performance, and only met with my supervisor once every month or less. Also, because this agency is NOT a non-profit organization, employees do not qualify for any student loan forgiveness programs.