Devereux Foundation Reviews

I worked at Devereux Foundation as an intern

Pros – Really cares about employees, HR really goes out of their way to show employee appreciation, the culture of the company is caring and supportive with a community feel to it, lots of opportunities to grow as a professional, great value and mission

Cons – Dress code is a little strict

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Devereux Foundation full-time for more than a year

Pros – Working with kids one on one.

Cons – Low pay and poor management

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to what your employees are telling you. You put us on the front line, trust us.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Devereux Foundation full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – When you need a job quickly this is the place. Turnover is extremely high
You can get hours from 7-3p, 3p-11, and overniight. All shifts are availabe.

Cons – The youth run the show. They have no accountability for their actions
Direct Care Professionals are either fired or they quit. No one lasts as a DCP.
Management does not support you.
Lots of Cameras and unreasonable restraint techniques which leads to termination

Advice to Senior Management – Join in and help someone. Your total disregard for the position of a DCP is evident when you are never on the floor to lead by example. Then you hold your $10.00 per hour DCP to a standard that is impossible for them to meet. This leads to burnout and staff and clients getting hurt. The inconsistency with the staff truly only damages the clients. They need consistency in the staff they encounter.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Devereux Foundation full-time for more than a year

Pros – exposure to clientele
concern for children
national company

Cons – management could be more of a support

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Devereux Foundation full-time for more than a year

Pros – Flexible shifts, nice area to work in, clients are easy going

Cons – The company has lost its mission statement in greed of money. They refuse to pay the DSP staff a fair wage starting off an educated person with four year degrees at $10.50 an hour. This low pay makes DSP not take their job seriously as they expect staff to not only worry about clients hygiene, counseling,cleaning of area, and structure activity curriculum. The company is all about the quantity of staff they can get to cover shifts and don't care about quality.

Advice to Senior Management – Restructure the whole program starting with the day program and moving to the dorms.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Devereux Foundation full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Through promotions, eventually was led by a supervisor who had my back and supported me.
Potential for growth
Working with clients can be rewarding

Cons – No raises for the past 4 years

Advice to Senior Management – Communicate and value your employees more

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Devereux Foundation full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Love staff I work with. We are a team and care about the kids.

Cons – No raises, low pay, we bend over backwards and are not treated as valuable by principal. Not even a Christmas greeting. Lots of internal upheaval to keep our school going. In lieu of low pay and us going the extra mile to turn 2 schools into one, the admin is all take and no give back.

Advice to Senior Management – Get rid of some of the upper management and pay the little people who really keep things running. Some of thee management is not needed.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Devereux Foundation part-time for more than 3 years

Pros – flexible schedule, rewarding work, Close knit team environment

Cons – low pay, lack of advancement opportunities, lack of resources/ support

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Devereux Foundation full-time for less than a year

Pros – Hard working co-workers and supervisors, who will help as best as they can
Co-workers and supervisors are understanding and know the difficulties of the job
Nature of the work (Helping children)

Cons – Overtime pay - Look up 'Fluctuating work week'. Basically, you are paid less than 7 dollars per hour of overtime, on average. The formula is: ( [Regular hourly pay] x [40] )/ [Total hours worked] / [2] = [Pay per hour of overtime]
Long and lots of hours (most people work 50+ hours a week)
Unstable work environment - In the last 8 months, Devereux in Hillsborough lost their director, an operations manager, three supervisors, and 15+ case managers, half of them seasoned.
Clients, police, attorneys, judges, and other providers all expect you to have all the answers, and you will not have them as a new employee. This results in people yelling at you, threats to call your supervisors and directors, and even threats to be held in contempt of court.
Very high risk job - both for your person and your finances
 - You are called on to drive young children to appointments and visits. If you are found at fault, all financial responsibility falls on you. Read their handbook.
- You are the representative for your agency for parents, and as a result, will be their target for aggression and anger. In our office, windows have been broken, fire extinguishers thrown, and walls have been dented/punched holes in.
- While mileage is compensated, if a car is new and uses 30 or less mpg, you are losing money with every mile driven, due to your car's depreciation. Mileage is also frequently forgotten by workers, and if not turned in before a two month deadline, you will not be compensated for the month.

Advice to Senior Management – Over half of the above mentioned cons can be addressed and fixed, but because our law states: '... and take the most parsimonious path to remedy a family’s problems.' (It's part of florida statute. Parsimonious means cheap) workers are severely underpaid for the risks they undertake and responsibilities they are given. If you can't even take care of your own workers properly, how can it be expected that the families the workers serve are given the appropriate care?

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Devereux Foundation part-time for more than a year

Pros – Working with at-risk and troubled youth.
Exposure to multiple client populations.
Ability to make a positive difference in the world.
Marketing ethos represents the positive direction of mental healthcare.

Cons – Poor compensation.
Incompetent senior management.
Faulty financial structure; a not-for-profit that benefits its senior management before its clients.
Lack of appropriate treatment techniques, with poorly thought out combinations of humanism and ineffective applications of behavioral psychology, not based on evidenced based practices.
Ineffective and repetitive staff training, built on compliance models instead of effectiveness.
Restrictive environment that prevents staff from performing their jobs effectively and consistenly places staff at-risk of dismissal and legal action.
Very limited job opportunities for growth and compensation.
Consistently understaffed.

Advice to Senior Management – The entire model needs to be reviewed and changed. More job classifications to be able to provide the services that the clients actually need. Appropriate advertising for job posting should be used; a bachelors degree "preferred" for a Direct Support position demonstrates that the company is focused on image instead of actual results. Compensation should be altered for all positions. Part-time can work full-time hours (and overtime) without the PTO benefits; please make full time job classifications more desirable than part-time job classifications.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company