California Department of Health Services Reviews

Pros

Flexibility Kindness Lots of work and projects

Cons

Part time limit of hours Management is overbooked with tasks so not always have time

Pros

-Great support and staff. -Management is always looking to fill in vacancies. -Weekly staff meetings to share and receive updates from the Department -Great benefits, vacation+sick leave, retirement+pension -Great trainings, opportunities to advance, optional trainings -No Micromanagement!

Cons

-Onboarding process is long -May be overwhelmed at the beginning with all the Department acronyms, programs, and projects

Pros

Remote work is available in certain departments. CalPERS

Cons

Extremely toxic work environment. High turn over. Over half of the staff left a division in a year with the majority that are still there trying to escape. Another office can’t keep people for more than 6 months. Divisions don’t work well together and make it challenging when trying to work in cross functional teams. Leadership does not care about employees. Very closed door environment. People are treated like a number. Many people are performing duties out of their classification without the increase in pay. Some positions have been created and filled illegally by violating civil service regulations. With the new CalAIM initiative, Department was not given enough staff to effectively implement such a huge endeavor, causing burnout across the entire department from rank and file to chiefs. Relevant training is non existent to perform job or grow skills. Micromanagement is the worst I have ever seen and makes it virtually impossible to get things done. Morale is at an all time low. Many long time employees are suffering from mental health issues due to the toxic work environment, which is ironic for a Dept that handles mental health programs for California. With inflation, pay is not as good as it once was. During COVID, employees were forced to take furloughs for a year and a half. Then the State had a surplus in their Budget. Money should have been returned to State employees. Not the Dept’s fault as it is the Governor’s decision, but didn’t help the morale in a toxic work environment.

Pros

This is my first state department I’ve worked with and have nothing but good things to say about it. Management is superb, really encouraging with promotions and supportive with overall team/work. Plus I WFH

Cons

Can’t think of any cons.

Pros

I worked from home so I was able to work around my class schedule Great team

Cons

Work can be mundane Routine can be repetitive

Pros

Diverse programs that make a big contribution towards the health equity of Californians. You can work in different operations within health care and build your knowledge.

Cons

Technology can be outdated depending on what you’re doing.

Pros

DHCS has a very important mission to oversee the administration of health care services (including medical, dental, mental health, substance use treatment services and long-term care) to millions of Californians. The messaging from upper management is generally very positive and inclusive, and there is a wide array of job opportunities within the dept.

Cons

Because this dept. has several thousand employees, individual experiences will vary widely based on individual branches/sections, workload, and managers. Some managers are excellent, and others are not. Some staff are overworked, and others are underworked. Unfortunately, many staff are very siloed in their work, and don't communicate with other branches or sections, even when collaboration would be very beneficial. The dept. is also very hierarchical - staff generally cannot reach out to other branches or other managers without first going through their direct supervisor. This can often lead to messaging and communication issues within the dept., and can be very inefficient.

Pros

Remote work Work life balance

Cons

Incompetent supervisors Hidden policies Cliques

Pros

Wonderful People who are supportive and hard working

Cons

Low-ish pay that doesn't keep up with cost of living.

Pros

Easy way into the state

Cons

They will drain the life out of you.