Pros
You are challenged to interact and try to bring forth a positive change in not only the clients, but also in your co-workers. You bond with your co-workers and clients through the struggles that arise.
Cons
This Older Adolescent Program is very disorganized. They moved me around without warning and the inconsistency between sites was nauseating. No one did anything the same way, so I always had to re-learn or learn something new altogether to be on the same page. All of the employees are either working two jobs or not giving a damn about doing a good job, so the motivation to be there was non-existent for me. Also, most of the staff was older people who, a lot of times, were either not able to or refused to combat the ideals that were instilled in them early in their lives and blatantly disrespected the clients because of their life choices, despite the fact that we have sensitivity training and the things they said sometimes had me in disbelief. It was awful. I can, but I will not complain about the salary because I knew that it was a non-for-profit when I started and non-for-profits are not going to pay well for what, at the end of the day, is grunt work. It is so funny how they made it seem like something so much more than it actually was while we were in training. Such a joke. Oh! And I was on probation for 6 MONTHS. No PTO (paid time off) that whole time. Good thing I never got sick. And good thing my friends understood that I was not blowing them off, but I just could not afford to miss or take a day off. I would not wish having to work at this place on anyone.