Pros
Working with the clients can be very fulfilling.
Cons
I’ve been employed at PLS for almost two years, and have coworkers that have been here even longer. I’ve been told by senior staff members that they haven’t been given a raise since they became a med monitor (I did not in fact get a raise for becoming a med monitor, however.) Recently everyone in the company, staff and management alike, had to fill out a self evaluation form. Some of us spent a long time on this because the cost of living is increasing dramatically, and the current wage just isn’t sustainable anymore. When the raises finally did come around, none of them even hit $0.50. To me and many others, this felt like a slap in the face. In order for me to have disposable income, I have to work OT. Staff and management alike have repeatedly spoken of the underpayment issue, but nothing has changed, and after this year I’m not sure it will. Additionally, corporate continues to open more houses that they don’t have the staff for under the assumption that the current staff members will pick up the slack. The DSPs are burnt out. The assistant managers are burnt out. The program managers are burnt out. The only reason I haven’t left is because I value my clients, but I don’t know how much longer sentimentality will win over financial stress. And onto the clients, because they aren’t much better off. Due to how understaffed we are, clients get very little community engagement because we simply don’t have the staff (or sometimes the vehicles) to take them. There’s been multiple instances where clients have even missed appointments because of this. I can honestly say that the vast majority of client behaviors would disappear under adequate staffing.