Pros
I worked as a counselor in the group homes for several years while in college and when I graduated I moved back to my community. This is one of the best agencies I ever worked for doing really challenging work with foster youth who have so much trauma. I got direct hands on experience learning how to work with this population from a cultural perspective which was very unique. This agency is very mission driven from the top to the bottom and the people really care about the kids that they work with. I saw so many staff go above and beyond their job to take care of the kids and families they working with. I loved the monthly pot lucks and had a chance to play a few games on the softball team and had a great time.
Cons
Increasing the pay of the residential counselors was the only downside of the job. Living in the bay area is very expensive and as a counselor going to school was really hard. Also somehow getting our neighbors to really understand that these kids deserve the same respect and opportunities as their kids.