Parents For Community Living Employee Reviews

Working with the staff and clients is a great experience most of the time. Lots of disorganization. I'f someone doesn't show for shift there's no grat back up plan and you can get stuck working that shift. Good place to work but it can be stressful

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The management team makes it fun

Direct Support Professional (Current Employee) - Kitchener, ON - 5 October 2022

During covid and working in health care as an "essential" worker hasn't been the easiest. Having a solid team of peers and management made it fun. And giving us freedom to make choices with our teams and PWS!! (People we support).

Pros

Freedom to grow, learn and fun

Cons

Covid

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Insights into Parents For Community Living

Based on 9 survey responses

What people like

Ability to learn new things
Ability to meet personal goals
Time and location flexibility

Lots of hours available, and always needing staff

Assisted Support Provider (Former Employee) - Kitchener, ON - 12 September 2022

It can be a good workplace at times. There were pros and cons.Pros: variety of ethnicities for coworkers, amazing clients, valuable experience Cons: Lack of confidentiality, pay needs to be better, favouritism, lack of training/support, limited to no room for growth depending on position

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Group home work, shift work

Personal Support Worker (Former Employee) - Waterloo Region, ON - 17 May 2022

Busy, sometimes stressful yet collaborative environment with coworkers. Coworkers and clients are great. Management you rarely see/interact with and often (in my experience) they didn't really understand front line workers needed to best support the residents and their care needs. Good place to get experience but not work long term. Pay back in 2011 was ok but pay hasn't changed much so pay would not be good now. Shift work days, evenings and overnights (awake).

Pros

Free meals on shift. Cool staff to work with.

Cons

Long shifts (12). Very busy, lots of personal care with residents. Physically demanding.

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I would recommend to anyone

Assistant Support Provider (Current Employee) - Kitchener, ON - 13 February 2022

Parents for community living is the best place I have ever worked, very fair, training is great as well as the understanding of anything you might need help with they have stood up for me helped me in so many ways . Parents for Community living I feel has the clients interest at heart as well as their employees

Pros

every now and then they send a gift card eg: I received one this week to Zehrs for 40.00, over the past few weeks staff has received gift baskets, nuts crackers goodies

Cons

can't think of any at the moment

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Payed the lowest in the sector

Direct Support Worker (Current Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 8 February 2022

HR is above par. houses are under staffed. Care workers are over worked. They should pay more considering the CEO is making a load and a half! Oh. Lunches for staff does not make up for the low pay.

Pros

You get to help residents

Cons

Low pay

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Official response from Parents For Community Living

22 March 2022

Thank you for your feedback. It has been a very challenging time in the Developmental Services Sector over the past two years during the pandemic and we, like many other sectors, are experiencing a shortage of trained workers. We have done our best to ensure adequate staffing, however, there have been times when employees have had to work short staffed and longer hours for COVID-related reasons. We are very grateful to all those employees who have stepped up to help us meet this challenge. With regard to salaries, PCL has been under the restriction of Bill 124 since 2019 which limited any increases to any position to just 1% per year inclusive of benefits. The government, however, provided a temporary wage enhancement throughout the pandemic to all front-line positions of an additional $3.00 per hour to recognize employees for their hard work. PCL provides competitive salaries similar to those in other developmental service agencies at all levels of the organization including those of senior leadership.

They care about their staff and the people they support

Direct Support Professional (Current Employee) - Kitchener, ON - 23 November 2021

Caring staff, management have been with the agency for a long time and truly care about staff and people in care. There can be conflicts with teammates but that happens at every workplace. The most caring place I have ever worked.

Pros

Lots of training, employee wellness, great people to support

Cons

It can be hard but lots of rewards

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Stay Away

Direct Support Worker (Former Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 28 May 2021

The client’s best interests and needs are not met. Management is a joke, they will lie to cover themselves. Extremely toxic work environment and no room for advancement. Some supervisors are extremely unprofessional and on major power trips.

Pros

Clients

Cons

Everything else

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Unsafe and oppressive

Direct Support Professional (Former Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 15 May 2021

upper management doesnt involve themselves in DSP issues. toxic workplace culture, unsafe environment. hazards on hazards. clients are great and the best and only good part about this job. lots going on behind the seens

Pros

clients

Cons

toxic environment

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Awful place to work

Direct Support Professional (Former Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 2 October 2020

The management here is awful. No way toComplain about supervisors, head office never gives staff a voice, and clients voices are silenced. This agency makes it seem, to the outside, that things are all great and awesome, don’t be fooled. Oppressive work place. Don’t do it !!

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Unprofessional and weak management team, horrendous work culture

Direct Support Professional (Current Employee) - Breslau, ON - 19 September 2020

The premise of this agency is incredible. A family focus for supporting people with exceptionalities is why I chose to work with PCL- and they're accurate in that sense. Our clients are our family and I absolutely adore them. However that is the only positive thing about PCL. Our management team from head office down to supervisors lack education, experience, and professionalism and it impacts all employees and clients. Our "HR department" is more or less non-existent. Our disciplinary policies are a myth and mystery to us all. Our clients suffer because of the lack of organization, care, knowledge, and willingness to learn from management. Our staff are burnt out, gossip, neglect their jobs, are overlooked or mistreated by supervisors. I have learned so much through my work here, but by far this is the worst work environment of my life.

Pros

clients

Cons

everything else

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A good organization

DSW (Former Employee) - Kitchener, ON - 29 March 2020

The company is great and the managers are excellent. The fact that the staff adore 🥰 the clients or residents (even the most challenging ones to work with) is the part that I love most.

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Productive, team orientated family environment.

Assistant Support Provider (Former Employee) - Casey House, Kitchener, Ontario - 7 October 2019

Activities geared around client interests and abilities. Meals, laundry, and house chores are shared among staff. Group home needs are met quickly when suggested by team members. Colleagues are supportive of each others development and growth within the company.

Pros

All meals and chores shared as a family setting

Cons

communication of support tactics

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Best Nonprofit- Highly Recommended

Program Supervisor (Current Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 6 July 2019

Truly an AMAZING workplace. Kind staff, exceptional individuals, and supportive management! One of a kind place to be employed. Fun and laughing a must on the job! Engaged employees that are serious about self development.

Pros

Management, Individuals Supported, flexible employes, focus on training and development

Cons

None

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Fun and energetic place to be eomployed

Program Supervisor (Current Employee) - Kitchener, ON - 3 March 2019

Very fun energetic place to work. Staff is forthcoming and works well with others. Supervising the daily activities and management of the home. Making sure the home is run effectively and smoothly

Pros

Constant Training and develoment

Cons

Long hours

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Toxic

Support Worker (Former Employee) - Maryhill, ON - 14 February 2019

Safety in any job should be everyone’s #1 priority and that wasn’t happening at the home I was employed for a very short time. A lot of physical aggression, behaviours, many staff calling in sick. Large turn over of staff does not help either. Being a new employee as I was I was mistreated and bullied which was not acceptable. I feel for the residents that do live there that they are not getting the care that they need. Staff do need to collaborate and engage with one another and that wasn’t happening. Lack of training when new employees come on board. The culture of the home, the staff that do work there it does not say a lot. A lot of things do need to be done and having respite and behavioural residents together under the same roof isn’t ideal. We all need to be safe and that definitely was not happening. I have worked in this field for many years but never have I seen a home run the way that was.

Pros

Enjoyed engaging with the residents and families.

Cons

Staff overworked doing excessive hours which is against the labour laws.

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Official response from Parents For Community Living

5 April 2019

Official Response from Parents for Community LivingThank you for your feedback. Safety is indeed a priority and PCL is committed to creating a safe and supportive work environment. We are continually looking for new ways to provide support to our employees and create a more positive working environment. We have recently added extra training to manage more challenging behaviours and additional team meetings to build more positive relationships.We work continuously to enhance our compensation/benefits and are creating new roles to mentor and support new employees.Brenda Van Houtven – Human Resources Director PCL

Excellent Residential Support

Direct Support Professional (Current Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 6 September 2018

I can't speak to respite programs, but I can attest that I've worked for PCL for a large number of years and there is a reason I haven't left. I work in one of the group homes supporting 4 people and can honestly say that I love my job. I work with a great team who supports each other in every aspect of our job. My management team is so supportive as well and if ever I have a issue whether it be assistance with shift coverage, more training in a specific area or clarification on techniques I always feel fully supported. The individuals in care are quite diverse but we are specifically trained to support them fully in their day to day lives. I've worked at a fair number of the homes and can say the level of training has been consistent throughout. Financially, PCL pays well in comparison to other community based agencies for their group homes (Not sure about respite) however- with the rising minimum wage as well as our high standard of quality care - an increase in wage would be welcomed and valued.There is a RRSP plan and Benefits in place for people with permanent contracts/hrs. It is easy to pick up hours if you'd like to work as relief support throughout the agency. I have also furthered my secondary education with some financial assistance from PCL. This agency is always using Core Competencies as a base for most of its training and staff development. Annually we have a staff retreat day too, which is always fun and educational. PCL is always trying to ensure its employees are valued, There is also a resource library at the head office. I highly recommend working -

Pros

Team environment, paid breaks, shift flexibility, training and support

Cons

24/7 support means hours can be all over the place

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Stressful, unsafe

Direct Support Professional (Former Employee) - Kitchener, ON - 22 August 2018

Have to agree with the review below, respite is horrible. The home often is understaffed (4 staff) supporting up to 15 people and a handful of those people are highly aggressive and require more support. Some of the staff were well trained but most are not. High turn over rate (easy to see why). Non stop email blasts as everyone calls in sick, as it seems no one wants to go to work. A lot of staff issues that became unbearable to be around. Really felt bad for the people that were being supported, as 4-5 staff is not enough to accommodate 15 people, let alone 15 people with high needs. I really hope things change for the people being supported, however maybe this is only the case for the house I worked at? Still, I would never go back there.

Pros

Literally nothing

Cons

No longer there

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Residential is Great! Respite is horrible!

Direct Support Professional (Former Employee) - Kitchener, ON - 14 August 2018

Typical day in Residential is great! You get to connect with people supported, do fun activities, involve people in life skills, some shifts are just enjoying a movie together or assisting people with chores, micromanaging is minimal and you feel supported by the Program Manager. $18/ hr is fair. Typical day in Respite is HORRIBLE. You get no time to connect with people supported on any meaningful level, staff turnover is constant, understaffed often, fun activities are rare, training non-existent, and no support from Program Manager. Since moving to a new location the Adult Respite is even worse. It is now out in the country away from any amenities, it is now a combination of respite and a behavioural home for up to 15 people. Community partners are hearing complaints weekly about everything from quality of care to staff burnout. Staff are being abused, care is barely acceptable, staff are not being trained properly, the majority of staff have no behavioural experience, often 4 staff are caring for up to 15 people with various disabilities including aggression and they earn the exact same money as staff in non-behavioural homes with only 4-6 residents who are there 24/7. $18/hr is offensive If you apply be wary of being assigned to any respite house, they are poorly managed and the individuals you support can be physically aggressive.

Pros

Paid breaks, majority of staff and supervisors are good people

Cons

Overworked, underpaid, underappreciated, no real opportunity for advancement, no options for training other than yearly CPR and CPI, no union, no effective complaint process, no pension program, and weekend work is MANDATORY

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Supportive management and promote growth in many ways: through seminars, courses and evaluations. They want us to reach our full potential!

Assistant Support Provider (Current Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 8 December 2016

I love my Job. Here we play a role as personal and developmental support workers for individuals with physical and mental disability ranging from Cerebral Palsy, dementia, mental health, intellectual delay, non verbals, autism, down-syndrome and more.

Pros

Rewarding

Cons

Hard work, a lot of Lifting in our home specifically

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Community Living

Manager, Supported Independent Living Program (Former Employee) - Kitchener, Ontario - 27 May 2015

Parents for Community Living is a wonderfully supportive and family inspired organization that fosters an inclusive approach to support youth and adults with intellectual disabilities.

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