Great in theory, but not in practice. - Psychiatric Technician Bridge House Employee Review

Bridge House as a whole is very much a grey area, meaning that the rules are bent depending on the person and/or situation. Even the suicide/self-harm protocol has been bent to adjust for some residents, which can make working difficult if you're a textbook worker and want to ensure consistent safety for all residents. You get 3-10 emails every weekday at least, which can be difficult to manage your work/life balance. Plus, scheduling will contact your personal phone number, so there's not much peace. The monthly mandatory all staff meetings are required to be in person for ~2 hours and they do not allow virtual options and will turn you down for even suggesting it so it's more accessible for those who don't work on those days. Most of the time these meetings consist of ice-breakers between staff, and jeopardy games related to policies that are constantly being changed, making these meetings feel very irrelevant and annoying. The ONLY times you get ANY bonuses are during Christmas, OR when you get hurt by a resident. (Even then, the Christmas bonus ranges from : $50-$500 for floor staff and will fluctuate each year if you're not an apparent burden to them) The only time you get pay raises past your first 90 days of employment are on your annual reviews, which are max $1.00, even for floor managers who have been with the company for 2+ years. When there are quarterly trainings hosted by one of the owners, he makes it a point to cry at every meeting, preaching that the floor staff are the "best part of Bridge House" , and then will flip around and tell staff that they are entitled for asking for more compensation when they are being burdened with a heavier work load. Floor managers start at $19, and if you are already at $19 before you're promoted from a psych tech, you don't get a raise and you get 3x the work load. The favoritism between shifts is very real and obvious, and if you say something against it, you're treated differently. The scheduling coordinator used to be very reasonable and easy to work with, but it's not the same person and now they heavily micro manage. They do not allow you to pick up split/half shifts unless it is for a community outing, or if it benefits the schedulers(they used to offer split shifts very frequently before a bunch of admin changed positions/jobs). They demand a "95% attendance rate", and have told their floor managers that if a staff even mentions that they're sick but didn't ask to leave early directly, that this indirect suggestion can go against said staff. They do offer quarterly bonuses of $500 for perfect attendance, but this "perfect attendance" really just means a bonus for those that don't change anything in their regularly scheduled shifts/don't bother the scheduling coordinators. They will bring in residents who have a history of aggression or are freshly detoxing, despite telling you in training that they don't accept these kinds of people as residents. As stated in another review, the only time they actually did something about an aggressive resident was when upper management saw it first hand, and only resulted in bite sleeves being provided in a few parts of the property. They have sick pay, but you can only use that if you have missed 3 consecutive shifts, and then the sick pay applies on the 4th day. You have to use your accrued PTO for the previous 3 days if you want to get paid. Don't have any PTO accrued? Sorry, HR will tell you to talk to the scheduling coordinator and pick up shifts. While you're sick/unable to come in to work. There's not much room for advancement in this company, and typically promotions are given to those who have been here for a long time. That especially applies to administration/upper management jobs. This makes sense for the residential department, but for scheduling and admin jobs? Get people who know what they're doing and have experience. Because there are SO many rules and policies for this job that are constantly being changed, it results in so much inconsistency for residents and leaves everyone frustrated. They constantly understaff the floor and make it more dangerous for floor staff and for residents, as it means compromised safety and supervision. Which at the same time, means less activities for the residents to do, and less time to build those incredible professional relationships that Bridge House is known for(seriously, the posted google reviews from past residents usually always point out that the floor staff are the best part). When there's not enough staff, that means zone closures to areas where residents can put space between each other and do things other than read or socialize with each other. The residents can obviously see(and they point it out, too) when staff are exhausted. They see it(and sometimes take advantage of it), and it affects them too. This place is not very accessible medically, and costs $1,600+ per DAY out of pocket. So because of the price, you don't get a lot of diversity with residents, and has a majority of straight & cisgendered males. Really the only reason worth working here would be to just get mental health experience under your belt, and I would suggest to only doing this job for a short time, as the burnout is definitely real and upper management refuses to acknowledge it while simultaneously telling us constantly that they're here for us. You see the choices they make, and it's very sad. They don't really care about you as an employee.