Pros
ALP treats its employees relatively well. Pay is not at the top end, but competitive. toys and materials provided to staff is a plus. structured Internal departments lends to potential, and many smaller ABA company's can't offer much administrative support. I loved traveling to get together with other ACDs when I first started-- training was very informative.
Cons
Internal organization since ALP was bought out has completely plummeted. Budget restructuring trickles down quickly. A Senior BCBA to oversee clinical practices came on board, and was instantly too overwhelmed to help any of the sites. We haven't seen the clinical improvements that were promised. Line staff is burnt out, and supervisors are too busy or not allowed to provide them with more training. Huge focus on numbers, hours and metrics, that can be contrary to clinical quality. Poor management training. Poor oversight of senior directors or executive directors. growth is rampant and unstructured. New ACDs have way, way, way too much on their plate, and are continually told that it will get better. After talking to more senior ACDs, this is not the case. Turnover is high. Directors turn a blind eye to ACDs struggling to keep their heads above water, and just blame it on them, and push more numbers at them instead of reevaluating what is keeping them motivated. Directors sometimes encourage too large of caseloads, or too long of workdays just to meet numbers. I was excited to work for a company who had a BCBA in a COO position, but she is so far removed from the day to day of the lower management that it doesn't seem to make a difference.
