I have multiple people who I work with who can not read. It's sad, but I wonder if my company would offer a tutoring program for them, because it's really sad.

Edited to add....these are STAFF!

Edited again....yes, staff. Recently, I saw a co-worker using some app to take pictures of client documentation. It was reading the sheet to her. Then she was using a text to speech app to know what to write. I have also seen a different coworker who keeps a notebook of phrases that she can copy onto client documentation because she can't formulate thoughts on her own. I also have seen several coworkers fail certain certification tests due to not being able to read the questions, so the instructor will hold them back and read the questions/answers to them. I am not saying they are bad employees, because they aren't. They are kind and can perform the labor intensive parts of the job.

Do you think I'd look like an a-hole asking the agency to offer tutoring to the staff? They are a large company that definitely has the money to do so. Maybe they don't realize it is a need. Adults can learn to read with the correct interventions.

Hello! I’ve been a DSP/manager for a bit over three years. Not super long, but I took to it like a fish to water. Being somewhat “out there” myself, I always got along with strange sorts. So when I found out I could make a career hanging out with and helping people with mental illness, WITHOUT dropping tens of thousands of dollars on college (tried it once for psych, didn’t go well, young n dumb at the time) I jumped at it. I made manager in three months, but was ultimately pushed out of the company following an unfortunate interaction with administrators. As it turns out, notifying them of mildew in an asthma sufferers room, decades out of date smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, and generally dangerous living conditions was not appreciated. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, and I’m given to understand, nothing new. After being publicly screamed at for disagreeing with administrators by standing up for some of my staff, I left. It hurt. My clients were kind of my world, and due to policy, I cannot interact with them. During a meeting, the 3rd in command, a master social worker, even made jokes about how no one would hang out with our peeps if they weren’t getting paid. That was my first red flag. The company was toxic. Being non-LDS and the wrong kind of white did not help my situation. If you’re not coming or going from a mission, they simply didn’t care that you existed, to say nothing of sending missionaries to client houses, and yes, they had individuals who don’t know a quarter from a penny paying tithes. I stopped that. Also not appreciated. I could honestly go on and on, but again, this is nothing new. The top of healthcare, particularly administration, is so often profit driven, and in my neck of the woods, White, LDS, and bigoted as hell.

All of this broke me. Almost took the long sleep early. But I didn’t. I found another company. So far, I’ve received zero training (save some AI generated videos), never even seen a Q, busted my manager actively trying to steal meds, and been left to care for three individuals that require advanced care solo. When I asked who I should call, another staff said “whoever you want, but they won’t answer.” Even on grave, it’s non-stop rounds of emptying urine and colostomy bags, repositioning and changing someone who can’t move on their own, and hoping to gods I don’t hurt anyone, cuz, ya know, I’m not a nurse. When I expressed my discomfort and asked when I’d get training, I was sent a YouTube video on changing someone. That’s it. Not cleaning them properly, not positioning, and not with any of the equipment or supplies actually provided to this individual. I’m at my wits end. I’m terrified I’ll get a call that I fucked up somehow and made a hard life worse, or ended one. I care deep, and take pride in my professionalism. The last place had a lot of violent clients, and I never once got hit. Often when I showed up to handle behaviors, just seeing me calmed my peeps down. They knew I cared, they knew I’d listen and not judge. But it’s like something shattered and I can’t make myself anymore. My first instinct is to run. Go back to cooking. I make the same as a line cook anyway, and I actually have food safety training. So my question is this:

TLDR/The point- how do you folks that have been at this a long time not go insane trying to get the leeches at the top of the ladder to care what they’re putting these folks through? Staff AND clients.