Bairn Croft Residential Services

A typical day at work included the facilitation of 7-8 clients' basic needs within a particular group home. Employees were responsible for ensuring that the nutritional regulation, hygiene regulation, financial regulation, and recreational regulation standards were all met, as well as building a lasting rapport with clients. The clients, which are the most enjoyable part of the job, all ranged in developmental capabilities and all had individualized behavioural programs created for them. Staff were responsible for knowing, understanding, and implementing behavioural programs, while maintaining a rapport with clients. A typical day could consist of collecting data on any or all clients, and implementing the appropriate program for the behavior displayed. Staff were also required to follow all routines, basic and behavioural, for the clients (i.e., breakfast, school attendance, after school routines, etc.).
While management is well versed in the specific policies and procedures, more training of staff is required as well as day to day support. Navigating management politics easily could be considered the hardest part of the job. 
The cohesiveness among co-workers is admirable, and it is easy to trust your co-workers and depend upon them to support you through any client related issue. 
At Bairn Croft Residential Services I learned much about people with developmental disabilities, and autism spectrum disorders. The job broadened my perception on the capacity, and range of behaviours that can be expected while working within this population.

Generally, the floor staff are pretty great. Due to several confidentiality agreements, you're never allowed to disclose parts of your job to people outside of the company, so your coworkers become your family away from home (most of the anxiety, disappointment and frustration still goes home with you tho, so it will still work its way into your personal life). Once you get beyond the supervisors though, don't bother. 

Management doesn't care one bit for their employees. You have to watch your back at every turn because you will be made to look foolish in front of your coworkers; you will be asked to do one thing then be chastised because they actually wanted something else; if you stand up for yourself  or your coworkers you will be cut down faster than you can say 'boo'; When you're injured on shift (and it will happen), the management try to sweep the incident under the rug and minimize it so they don't have to support you in any way if you need it... 

When it comes to the clients, BCRS charges mad money but actually gives them little more than you would expect from a broke NPO. They make promises to the clients and don't follow through, often leading to the incidents that the front line workers then take the brunt of...

In short, this is a FOR PROFIT company but the only people who don't profit are the frontline workers and, ironically, the clients. IMO, look elsewhere for even an entry-level position unless you like working hard while watching others muscle in and take your hours and leave you with more mess to clean up than the clients make.... or you are willing to give up your morals and dignity to kiss enough rear ends to get maybe one small step ahead only to have to repeat the entire process again.

Personally BCRS has provided myself with great opportunities and experience in the workplace. It is a great stepping stone to get a variety of work experience to move on to a future career in social work, policing, counseling and health. Sure there are times when things can be tough due to the high stress situations, but management is very understanding of your situation as all of them have worked the floor at some point for many years. Typically, individuals who struggle in this residential home environment don't have the knowledge or skill to think on their feet and avoid situations which could have been avoided. It is a fast paced environment that is unpredictable, but if you pay attention and listen to you co-workers and management while training then you will succeed. The employee culture can sometimes be negative but for the most part the clients impact on you is what keeps you going. I would recommend anyone looking for job experience to come work at BCRS. There is lots of room for growth and a lot of overtime if you want to work the extra hours and make extra money. They also have benefits which aren't so bad either. This job has helped me pursue a career in law enforcement and I have seen many individuals move on from BCRS to become police officers, social workers, counselors, EA's, government workers just to name a few.

There are better places to work for entry level. 

Con. Management doesn't care about its employees.

 Pro. Flexible work and lots of overtime. 

Pro/Con It's possible to coast and just get by. You know that guy from college that has a pile of pizza boxes in his dorm room that he doesn't clean for over a year? It's possible for a guy like that to thrive in the mediocrity that is Bairn Croft. The stuff you could get away with at Bairn Croft wouldn't stand at any respectable place. The job is a guilty pleasure. 

Con. If you get hurt that's your problem

Pro/Con. Low stress and high stress environment. Some days you wonder why they are paying you and other days they should be paying you way more. 

Pro/Con. Coworkers. Some coworkers are the greatest people you will ever meet and others got hired because they have a pulse.

Con/Pro The pay can be good if you know what you are doing and are in the right program. The pay isn't enough if you have to deal with constant stress. For example,  working most of day program.  

Con. You have to pay for all your training or at the most it's unpaid training.

Pro. The training and environment can be used as a stepping stone to move onto much better jobs. 

Personally I wish I would have applied and worked at mainstreet community services. I hear it's a much better place.

This is a easy position to jump into. Whether fresh out of school or still attending. You can move up quickly and easily in the company because the turn over rate is very quick. The houses are rarely ever properly staffed and when they are management decides they are over staffed and “let’s see what happens when you take a staff away” even though it’s the client that’s paying for the staff. The owner has a new truck weekly but staff are paid very low for the field. In fact, possibly the lowest in all group care in ottawa. When you get a raise it like .07 cents. They tell you to eat with the clients but provide a very small amount of money allotted for the food so they basically have to eat Kraft dinner and ramen noodles every day. Staff are thrown on the floor with no training and then talked to or written up for not knowing what they should be doing. Staff expectations are very high and there is virtually no support from management. No recognition at all ever. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Working with the clients to help them through their daily lives and achieve their goals.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Waiting for upper management to negatively interfere, or put you or your colleagues in more danger than is necessary. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Work environment varies from constant busy work to a work environment where it alternates between fast paced and stressful and fairly relaxed. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I spend time writing data, reports, logs, etc, spend time with clients and help them through their day and to achieve their goals, find ways to have more better days with the clients, enjoy the teamwork with my coworkers, and wait for management to make my day worse with their micromanagement and disregard for their workers.

Every day brings new opportunities to learn and grow in this fast pace environment.    Clients are dual diagnosed and range from low to high functioning which provides a great opportunity to find your niche.  


Overall I learned allot on the job and was very fortunate to have been hired to work there.   My current employer hired me specifically because I had Bairn Croft on my resume

Bairn Croft Residential Services is a great company for an entry level position. During my time employed here, I have acquired many skills and abilities that I can transfer into the future. Bairn Croft provides good training when it comes to certificates. Their on the job training can be a lot at first, but it is a learn-as-you-go type of job. The management can sometimes be very one sided, in that if they do not like you as an employee, they will make work very difficult for yourself. The job requires shift work, which makes life and work balance quite difficult. For the day to day situations and personal risk that employees are put in, I personally find the pay somewhat low.

Every Staff complained about the company because they were cheap, there was very little support, the houses were unmonitored and staff could get away with anything. Management could treat staff poorly and nothing would be done. But there were a lot of pros. We were paid well comparatively. There was room for advancement. There was as much overtime as you wanted. If you were lucky to be with a good team, it was fu . The work was rewarding when the team made efforts to focus on behavioural programs.

You will meet amazing ppls and they hire anyone so it’s a great place to start. There’s virtually no support from management. Staff are very over worked and burnt out. Management will NEVER jump in the floor to help out. They’d rather someone work 48 hours straight then tj actually jump on the floor for an hour.  Management will gas light you to fit their description of whatever they’re using you as a scape goat for. You’re just a number here but it’s a decent place to start.  Just don’t stay long 

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