Pros
Kindering is an excellent place to work at, particularly for therapists who are new to the field of early intervention/early support. Kindering has a very thorough onboarding program, as well as excellent mentorship that ensures everyone feels well supported in their learning. Workplace culture is great. Staff are very committed and passionate about serving children and their families, as well as friendly and encouraging of each other. There are weekly meetings where staff can collaborate and problem-solve difficult cases, as well as discuss and learn more about current best practices. Work-life balance is very manageable as long as you stay organized.
Management makes you feel heard. They meet with you regularly to check in and ensure you have space to bring up any issues or concerns you may have. Management prioritizes overall job satisfaction. They keep a close eye on caseloads to ensure staff are not overworked. They also try hard to support professional growth and career advancement by assigning staff to their desired placements and specialties.
Recently there have been pay adjustments that have put Kindering more on par with school district pay, which has historically been a concern for staff and one of the main reasons why folks left the agency. Kindering pays in full for employees’ health insurance and benefits are good, particularly if single or if the employee has children who can be on their spouse’s health insurance. Direct service providers manage their own scheduling of families, which makes the job very flexible. The early support department is also on a 44-week schedule which means there are many scheduled breaks during the year. Employees also get 11 paid holidays and 2 weeks of PTO time, which is great!
Cons
Staff with children who cannot be on their spouse’s health insurance will have to pay a significant amount of money out of their paychecks to keep their children insured.
