shelter worker

program supervisor

senior clinical manager

travailleur en construction générale

surveillant du service alimentaire

KENNEDY HOUSE YOUTH SERVICES

This is probably the most disturbing shelter I’ve ever worked in. 
The turnover is very high, due to how the shelter is run, and because of how unsupportive management is! The youth take advantage of how lenient the shelter is with them. The youth can come and go as they please, they do not abide by “expectations/rules”, curfew is a joke, they do not have to attend programming, become employed, or go to school. Most of these youth sit around all day consuming substances, and their mental health deteriorates the longer that they are there. The youth are there for months on end, without a legit care plan!!! 

A typical day would be babysitting youth that runs the place because there are no rules or structures in place. This shelter is a revolving door for the same youth that continuously return and are never housed. Case management is a joke and virtually non-existent. Youth enter this shelter and overtime collect charges and addictions because of the lack of rules, structure, and accountability. I learned that I need to work for an organization where I'm actually helping the youth and where management is supportive. The entire management team from youth supervisors, the manager of the shelter, to the CEO, isn't supportive. There's no transparency, lack of communication, lack of accountability, and there's no consistency. The only good thing I can say about this organization is the incredible staff that work there. Unfortunately, the turnover is so high because the place is managed so poorly that they are losing amazing staff. The burnout is high as there are constant crises, and there is no work-life balance. If someone doesn't show up for their shift and coverage isn't found you'll be forced to work a 16hr+ shift when that should be management's responsibility. They don't even have on-call support 24.7. Staff fears making important decisions such as youth discharges based on health and safety due to how management will react/fear of getting into trouble. If the Region of Toronto truly knew how this place was run, it would be shut down.



Secure Custody and Detention Centre is a difficult place to work at. Your consistently stressed; They don't properly train you for the position. The first day I started I was shown the office desk and left alone with the coworkers very unwelcoming.....No direction, you have to learn on the go or learn from other coworkers. And consistently being told you won't make it past probation...When you request support, they refuse and when you do it on your own you get a coaching email saying you should ask for support. Some staff are great but they leave quickly ...Your mental health will suffer! It's a toxic work environment that will cause you to suffer. They ridicule you at every corner. Management are very rude, high turnover rates. Everything is done with favoritism not on actual ability. Supervisors and HR just sits and gossips. Staff is underpaid and treated unfairly. They do not care about your time but their time is valuable, if you have to stay late to support a client no problem but if request personal time for an appointment they will ask a million questions and make you feel terrible for the request ......Get used to sending emails for every discussion you ever had because you'll get approval to do something and after doing it get an email from the supervisor stating you weren't granted the go-ahead...after they verbally told you to do it ...its a minefield of bureaucracy.... It's micro-management + no direction = burnout and PTSD SAVE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH AND WORK ELSEWHERE!!

Working at Kennedy House as a Junior Maintenance Worker has been a fantastic experience!  From day one, I felt welcomed and part of the team.  The staff are incredibly supportive and always willing to share their knowledge, which has been invaluable for my development.  I've learned so much already, from basic repairs and maintenance to more specialized skills.  It's a great environment for hands-on learning, and I appreciate the trust they place in junior team members.
What I really enjoy is the variety of work.  No two days are the same, and I'm constantly exposed to new challenges and opportunities to learn.  The work is physically active and rewarding – there's a real sense of accomplishment in seeing a problem fixed and knowing you've contributed to keeping things running smoothly.  Kennedy House also seems to genuinely value its employees.  They provide the necessary tools and resources, and there's a real emphasis on safety.  Plus, the management is approachable and encourages open communication.  If you're looking for a place to start your career in maintenance and you're eager to learn and work hard, I highly recommend Kennedy House!


Hey, I’ve worked here for a while now and the one thing I can say is there biggest downfall is their commitment to staff. They will move you around and keep your work with the residents inconsistent and you hardly make any change here for the residents. We are expected to ONLY make the clients comfortable and as Youth Workers we should take the responsibility of helping these individuals grow into an independent living but all I have seen in my time here are staff doing everything for the residents and if they make a complaint about you they will move you into a different house so they don’t have to deal with what’s going on even if the complaints are unwarranted they are usually not investigated or if they complain say goodbye to where you were because they don’t care if you were committed there and actively making positive change. I would not recommend working here long term.


I’ve was working at Kennedy for awhile and have to say that the aggressive clients you work with are not worth the lack of pay you receive. I worked with non verbal autistic clients and I spend most of my days cleaning feces and repeating myself all day. It is very mentally exhausting as the shifts are 12 hours. 

There was also a lack of training when I was hired, there’s still many things there that I don’t know how to do and when asking others how to do them they don’t know either. When asking management if I could be trained properly on a few things it was shrugged off and never happened. I was thrown into it without proper training and just fending for myself. 

Also if you’re full time, night shifts are mandatory so you will have to do overnights at the same rate of pay. 

The only good thing about it is the benefits. They do have really good benefits for you and your family.

I worked here for a year. I loved the job I was doing and I was great at it too. However, it wasn't long after I noticed the toxicity within the workplace. Mangers lack of accountability was a common theme and they will throw their staff under the bus. I also experienced micro aggression and micromanagement especially after making a complaint about toxic behaviors amongst the management team. The turn over at this place is at a rate i have never seen or heard of in any other work place and is a result of poor staffing. There is little to no thought put into the type of staffing that is needed to work in an environment with violent teens and therefore staff is constantly at risk of harm and some of them have been seriously hurt. If you value your life, physical health and mental health NOT NOT WORK HERE. 

Days/evenings/overnights vary day-to-day, but that's residential for you. However, that's the not the issue here. I'm not sure about other group homes, but the one I work at seems to have a lot of drama between staff and it's starting to show in the behaviours of the residents. If there's tension among staff, the residents become anxious. I understand that no workplace is perfect, especially when you work with other people, but come on. We're supporting vulnerable individuals and one would think that differences could be set aside for 8 hours. Management doesn't help because the 2 supervisors are polar opposites: one has no backbone and is forgiving of everything; the other tries to instill some order; neither seems to know what the other is doing which makes for a very disorganized work environment. It's unfortunate because there's so much potential here.

Working here has been a challenging experience. While the role initially seemed promising, it quickly became clear that employees are not truly valued. The pay is not competitive, especially considering the long hours and the level of effort required. Burnout is a common issue, as there’s little to no recognition for the hard work put in.

The work-life balance is practically nonexistent, and the lack of support from management only adds to the stress. Instead of fostering a healthy and productive environment, the company seems more focused on getting as much as possible out of its employees without investing in their well-being.

There’s potential for improvement, but significant changes need to be made in terms of pay, workload distribution, and management’s attitude toward their staff. Until then, I wouldn’t recommend this workplace for anyone seeking growth, fair treatment, or long-term career satisfaction.

Many people get injured either physically, or psychologically. When you ask for support from your co workers, you don’t get it. People show up and “do their job” but don’t actually care for the well-being of the children/youth. There’s different “teams” you’re put on as full-time staff. Half the time you don’t get all your full time staff, so you have casuals that come in; and we’re not properly trained, so basically their as an extra body. The company seems like a zoo, because for the short period of time I was their, I was never able to attend my courses that I was supposed to take because there was ALWAYS a crisis happening. When you bring up problems to your manager, nothing gets done about it. Nothing changes with these children. There is absolutely no consistency within the teams, so that makes it hard to develop routines for the kids.

Upper management are not equipped to manage the facility in Scarborough. Recently, they cleaned house and it is now overseen by head office with little change that was anticipated. Unionized environment with few conflicts resolved before arbitration. Most of the middle management have no other experience outside of the facility and lack management skills.
They have a problem in Human Resources Dept. with a relatively new employee that apparently lacks good judgement on decision making.
Certainly, they will close their doors soon due to their stubbornness to see the ways of their errors.
It’s not an environment for anyone looking for long-term employment. Most are quickly discouraged by reprimands before they barely get through the door and the turn over is most often from being fired for unjust cause.

Don’t waste your time on such a miserable environment.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Shelter worker 2 salaries reported	$19.50 per hour
Program supervisor 3 salaries reported	$60,000 per year
Senior clinical manager 2 salaries reported	$78,000 per year
Travailleur en construction générale 1 salary reported	$43,692 per year
Surveillant du service alimentaire 1 salary reported	$50,000 per year

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