I wouldn't recommend this agency for employment. I also would definitely not recommend them for providing care to your loved ones. I've worked for this agency since last summer, yet I haven't had any good experiences with them.
First, after completing my training, apparently the trainer was too busy preparing for his European vacation to remember to submit my certification of completion. This resulted in me not only not receiving my payment for training (which is the only good thing about this agency, that you're paid to sit through 70 hours of some idiot showboating for a captive audience), but I had to cancel the client I'd scheduled for that day so that I could bus in to pick up a paper check.
Second and third, my most recent clients were both unable to be given the appropriate level of care thanks to sloppy and incomplete information from the staff supervisors (Lauren and Amber). In both instances, I went in for trial shifts, operating under the belief that the information staff had provided me was accurate and that I was only going to be required to provide companion care (basic housecleaning, meal prep, etc.). The first client ended up having a medical condition which neither of us fully understood, which could have resulted in me being exposed to a communicable disease. I also discovered a seemingly trivial detail in this client's information which revealed to me that the agency had provided me with vastly out-of-date information on the woman. This client also gave me the full scoop on just how disrespectful Lauren had been to her during their phone conversations. She warned me that Lauren was condescending and often talked over her. This was confirmed for me by one of the supervisors responsible for evaluating clients, so you know the inside scoop on Lauren's terrible conduct was sound. When I contacted Lauren to discuss with her the irritation I had about receiving such inaccurate client information, she easily slipped into her condescending bourgeois princess mode. Even as I was becoming increasingly upset with her, rather than acknowledge that she'd maybe provided out-of-date information on the client, she talked over me and finally hung up on me.
The second incident involved Lauren and another supervisor, Shannon, both of whom were the only supervisors on staff the day I arrived at the home of the second client. I hadn't been there an hour before being informed by one of the housemates that the old man didn't need "companion care." Because he was wheelchair-bound and fresh out of a facility, he would need far more "personal care." According to Amber, his staff supervisor, he would only need some "light house-cleaning and meal prep." This is even reflected in the e-mail sent out with everything I'd need to know to be able to do my job correctly. I was deeply upset by being put into such an uncomfortable position, but especially about how this client had needed someone to arrive at 10 AM, not 1 in the afternoon. Because of FCIHC's incompetent staff supervisors, a sweet old man sat around in a crappy diaper for THREE HOURS! Once again, I contacted the supervisors in rising anger about this unacceptable treatment. Once again, they talked over me, accused me of being verbally abusive rather than recognizing the severity of the situation, even said to me, "Calm down or I'm going to hang up the phone." This is not how to de-escalate an irate employee or client! I have to wonder just how these people get paid the big bucks to have such control over such a vulnerable population of human beings. When I insisted that they acknowledge this was a problem they needed to get more serious about, the reply I got was, "Mistakes happen. We can't make any promises."
Since this time, I've contacted one of the supervisors who I'd chewed out during the most recent client to find out about another possible client I could work with. Her reply was short, stating that the client needed personal care, something I wasn't comfortable with. According to the e-mail that was sent out with all of the clients looking for caregivers, only companion care tasks were involved, nothing to do with personal care. So, yet again, here is an example of inaccurate information going out and not providing caregivers adequate details in order to provide the best care possible. I pointed out to Shannon, the staff supervisor assigned to the client I'd inquired about, that the information needed to be updated if it was contradicting what she'd told me. I haven't heard anything from her, even as I expressed interest in providing care to this client. She's opted to blow me off rather than communicate whether or not the client was still even available.
TJ Lord of HR is not genuinely concerned about resolving these complaints. The same issues warranting complaints date back to a year ago and yet NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE ABOUT THEM! FCIHC is still providing critically sub-standard care to a vulnerable population. read more
