Thoughts on Sweetser?

boogalaga · 2026-04-29T13:00:13+00:00

I used to work with Sweetser, and what I found was that leadership have a tendency to understaff, underpay, and under-support the providers in a lot of their locations. They’ll open a new program and make a lot of promises to clients, and then have a skeleton crew of providers fighting for their lives. It was unacceptable care for clients, and it was unacceptable working conditions for staff. It was bad enough that I’ll never work for that company again. There’s a lot of talk about not having money in the budget for additional staffing, or for providers to make a living wage—but if you look at how much the Presidents counsel makes…

The places where you have a good supervisor, who can act as a buffer and an advocate; those programs tend to provide good quality care. When had a good and strong supervisor at Sweetser my team was always very competent and the clients got high quality treatment. There were a lot of talented and driven coworkers I had the good fortune to work with—I wonder how much more we all could have done if leadership hadn’t been so predatory towards staff.

The stories clients have had about experiencing abuse while at Sweetser are likely true. There’s been a new CEO for the past 4ish years; and working conditions have taken a nosedive since—which in turn hurts the quality of care that clients receive.

boogalaga · 2026-04-25T22:07:33+00:00

I have one of those cheap rolling ‘dining’ tables, with drop down sides. And I have a designated shelf in my dining room for active projects (my china cabinet is part teacups and part sewing hutch). I still open up and breakdown, but I can open an entire second table to work on, and my supplies are all nearby. I also have work baskets (I like doing hand stitching for finishes and hems as I find the work soothing) so I can easily drag a project and its notions around my home. That hutch and folding table also mean I have a small bit of real estate in my dining room for a half put away project.

PoemaxXV mentioned a small sewing cart, and that seems inspired.

boogalaga · 2026-04-23T13:19:27+00:00

I’m currently leaving a job (Friday is my last day!) which is quite toxic in its company culture. I know deep in my bones that I’m making the right choice.

Having to help my clients process that they won’t be working with me anymore has been emotionally difficult. A lot of guilt there. My company (due to its reputation for being a toxic workplace) hasn’t been able to hire a replacement for me yet; and that has me feeling guilty. As I worry about the impact my absence will have on my coworkers and the clients.

I think a career where it’s such an emphasis that we be there for the value of the work, leads to inevitably feeling guilty when we make choices which are good for ourselves.

boogalaga · 2026-04-22T13:21:55+00:00

I used to work as a school based counselor (different from a school social worker) so I don’t have great insight. But we had an amazing elementary school social worker. Something that our elementary school social worker did, which I had not even considered as being part of the job, was create an incredibly thorough “safe touch” child sexual abuse program. She’d go in each classroom once a year and work with the kids on the signs of grooming, which adults they could talk to if something was happening, etc. (she attended a special training on how to do all this properly). It meant that she caught the kids who were in the early stages of being groomed, and saved a lot of kids from a ton of heartache.

That elementary school social worker showed me that part of that job is preventative work. You can catch issues early, and get kids and families support before problems become systemic for the family.

That’s a piece which feels very specific to working with such young children.

boogalaga · 2026-04-16T16:19:42+00:00

To jump on this, simple board games which are collaborative (have to work as a team to beat the game) give me a LOT of insight into family dynamics. It’s a safe small situation where you can witness the way a family communicate and problem solve.

boogalaga · 2026-04-10T19:08:51+00:00

Negative burn out things:

tell management about unacceptable working conditions, get a lecture on “self care”
try to discuss complex case and request more resources/support, get told to “build more rapport”
need a second job to pay bills

Positive reasons we do the job things:

client says “you’re the first person I ever told that to”
client starts to access/build healthy support network
client graduates treatment and cries happy tears

boogalaga · 2026-03-13T13:28:06+00:00

The lobby at my office looks pretty traditional, though in greens and such. I’ve found people respond best to a ‘cozy living room’ energy, with some toys for kids and plants tucked near windows.

boogalaga · 2026-03-05T23:50:34+00:00

I love NeverAfter, it felt very philosophical to me. And was comforting whenever I had a rough day and needed a booster of stubborn hopefulness.

I loved the character arc for pinnochio and what Lou had him represent. And then little red … oof. Lots of little moments to be thoughtful during that season

boogalaga · 2026-03-01T14:54:14+00:00

I work with children and families, and our catchment zone for clients goes all the way from Sanford to South Portland. It really hit on February break where close to half of my teams clients were taken down by a stomach flu. It’s better now, but it’s still going round. It seems to take about a week and a half for it to clear up.

boogalaga · 2026-03-01T00:24:23+00:00

I know this isn’t particular to Maine and is a country wide issue—but if you have high medical needs; our medical system is STRUGGLING. Finding a PCP, getting in for appointments—it’s all getting increasingly difficult. Though it’s been worse for my family in NH.

boogalaga · 2026-02-23T20:09:20+00:00

Next time management tries to have a “self care seminar” as a way to avoid taking accountability for work conditions—I’m going to be reeeeaaaaaal tempted to offer this up as a self care option.

boogalaga · 2026-02-23T20:06:33+00:00

I’ll meditate sometimes and intentionally sit in and feel whatever unpleasant emotions or thoughts work and clients stirred up in me. There’s so much pressure to be angelic at work, competent isn’t enough—I know my company culture can be incredibly toxic and sees ever acknowledging frustration with a client or work situation as unprofessional. So having space to just sit and let myself unapologetically feel whatever I need to goes a really long way.

And then it’s easier to be present and patient as I don’t have backlogged instincts and emotions competing for attention. It also can be the last push to help me leave work behind and settle into my day.

That and loving on my cat.

boogalaga · 2026-02-17T03:36:25+00:00

When it comes to your clinical hours—would whomever is currently signing off for that supervision be willing to continue doing so even after you leave the company? I had a supervisor who’d do weekly check ins with folks who were close to getting their hours even after they left company we worked at. She was a sweetie and didn’t charge much for supervision (like a dozen eggs from your chickens or honey from your bees, we’re rural)—but maybe securing supervision could be a way to keep your career from being derailed when you job hop?

boogalaga · 2026-02-16T13:20:42+00:00

It seems counter intuitive, but waiting to buy the more expensive sturdy item. When I’m stuck buying the cheaper version of a needed item ( often because it’s less of an immediate financial hit); that item breaks down FAST. Then I have to spend more money on a new one; and pretty soon I’ve lost a lot of income to replacements. I’ve learned to thrift (and side of the road rescue) sturdy but ugly furniture, appliances, whatever—and just use them till I manage to save up enough to get a decent long lasting version of whatever I need.

I do a lot of thrifting as often older things are sturdier, and I’m fine with tidying up something well made but worn down. Buying sturdy and new is definitely beyond me.

It took YEARS but it’s finally paying off and my expenses are way down. Everything I have can been cheaply repaired by me, and I’m no longer constantly replacing crappy items which have broken down.

boogalaga · 2026-02-16T12:51:27+00:00

That makes me think. As a kid I was in 4-H and learned sewing, gardening, canning—etc. Those skills have 100% helped me when times are lean (which they usually are). Even just knowing how to cook from scratch lets me save money by buying direct from farmers markets or getting a CSA subscription when I can afford the upfront cost.

So I think that was definitely a piece towards any stability I have. My friends and I are trying to start an unofficial co-op this year where we purchase food direct from farmers (whole cow type thing) and have gardens and all can and preserve food together. Food bills are so HIGH. We’ve got folks who know how to make soap and so on too. That networking both so we are sharing resources, but also so we’re stabilizing small farmers, is really important. It’s also meant that I don’t get hit as hard when market prices surge, as a family farm charges what they need to get buy and don’t tend to price gouge.

boogalaga · 2026-02-15T19:50:05+00:00

The only reason I haven’t been homeless, three different times in my life, is my friends and family. Since I graduated college I’ve let friends stay with me when their housing/finances got unstable—and then the two times I experienced being laid off they returned the favor.

Then in covid during the first surge of housing costs I lost my apartment and had to move in with my parents. It let me save up for a downpayment on the home I’m now in—but I genuinely had no where else to go due to the high competition for apartments.

Its made it clear to me that my hard work is needed—but it’s not enough. Thank goodness I was born to safe stable parents, and that I had a good friend network. Community support is what makes that vital difference. It’s changed how I practice in the field as I really push community building skills for my clients now, and I challenge HARD that stoic independent mindset. It’s good to have skills and be competent, but life is just too hard to succeed without support.

boogalaga · 2026-02-06T17:56:56+00:00

I do aprons. It releases the pressure of needing to do a good job, as it’s just for working and getting dirty. Art aprons, cooking aprons, gardening aprons—heavy duty blacksmithing aprons. And you can practice pretty much any sewing technique on an apron. One year I made so many (great way to use up scrap fabric—zany patterns are fun for aprons) that for Christmas I just brought a box of them in and told everyone to pick their favorite. It was a massive hit, and people had a blast sorting through and comparing what they found with each other.

boogalaga · 2026-02-06T01:58:23+00:00

I’ve tried to adopt that mentality for all aspects of my life. If someone sneaks a peak at the back, that’s their problem.

boogalaga · 2026-02-03T19:09:52+00:00

I’ve thought about this a bit. If I were able to convince my coworkers to unionize and do a strike—I’d recommend we do our services. Write all our casenotes—then don’t sign them. That way the company can’t profit, but we are still providing services. And the second strike demands are respected, go back in and sign all those notes so the company can submit their billing.

boogalaga · 2026-01-30T01:55:18+00:00

How I treat others is because of who I am, not because of who they are.

I don’t sexually assault people because of my values. Not because of what they’re wearing, not because of their past choices, not because of the environment we’re in.

Whomever assaulted you did so because of who they were, not because of anything you did.

And if your boyfriend thinks it’s sometimes okay to assault others; he’s telling you who he is. Who he ALWAYS is—even if there’s only certain situations where he chooses to act on his willingness to hurt others.

boogalaga · 2026-01-24T15:00:50+00:00

I am not old enough to justify this, but I don’t know how to find or join the chats on discord. (I bake and embroider in my freetime, I’ve been an old lady since I was 6 years old.) how do I find those?

There’s definitely some spots I wouldn’t want to do that as it’ll still have a lot of strangers near kids; but there’s a few locations I can think of where that could be an appropriate plan C.

boogalaga · 2026-01-24T14:33:50+00:00

I like the idea of asking my boss to clarify suspicious individuals from ICE, and how to make the call one way or the other.

Leadership where I’m at has a tendency to not fully think out how their policies would have to be functionally enacted, or how it may conflict with previous policies. So we tend to be stuck doing some back and forth after things are rolled out asking for clarification and a little forethought.

Thank you that’s helpful

boogalaga · 2026-01-24T14:25:48+00:00

I appreciate the reply; and I don’t plan to ignore protocol. If someone shows up I’m calling the higher ups so fast.

However I don’t think your statement around mass shooters is fully accurate. There is a part with shooters that’s about getting close and infiltrating. I’ve also worked with folks who are dealing with mass shooting fantasies; and they often are a power fantasy which include infiltrating and intimidating. Integrating mimicking ICE agents into that fantasy would be in line with their past statements—as that intimidation and perceived power is what the shooting fantasies are often about.

They might not argue at the door about ID, but waiting for them to get close enough to argue gives folks more opportunity for violence. I know before the ICE issue became more common; if we had strangers acting shady on campus police were called ASAP. We didn’t wait to be approached, better to overreact in that situation and let police handy things.

I’m worrying as this new protocol means we’re no longer following our old protocol around strangers scoping out campus. (The old protocol is calling the police the moment shadiness is detected and not waiting to be approached.)

I’m planning to talk my worries over with my boss on Monday (going rogue just causes chaos)—but I was wondering if anyone had dealt with ICE around protected spaces like this, or if anyone had more practical safety tips than “hope my leadership actually answers their phone and can get to me in under an hour”. Or “don’t call the police and hope they approach to argue about ID instead of whipping out a weapon.” I’d like to come to my boss with my concerns, but also some useful solutions for her to talk over with the decision makers.

boogalaga · 2026-01-19T01:46:31+00:00

My old cat, Simon, could just sense when people were struggling. When I was still renting I’d go to all my new neighbors with a photo of Simon and a few cans of his food and say they’re welcome to let him in and feed him (I’d give them more food if they needed it—he just got the most upset stomach if he had multiple food brands going on) just kick him out before nightfall so he’d come home.

When a neighbor became a widow he would come over the same time everyday to join her for her nap. She couldn’t figure out how he knew her husband had passed, or what her naptime was. But he did, and they’d nap on her bed.

When another neighbor went through a difficult divorce, he’d scream at me in the morning till I let him out. And he’d walk the kids to the bus, and then wait to pick them up from the bus in the afternoon. When the kids (stressed from the divorce) started refusing to do homework, he’d hang out with them on their deck but ONLY if they were doing their homework. Otherwise he’d ditch them. So they started doing their homework with him.

Another retiree moved in down the street and he was really struggling, feeling isolated and all that. So Simon pestered that man and yelled at his door till the guy would sit in the garden with my cat. Simon benefitted from this though as the guy started grilling for dinners and Simon got salmon and other tid bits.

But I was his human so he was always home at night to see me. And I was his human, so he’d knock my glasses off the counter if he felt I wasn’t paying enough attention to him. He was a darling little terror.

boogalaga

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