"As BCBAs we're part of the whole care team, and that's huge for me."
Why did you come to Sevita and why do you stay?"I love working with adults. For me, there is nothing more rewarding than working with someone who hasn’t had the ability to have early intervention services that we see for younger kids now. So a lot of skills were never taught. To see someone in their 40s be able to access their community for the first time, or participate in things someone said they’d never be able to do is unreal to me."
How does Sevita support you on your career journey? "The support here has been amazing and more than I’ve ever received at any other company—it’s unbelievable.
When I first arrived, my leaders helped me understand that they don’t expect me to know everything or solve every problem. But they do expect me to be a team player. That’s been really refreshing."
What’s your perspective of a ‘team player’? "Understanding that at the end of the day we’re all direct support personnel. That we’re all here for the same reason. And it’s to support the individuals we serve.
We all have credentials, we all have experience. Some of us have a lot of letters behind our name, some of us have a few. But at the end of the day we all bring something to the table. That’s what benefits not just the residents, but our staff, and Sevita as a whole."
What makes Sevita a great place for BCBAs to learn, grow and thrive?
"It’s important to know that you’ll be heard and valued here. And that growth can happen here.
Sevita is a company where you can have it all. If you want to work with kids, you can or if you want to work with adults you can. If you want to work in a clinic setting, you can or if you want to be in the community you can do that as well.
Sevita pushes us to continue to grow, and I feel supported here. Besides the usual conferences and events, when I’ve approached leaders with the opportunity to attend a class or sign staff up for a class, I’ve always heard ‘yes’."
How do you describe Sevita’s culture of diversity and inclusion? "It’s not just ‘we do diversity training’. It’s real support. As an openly gay Hispanic Behavior Analyst I have never once been met with any negativity from any team member-- from corporate and my immediate leadership to Direct Support Professionals. This is an inclusive place to work. Sevita is very much ahead of the game when it comes to diversity and inclusion. That speaks volumes for a company as big as we are in the human services industry."
How do you ‘own your work’ and leave a lasting mark? "They encourage me to be myself here! I love to set up activities, host big parties, and themed events for participants. We did our own Olympics, and are having a formal dance for the residents to celebrate the leap year. Sevita lets me run wild with these ideas that are well outside what I’m ‘supposed to do here’ as a behavior analyst. But the way I look at it is that activities are good for the soul, and help keep people happy, and happy people are less likely to have problematic behaviors. When we keep morale up for residents and staff then we’re in a really good place. That’s what ‘putting my own thumbprint’ on my work looks like for me."
Sarah’s Fun Fact: "I love trashy reality TV!"
.How does Sevita support you on your career journey? "The support here has been amazing and more than I’ve ever received at any other company—it’s unbelievable.
When I first arrived, my leaders helped me understand that they don’t expect me to know everything or solve every problem. But they do expect me to be a team player. That’s been really refreshing."
What’s your perspective of a ‘team player’? "Understanding that at the end of the day we’re all direct support personnel. That we’re all here for the same reason. And it’s to support the individuals we serve.
We all have credentials, we all have experience. Some of us have a lot of letters behind our name, some of us have a few. But at the end of the day we all bring something to the table. That’s what benefits not just the residents, but our staff, and Sevita as a whole."
What makes Sevita a great place for BCBAs to learn, grow and thrive?
"It’s important to know that you’ll be heard and valued here. And that growth can happen here.
Sevita is a company where you can have it all. If you want to work with kids, you can or if you want to work with adults you can. If you want to work in a clinic setting, you can or if you want to be in the community you can do that as well.
Sevita pushes us to continue to grow, and I feel supported here. Besides the usual conferences and events, when I’ve approached leaders with the opportunity to attend a class or sign staff up for a class, I’ve always heard ‘yes’."
How do you describe Sevita’s culture of diversity and inclusion? "It’s not just ‘we do diversity training’. It’s real support. As an openly gay Hispanic Behavior Analyst I have never once been met with any negativity from any team member-- from corporate and my immediate leadership to Direct Support Professionals. This is an inclusive place to work. Sevita is very much ahead of the game when it comes to diversity and inclusion. That speaks volumes for a company as big as we are in the human services industry."
How do you ‘own your work’ and leave a lasting mark? "They encourage me to be myself here! I love to set up activities, host big parties, and themed events for participants. We did our own Olympics, and are having a formal dance for the residents to celebrate the leap year. Sevita lets me run wild with these ideas that are well outside what I’m ‘supposed to do here’ as a behavior analyst. But the way I look at it is that activities are good for the soul, and help keep people happy, and happy people are less likely to have problematic behaviors. When we keep morale up for residents and staff then we’re in a really good place. That’s what ‘putting my own thumbprint’ on my work looks like for me."
Sarah’s Fun Fact: "I love trashy reality TV!"