Please join us in congratulating Erika Straight, the recipient of the November Staff on the Rise recognition! Erika has recently been promoted to be the Care Management Program Director. She started with RISE as a Youth Care Manager in 2018. She was quickly promoted to the Senior Youth Care Manager and in September 2020, she was promoted to the Care Manager Supervisor position.
In all of these positions she was very instrumental in the expansion of Youth Care Management into several school districts and surrounding counties. She now looks forward to overseeing all of Care Management and the continued expansion and growth of both Adult and Youth Care Management.
“Erika has done an incredible job. The growth we have seen in these programs translates into tangible results.”
Harlan Hall, RISE Clinical Director, says, “Erika has done an incredible job. She is leading both Adult and Child Care Management Programs to greater heights. The growth we have seen in these programs translates into tangible results. We are able to help more families and individuals meet their mental, physical, and emotional needs.”
“As the program director,” Erika says, “one of the most importation parts of my job is to ensure the individuals we serve receive a continuity of care and that the Care Managers are trained to properly provide that level of care.” Another one of Erika’s primary responsibilities is ensuring the quality of the documentation meets state regulations and the expectations of the Health Home providing oversight to our Care Management program. “An exciting part of leading the Care Management program,” Erika shares, “is collaborating with community partners to expand the Youth Care Management into local school districts and neighboring counties.”
An example of the collaboration with community partners is the collaboration between Youth Care Management and Young Parents United in Schenectady to provide care management services for the pregnant and parenting adolescents receiving services from their agency. “An unexpected opportunity that resulted from this collaboration,” Erika explains, “is that RISE will be able to connect to the Adult Health Home in Schenectady County to expand Adult Care Management to provide care management services to the adolescents as they come of age and need adult services.”
“When I started, there were two Youth Care Management positions, now there are nine positions.”
Since Erika started as a Youth Care Manager in 2019, the number of Youth Care Managers positions has grown expediently. “When I started as a Youth Care Manager,” Erika says, “the two pervious Youth Care Managers had left so I was the only Youth Care manager at that time. However, as we worked on expanding the Youth Care Management into the Corinth School District, not only was another Youth Care Manager hired but two more full time positions were added.” And in 2020, by the time Youth Care Management had expanded into the Amsterdam School District and the three counties it encompassed, three additional positions were created. Now in 2021, with the expansion of Youth Care Management into Schenectady, two positions were created, bringing the total number of Youth Care Managers at RISE to nine.
“I have some college, but many years of lived experience,” Erika responded when asked about her education and background. “My son has lives with both mental health and developmental disabilities. While seeking the help my family needed to help him manage these concerns, I learned to navigate several health systems. He had been in and out of psychiatric hospitals since he was a young child. Finally, with the guidance of Angela Bronzene, the Saratoga County Single Point of Access (SPOA) Coordinator, I was able to put together a Pre-Admission Certification Committee (PACC) referral which allowed him entry into a OMH residential treatment facility.”
At that time the psychiatric hospitals had said that they had done all they could do for Erika’s son and were going to discharge him back to Erika’s home. However, during the discharge meeting, Angela was instrumental in advocating for the hospital to maintain a place for him while Erika completed and submitted a PACC referral and secured placement in residential care.
It was around this same time, in 2016, that a position for a Family Peer Specialist at Community Human Services in Burnt Hills became available. Angela recommended Erika for the position and she was hired. At the same time, because Erika learned about the Care Management services at RISE, she applied to be a Care Manager but because she did not have the required education her application was not considered. However, in 2018 she was hired as a Peer Advocate for the Crisis Stabilization Team at RISE. But because the position was not permanent, she began advocating that RISE apply for a waiver from the Office of Mental Health so she could be hired as a Youth Care Manager once the Peer Advocate position ended. RISE did and Erika was hired as a Child and Youth Care Manager.
“My goals are to continue to grow and expand Child and Youth Care Management into more school districts and neighboring counties.”
“I finally feel I am where I want to be in my career,” Erika shares when discussing her promotion to the Care Management Program Director. “My goals now are to continue to grow and expand Child and Youth Care Management into more school districts and neighboring counties.” When asked about what she enjoys most about being the program director, Erika responded, “seeing the successes of the Care Managers and how they light up when they help the individuals and families overcome the obstacles to obtaining services.” Erika says that she might like to go back to school to complete her education someday, but for now her focus is on growing as the program director, and on her family and her son. “Things are going so well for my son. He is finally home on a full-time basis after living in residential care for five years,” Erika shares. “Education is important, and I’d love to have a BA in Psychology but at the same time I am living proof that experience, empathy, and the ability to connect with others is just as important to be able to succeed in this field.”
In her downtime, Erika enjoys spending time with her family going camping, walking the dogs, swimming, and shopping. She also enjoys the occasional night out to socialize with friends. But most of all Erika enjoys working in care management. “I love my job, and everyone thinks it is strange that I come to work so early, but that hour or so that I am here by myself before everyone else comes in is my ‘me time’.”
RISE administration appreciates all that Erika does for the agency and for the individuals and families we serve. She is highly motivated, compassionate, and dedicated, all the qualities of a Staff on the Rise. Please join us in congratulating her as the recipient of the November Staff on the Rise recognition.