{Pictured: The case management team at Y.O.U. (from left to right): Lashear Price, Adenike Mosley-Brown, Sherena Frazier-Miller, Michelle Spencer-Newsome, and Alice Gallego}

Last month, we highlighted the importance of case management to participant success in Y.O.U. programs. This month, we're highlighting the Day One Case Management team: Alice Gallego, Lashear Price, Sherena Frazier-Miller, and Adenike Mosley-Brown. We sat down for a conversation with the team to hear how they see their roles, what makes Y.O.U. case management different, and what they see as their greatest successes.

Q: How would you define your role as a case manager?Sherena Frazier-Miller: To help develop, plan and coordinate services to young people, the provider must be responsible. You must be accessible and ready to lead. That takes a lot of responsibility, especially when some youth are not prepared to change old habits. Lashear Price: Absolutely.  Also, knowing that I'm the person who helps participants eliminate the barriers that may prevent them from being successful.

Q: What makes case management at Y.O.U. different?Alice Gallego: What makes case management different and successful at Y.O.U. is the same thing that makes Y.O.U. different and successful in other areas: a committed staff with the drive to serve young people who strive to do better today than the day before. Adenike Mosley-Brown: And our ability to form an ongoing professional relationship with our participants and provide them with coaching and services that will be useful throughout their lives.

Q: How does the support of the case manager enable participants to thrive?Sherena Frazier-Miller: Every young person needs to believe in something and/or someone. As a case manager, you want them to know they can trust and believe in you– that you have their best interest at heart. If you don’t show the kind of love and concern they need, they will find it hard to thrive. Trust is important.

Q: What’s one challenging aspect of your job that most people wouldn’t think about?Adenike Mosley-Brown: One of the challenging aspects of being a case manager is the need to constantly perform high-level multitasking, to make sure that every participant has what he or she needs to succeed. I work to stay highly organized which helps immensely.

Q: What do you consider your greatest success? Lashear Price: My greatest success is seeing our young adults complete the Day One program and obtain employment to help end the cycle of poverty and live the life they deserve.

Q: What is one thing you wish more people understood about case management?Alice Gallego: Case management is a process. It takes time to develop the relationships and trust needed to foster a space of honesty. That time is different for each individual. We are in this for the long-term and the kind of impact we are making isn’t always visible after 2 weeks or 3 weeks or even 3 months. Yet it is extremely beneficial to those individuals who are now equipped with tools that will continue to serving them long after they earn a credential.