“Lindsey has a positive attitude and radiates a gentle, but firm spirit, which is essential in advocating for youth and families.”
Please join us in congratulating Lindsey Cook, the recipient of the January Staff on the Rise recognition! Lindsey joined the Youth Care Management team in January 2020 and was promoted to the Senior Youth Care Management position in the Springs of 2021. She is an inspiration to her team in her role as a Senior Care Manager. She leads by example – excelling in her job and demonstrating an exemplary work ethic. Lindsey loves working with and advocating for children and youth and their families. She enjoys working at RISE, especially in Care Management because, she says, everyone is approachable, kind, and willing to help and collaborate with each other.
Erika Straight, Care Management Program Director says, “Lindsey possesses a positive attitude and radiates a gentle, but firm spirit, which is essential when advocating for the youth and families we work with. She has stellar communication skills and collaborates well with both her team members and with our community partners. Lindsey often goes above and beyond to ensure the needs of those we serve are met. Lindsey genuinely exemplifies the agency’s mission and core values in ensuring that the children we work with have the resources they need to live safely in our community.”
“I enjoy the team approach to Care Management.”
As a Senior Care Manger, Lindsey supervises three other Youth Care Mangers, providing guidance, troubleshooting errors, and offering other supports as needed. Lindsey explains, “During supervision, I assist the Care Managers to processing their caseloads, debrief, share resources, ideas, etc. It is as meaningful for me as it is to the Care Mangers I supervise. We all learn so much from each other. She also collaborates with Erika and Morgan Murdza, Youth Care Management Program Supervisor, to coordinate billing. She attends both the weekly staff meeting and the weekly leadership meeting. “I enjoy the team approach to Care Management,” Lindsey shares. “Collaborating with other Care Managers allows us to find ways to provide services and solve problems that we might not have thought of on our own.”
In addition to her leadership role, Lindsey continues to carry a case load. She says, “Although I enjoy my leadership role, my favorite part of my job is working with the kiddos. It is such a great thing to help children and youth affective by adversity.” Lindsey enjoys advocating for them and finds value in collaborating with school Social Workers and Counselors. “It allows us to be creative and develop innovative plans on how to best support the youth and their families in all aspects of their lives, especially when there are hard issues to be addressed.” Through this approach, she not only helps the child or youth in need, but she also helps the family stabilize and create a safe environment. “Once I know the needs of the entire family,” Lindsey explains, “I often refer the parents to adult Care Management to obtain the services they need to stabilize and make a more cohesive and safe family unit.
“As Youth Care Management expands, we are able to support more kids who are vulnerable and affected by adversity.”
“I like that Youth Care Management is expanding to other schools in the surrounding counties,” says Lindsey when discussing the growth and expansion of Youth Care Management during the past two years that she has been with RISE. “As we grow and expand, we are able to support more kids who are vulnerable and affected by adversity, especially with the added stress of the COVID pandemic has caused families.” Youth Care Management currently provides services in Saratoga and six surrounding counties. “I look forward to providing services in more schools in each of these counties as well as expanding to other counties in this area. Because” she says, “the more we expand, the more kids in need we can help.”
Lindsey attended SUNY Plattsburg where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in human development and Family Relations. She has plans to attend UAlbany this fall to being working on a Master of Social Work degree in the fall. “I am passionate about therapy, and I hope to eventually become a therapist,” Lindsey shares. “I am interested in working with people on an individual basis.” Lindsey overcame obstacles in her life while growing up and she wants to help others – especially young people – to overcome theirs. “I struggled a lot in school, but my parents were great advocates for me. They worked with my school counselors and got me the supports she needed to succeed. I want to follow their example and help others get the help the supports they need to overcome their struggles.” In her work as a Care Manager, Lindsey she sees how therapists help the youth she works with which inspires her to pursue this goal. “I feel that it is important for people to be able to access therapy. It is often so important in solving issues to have someone present to provide an unbiased opinion and the guidance needed to resolve the conflict they are facing.”
“My parents set a great example for me. They are both hard working and provided very well for our family.”
Because Lindsey worked so hard in school to succeed, she feels that this discipline has carried with her to do her best in the work environment as well. Prior to working at RISE, Lindsey worked as a camp counselor for adults with disabilities and as a treatment coordinator, doing intakes and making referrals for people with development disabilities. “I like to work hard and do a good job. My parents set a great example for me. They are both hard working and provided very well for our family.”
Lindsey has two sisters, one younger and one older, a one-year-old niece who she loves spending time with, and is engaged to be married to her fiancé, Ray, in September. She likes to dance and keep physically fit by going to the gym and doing outdoor activities in the summertime like hiking, walking, and running. “I’m a part-time certified personal trainer,” she shares, “I have made fitness be a big part of my life because of how it makes me feel both physically and mentally, which is important.” She loves spending time with her friends and family – eating a yummy meal, watching tv, go for walks, having game night with her girlfriends, watching Netflix, and cuddling with her cat to find peace after a long day.
RISE administration appreciates all that Lindsey does for the agency and for the youth and their families that 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 January Staff on the Rise recognition.