Did you know that a new business in the Dothan area provides health services to individuals and families in need? In this episode of "Home Grown", we’re going to sit down with Candice Crenshaw of Health Connect America in Dothan to learn about their programs. We’ll discuss everything from foster care to mental health services to give you an idea of all that Health Connect America offers.
Meet Candice Crenshaw
Candice Crenshaw is the program director at Health Connect American Dothan. Anissa Smith, a Realtor from our team here at Property Champions Real Estate, sat down with her to learn more. Candice explains that Health Connect America is located in five states: Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. Dothan makes the eighth location of Health Connect America in Alabama.
Since opening on November 12th, Candice is looking forward to thriving in the community. In 2007, she went to Troy University and got her Bachelor's Degree in social work. She earned her second degree in 2012, a Master's in clinical mental health counseling. She’s currently working on her Ph.D. in counselor education and supervision, continuing to learn all she can to help others.
In addition to extensive education, Candice has worked with children for over 10 years. She’s worked at a group home, outpatient therapy, and private practice before becoming the program director of Health Connect America in Dothan.
Journey To Program Director
When Candice first graduated with her Master's, she was doing outpatient therapy. This came with a large caseload, making it harder to see the progression of growth as much as they want to. With that large caseload, Candice was seeing a lot of people in one month. This means she would only see a patient one time per month or as needed.
She next went to intensive in-home. With that program, she had a small number of people that she had to see for intensive therapy for 12 to 16 weeks. This allowed her to see patients as much as they would allow her to come into the home for the week. She could then see the growth a little bit more.
At her current position as program director, she can see the moving parts of all programs at one time.
Services Offered
Tyler Kent, another member of our Property Champions Real Estate team, sat down with Candice to learn more about the services they offer. As a mental health organization, Candice explains that they do a plethora of things. These include what they call core services—what most people know as outpatient therapy.
In addition to outpatient family therapy, they also do case management, psychoeducation, intensive in-home, IOP (intensive outpatient), and substance abuse services. They also do therapeutic foster care as well. What does the process look like if somebody wants to get into becoming a foster parent?
Candice is passionate about therapy and foster care. She says that people who are interested in fostering can come in anytime to get set up in their system or reach out via email. Once they do, Candice and her team will start the referral process.
Foster Care
There are three levels or types of foster care: traditional, therapeutic, and enhanced. Candice explains that many people don't know that foster care doesn't have to last years and years. Of course, they would love for it to if you have the space in your home, as foster parents are also able to adopt. The purpose of foster care is for foster parents to help the families get back to where they need to be and receive their children back into their homes.
Candice says they mostly need foster parents to come on come on board and actually help them with the children. Foster families can keep them for months or years to help. They also do emergency placements and respite placements, which might only last a weekend. They need all sorts of placements right now, and anything helps.
Mental Health And Counseling
Along with foster care services, people can access counseling and other mental health care services at Health Connect America. To do so, simply fill out an application or referral online on their website.
Select the county you’d like to receive services, and someone will reach out. They offer telehealth counseling, which you can receive live over their telehealth system (much like Zoom or Teams). These services are available for children, adults, and families alike.
The Dothan Business Community
We’re thankful that Candice took the time to talk with us and let us know more about Health Connect America in Dothan. Foster care, foster parenting, and mental health services are very much needed in our community, and we’re grateful that Candice and her team are fulfilling that need.
As a member of the Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce, the business community is here to support Health Connect America. For those interested, Candice is looking for a case pitcher to get the team fully staffed. She’s hoping to hire a secretary and office manager by Spring to get the team up and running. So if you’re looking for a new career or employment opportunity, reach out to Candice.
The work is very, very important in the community and desperately needed. You will be fulfilling a purpose each and every day with the work that you do. Health Connect America is located at the Bel Air Plaza on West Main Street in Dothan, Alabama. To reach Candice, call her at the office at 334-796-4056 to speak with her directly.
Supporting The Community
I hope this gave you a good idea of everything that Health Connect America offers to our community. We’re proud to support our local businesses throughout the Dothan community, especially the ones that are fulfilling such needed purposes. In every person's life, each day, they’re making the world a better place.
If you want to keep up-to-date on more businesses and things happening in our Wiregrass area, make sure you subscribe to our channel so you never miss an episode of "Home Grown". Stay tuned to see what we feature next!