Meet Christy
Christy Pruess brings more than 28 years of dedicated experience serving children, adults, families, caregivers, and stakeholders with behavioral health, substance use, and intellectual and developmental disabilities. She received her B.S. degree in Psychology and her M.A. in Community Counseling in 1996 from Appalachian State University. She began her professional career as a Child Case Manager where she developed the skills, knowledge and understanding of the unique challenges and needs faced by this population. During her career, Christy worked in a variety of roles that expanded her expertise and broadened her perspectives on service delivery, integrated care and stakeholder/provider collaborations through the behavioral health managed care system. She has supervised therapeutic foster homes, worked in Utilization Management and provider relations developing skills to provide guidance and support in a variety of settings to support service delivery. As a Care Management Director, Christy had the opportunity to collaborate with members, families, providers and stakeholders at both the regional and state level on the development and implementation of policies, procedures and best practices to individuals on the 1915(c) Waiver (Innovations Waiver) as well as children with complex needs.
Christy has been a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor since 2002. She holds certification as a Dual Diagnosis Specialist through NADD and contributes to the organization by serving on the Specialist Committee and participating as an interviewer for perspective NADD-DDS candidates. In addition, Christy is a recognized member of the START National Advisory Council, reflecting her commitment to advancing best practices and supporting individuals with dual diagnoses in need of crisis services.