Meet Our Center for Youth in Transition Team

JaRon Casey
Peer Support Specialist, The Zone

Hi, I’m JaRon Casey, and I am a Youth Peer Support at The Zone, I like all types of games ranging from video games to board or card games. I was born and raised in Paducah, Kentucky, and I was a quiet kid with depression for a good chunk of my life and I really wouldn’t get out the house much until I started going to the Zone my sophomore year of high school. Overtime I started being more comfortable with my personality and my surroundings , then some time passes and I graduate high school and with figuring out what I want to do after high school, I saw an opportunity to help people that been through what I’ve been through and decided to become a Youth Peer Support.”

James DeVries
Peer Support Specialist, The Zone

Hi, my name is James DeVries. I work here at Four Rivers Behavioral Health (The Zone) as a Certified Peer Support for Adults. I love to listen to music, play guitar and be outdoors with my friends. I do more than I talk. So don’t let my quietness fool you. More specifically, I like to do favors and help people more than I like talking about it. Some of my other interests include video games, hiking, and cooking. I love to create different dishes that no one has ever had before. Putting a smile on someone’s face with a little home cooked genius recipe is my specialty and sometimes its my passion…With that being said. A little piece of my past is full of outpatient drug treatment programs and being on probation for stealing. I was a completely different person back then, but eventually I came around and accepted my life as it is. NOT accepting who I Thought I was when I was using or stealing. But accepting the real me. The real me that was hidden and suppressed by my “anxiety” and “fear” that was induced by drugs and my wrongdoings. Scared of everyone’s opinion about me, hiding in a dark corner full of what I thought was “goodies”(drugs) . Leading me towards a life full of anguish and physical distress. Therefore what I try to provide our clients with, here at “The Zone”, is physical and mental breakthroughs inducing empowerment, allowing them to gain trust in themselves again and to grant them access to legitimize there life so that they feel worthy of everything that we take for granted. I can relate to and connect with almost anybody. I love to see positive changes in someone whether its my fault or not. Im always there to help. Its not only my job, but my passion and purpose in life. Thank you.

Cassidy Herndon
Youth Coordinator, The Zone

My name is Cassidy Herndon, and I am the Local Level Youth Coordinator for The Zone. I’m 24 years old, and I am in recovery with substance use disorder. My hobbies include reading, playing video games, and eating at new places. I’m also an art and music lover, and I like to spend most of my time with my family and the people I love.

Jared Hughes
Local Level Project Director, The Zone

My name is Jared Hughes and I am the Local Level Project Director for the Zone. I have been working in the mental health field for 7 years. I started as a Clinical Associate at the Four rivers Behavioral Health’s William H. Fuller Memorial Center Residential Drug Treatment Program. I taught classes and monitored individuals with Substance Use Disorders. I then worked as a Case Manager in the Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities Program at Four Rivers for 6 years before moving to the position I am in now. I like working with and helping youth. I enjoy playing video and board games as well as sports. Of course, I am always available to talk if needed.

Zaneta Moss
Youth Coordinator, The Zone

Hey! My name is Zaneta, I am 26 and I am a Youth Peer Support Specialist at the Zone. I love anime, music, games of all kind and trying new foods. I have lived experience with psychosis, BPD (borderline personality disorder), anxiety and depression. Mario party is my jam and I’d love to share my story over some mini games.

Amanda Lee Ann McIntosh
Program Manager, iHOPE

I have been working in the mental health field for nine years. I have a Bachelors in Social Work, Maters of Education, and a Specialization in Mental Health Counseling. I am certified to do the Skid and Sips.
I started working in I Hope January 12, 2020 as the program manager/therapist. We work with the age group of 15-30 that are experiencing first episode psychosis. The I Hope team strives to make a difference. We strive to help other have a better quality of life. I guide people through personal challenges, help with burdens, and empower people to take control of their life. I work in mental health because I believe people can recover from a mental illness, and that can change a life.

Erin Northington, LCSW
ACT Program Manager

Hi! I am Erin and I am the Program Coordinator/Clinician for the Assertive Community Treatment Program for Youth. I graduated from Murray State University with my Bachelor’s in Social Work in 2009. I worked in a variety of settings until I found my passion in the community mental health field at Four Rivers Behavioral Health in 2013. I then went back to school for my Masters of Social Work through Our Lady of the Lake University and graduated in 2015. I have been working as a clinician with Four Rivers Behavioral Health since then. In 2018, I was given the opportunity to start the Assertive Community Treatment Program for Youth and cannot imagine doing anything else! I enjoy working with this age group witnessing them work through barriers, find themselves, find success and feel empowered to be who they are. I also love silly jokes, spending time with my family and friends, music and taking spontaneous trips!

Jacquelynn Patterson, M.A.
Case Manager, Ihope

Hello. My name is Jacquelynn Patterson. I am the targeted case manager (TCM) for iHOPE at Four Rivers Behavioral Health. I have been the iHOPE TCM since August 2019. I have been doing case management in some fashion since November 2016. This is a passion that strongly runs through my family. While I initially tried to avoid this field, my hearts-desire has always been to be someone’s spark of hope when all else seems lost.

When our clients come to us they are at one of their lowest points and confused by what is going on with them. Most of them have stated they don’t know what is normal anymore. I enjoy seeing them get from that point to thriving again by insuring that any services they need, whether is be medication services, therapy/counseling, peer supports or other available services are set up and that they are able to get to and from those appointments/places regularly while they are finding their way again. I also work with them on everyday goals. These goals can be something as simple to obtaining a driver’s permit, finishing high school/GED to even completing college and entering into the work force. Ultimately my job is to work myself out of job with them while they learn to spread their wings and fly.

Christian Waggoner
Peer Support Specialists, Ihope

My name is Christian Waggoner I am Peer Support with, I hope. I have worked with Four Rivers Behavioral Health for three years. I started as a youth peer support for the zone. I felt like I need to do more for myself in my work. I then got my adult peer support certificate and I started to looking in to jobs available through the company and found, I hope. I Decide I want to work with people that had psychosis and to find out more about psychosis.

I love that every day I get to be there for young adults when they are having problems and feel like they have no one to talk and I can be there for them. In I hope I am learning everyday more and more about psychosis and get to client about it. I also love to work with young adults with their short-term goals they have set for their life I get to see them strive in success they can make.

Hailey Ziegler, MSW, CSW
Transition Age Youth Therapist

Hello, my name is Hailey Ziegler and I have worked in the mental health field for 6 years.
I can’t tell if I am a glass half-empty or a glass half-full person because I keep drinking the water. I enjoy working with individuals between the ages of 15 and 25. There are a lot of awesome and nerve-wracking situations happening during this time of your life and sometimes things get dicey. Together, we will navigate adulting, independence, and learning to make the most of your choices while building the relationship you have with yourself.