How Hopebridge Extends Care to as Many Kids Possible

A Closer Look at the Credentialing Team and Their Impact Across Our Autism Therapy Clinics

In every organization, there are hidden team members working behind the scenes to help make the magic happen. At Hopebridge, our home office in Indianapolis, IN works tirelessly to support our centers and clinical field across the country.

The credentialing department offers an invaluable service to our clinicians, handling some of the important administrative pieces so they can spend their time providing therapy. Their team completes all the necessary paperwork needed for clinical staff to provide care to a child. This process is tedious to some and can take upwards of 90 days, depending on different factors. Many providers require individual clinicians to complete their own credentialing. At Hopebridge, this dedicated team takes the burden off of our staff, allowing them to focus on what really matters: the children.

We interviewed Angie Graff, Credentialing Manager, and Stephen Dicarlo, Credentialing Assistant Manager, to learn more about their team and the impactful work that they do.

How long have you worked at Hopebridge on the Credentialing Team?

In true Hopebridge fashion, Angie has been dedicated to serving the autism community for 15 years – can we get a round of applause?! Angie started at Hopebridge as an ABA therapist and over the years transitioned and created the credentialing team, which she has operated for six years. If you would like to learn more about Angie’s incredible journey at Hopebridge, visit this Since 2005: Years of Hope blog post.

Stephen has been working at Hopebridge for two and a half years and has been with the credentialing team from the beginning of his journey. Stephen’s contributions to the team led to his promotion to assistant manager.

How would you describe your role in one sentence?

Stephen describes his job as “ensuring new clinicians get credentialed as quickly as possible to begin providing services.” Similarly, Angie says that she leads her team “to ensure that our centers and providers are in network with all of our insurance partners.” The work that the credentialing team does for the clinical staff is crucial to Hopebridge’s mission of expanding care to every child that needs it.

What is your favorite part of your job?

Angie takes pride in knowing that she is helping our kiddos in her own way; working behind the scenes to take work off the clinicians’ shoulders helps the centers run much more efficiently. Stephen shares that his favorite part of working in credentialing is “split between meeting all of our wonderful new clinicians joining the Hopebridge team and working with new insurance providers to allow even more families to receive our services.”

What is your “why”? What inspires you to come to work every day?

For Angie, she says that her inspiration comes from her adult son who has autism. She says “When he was diagnosed there were no services available in our area, so I worked with him to build the skills he was lacking or struggling with. I am here to ensure that doesn’t happen to another parent.”

Stephen says that his “why” is “knowing that I can help our clinicians focus on providing care to the kids.” He also loves that his role “directly helps new kids and families to receive the services at Hopebridge.”

How were you introduced to the autism/ABA world?

Hopebridge was Stephen’s first introduction to the ABA world. He says “I never imagined how much I would learn, but it has been an amazing journey! It is truly unique to be part of an organization where everyone subscribes wholeheartedly to the mission.”

Angie worked with special needs in her local school system. When her son was diagnosed with autism, she immersed herself in the world of autism to help her son be the best version of himself he could be, which led her to Hopebridge and the rest is history.

What emoji describes you best?

Angie plays such an integral role at Hopebridge and she helps so many people. This is the graphic that she says describes her busy life.  

Stephen says that the smiling face emoji 😊 describes him best. Stephen tries to keep a smile and a positive attitude no matter how tough or stressful the work becomes.

Even after being pulled in so many different directions, Angie and Stephen are excited about and stay focused on the impact of their work. They both boast about how amazing their team is. Their passion for fulfilling the Hopebridge mission is inspiring. If you would like to join this passionate and dedicated team or another area of Hopebridge, visit our careers page to view open positions across the United States. We are always searching for enthusiastic members to join our team!

Blog content courtesy of Kaitlynn Coffman.

*Informed consent was obtained from the participants in this article. This information should not be captured and reused without express permission from Hopebridge, LLC.