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Carissa Fleming, MSW LSW has recently joined The Valerie Fund family at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, New Jersey Section of Hematology/Oncology located in Voorhees. The Southern New Jersey native is honored to continue serving the community where she has spent most of her life, helping families face adversity and overcome barriers to medical care.

The impact of a cancer diagnosis and the ensuing healthcare services provided by The Valerie Fund are shaped by the philosophy that when a child is diagnosed with cancer, the whole family is diagnosed with cancer. The oncology social worker is a vital member of The Valerie Fund psychosocial team and helps enhance the powerful connection between patients' psychological and emotional well-being and the best treatment outcomes. Carissa assists the medical team in coordinating and managing patient care plans and provides psychosocial assessments to patients and families related to illness adjustment and coping mechanisms.

Carissa is passionate about the collaborative relationships she forms with patients and their families and the emotional support she is able to contribute. As their patient liaison, Carissa assists with the practical matters that come with adjusting to a "new normal" of everyday life. This includes case management of options and services based on the family's financial needs, research of community support resources and applying for government benefits.

"On the front lines of patient care is where I serve best." Carissa received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Rutgers University in Camden earning her Bachelor of Arts in Social Work followed by a Master of Social Work: Clinical Social Work in May, 2014. Her career in medical social work began "out of a passion for working with the underserved." She has seen first-hand the importance of bringing integrated care into the primary care setting, honed during her six-year tenure at Jefferson Health, New Jersey. She has coordinated a community literacy program, developed programs for appropriated grant funding, and secured financial assistance for uninsured and underinsured patients and clients in need. A counselor for youth and new mothers, she has experience in dealing with depression, postpartum depression and anxiety and is proficient in the assessment of mental illness.

Carissa says she joined the staff at The Valerie Fund Children's Center in Voorhees last fall, "because of the warm, caring atmosphere they have created for patient care." She is an extraordinary asset to the team and patients and their families have greatly benefited by her advocacy during a most challenging time in their lives.