Professional Summary:
Bilingual (English and Spanish) and bicultural professional Social Worker with 10 years experience serving children, adolescents and adults in mental health settings, schools, hospitals, juvenile detention, jails, their homes and the courts and two years teaching and role modeling professional social work values and ethics in a University setting. Over 14 years business and social work administration facilitating change management, coaching and leading employees, identifying and removing barriers to care, increasing cultural competency awareness, collecting and analyzing data, conducting workflow analyses, conducting training workshops, preparing reports, educating the community and working across governmental departments to solve community challenges. Attended mediation training in October, 2008.
Education
Master of Social Work, Arizona State University 2004
Thesis: Predictor Factors Which Predict Adherence and Non-Adherence
To Court Ordered Treatment
Bachelor of Social Work, Arizona State University 2001
LMSW- Temporary License issued by Texas Board of Social Work Examiners expires 1/17/2010
Foster Parent
Licensed through the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and State of Arizona. 05/06 – 11/08
Professional Social Work Experience
Home Health Care Social Work, Contract employee, Houston, TX July, 2009 - Current
Conduct social work assessments in homes based on referrals. Complete required paperwork, create treatment plans, identify required resources and make necessary referrals.
Behavioral Health Therapist, Valle Del Sol, Phoenix, Arizona
April, 2008 – December, 2008
Provided one-to-one counseling to adults with general mental health needs and facilitated men and women’s group using art as a medium. Conducted psychiatric and bio psychosocial evaluations. Records were updated in accordance to agency and CARF standards. Evidence based curriculums were used for substance abuse groups and individuals. Worked directly with psychiatrists and other office staff to coordinate services and update treatment plans as necessary.
Associate Coordinator of Field Education, Arizona State University,
College of Public Programs, School of Social Work, March, 2006 – April, 2008
Served as assistant to the Field Education Coordinator and was responsible for annually placing 500 student interns in public, private, for-profit and non-profit agencies statewide. Conducted workshops for Field Instructors quarterly to ensure student success in their internships and mediated problems as required. Researched and developed community partnerships with agencies that served vulnerable populations and fulfilled the school’s mission and criteria. Assisted in new agency affiliations, updated office procedures and records and worked to mainstream office processes. Reviewed, collected and analyzed data for reports, goal setting and process improvement. Acted as a liaison between the University and the community to disseminate information from community partners to students and visa- versa.
School Social Worker, Riverview High School, Mesa Public Schools, September, 2004 - March, 2006
Served as school social worker at an alternative high school with a 95% minority population. Implemented Keepin’ it Real, an evidenced based, culturally grounded drug prevention model endorsed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) for this population (Native American and Mexican/American). Conducted a Needs-Analysis for this school to provide direction to administration on allocating educational and social service resources for high-need kids and families in Mesa Arizona and on the adjacent Salt River Pima-Maricopa County Indian Reservation. Acted as the school mental health liaison by coordinating the school administrators, teachers and the special education department with the mental health agencies to determine the child’s psychiatric needs at school. Provided educational training on topics including bullying, dating violence, drugs, self-image, girl’s self-esteem and girls health issues. Teens were provided social skills and leadership skills with pro-social activities done in the community such as having a car wash for hurricane Katrina victims and performing Christmas carols at senior centers.
Stakeholder Liaison, ValueOptions, Regional Behavioral Health Authority (RBHA) June 2003 – September, 2004
Served as liaison for RBHA to families with children in the behavioral health system experiencing barriers to treatment and/or who were involved in multiple systems. Promoted and educated the community about RBHA services via presentations at schools, meetings with state agencies, local law and health conferences, and other venues of communication. Identified quality issues and worked with internal departments, non-profit agencies and system partners to ensure state mandates were met and the families were served timely and appropriately. Acted within a team of professionals to mediate problem resolution to prevent and or minimize Arizona state dependency cases by working collaboratively with the child, the family, Child Protective Services (CPS), Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections, schools, Office of the Legal Advocate (child’s attorney) and the parents and their attorneys. My goal was to identify the root cause of the problem(s) and help to find resources needed to keep families in tact and decrease the need for the Office of the Attorney General to initiate dependency custody hearings. The state did see this process as a viable means to reduce the work load at the Attorney Generals Office and most importantly to refrain from tearing families apart to later put them back together. Participated in the State of Arizona, Department of Education subcommittee and developed a communication marketing plan to educate school administrators about the RBHA’s new wraparound services called The Arizona Model “Child and Family Teams”. I collaborated with non-profit agencies and state agencies to develop a behavioral health report informing Juvenile Justices about the progress and therapeutic goals of children in their system. I served on the Arizona Behavioral Health Department’s Cultural Competency Policy committee temporarily..
Administration Intern, ValueOptions, May, 2002 - June, 2003
Areas of research included; Federal Cultural Competency Standards (CLAS) and Organizational Change Management, data analysis, school based services, school demographics, and basic geo-mapping. Assisted in creating a presentation for the CEO entitled “Leading an Organization through Change” based on his work with the new model of service delivery for child serving agencies call the Arizona Model Child and Family Teams. Presented results from a county-wide sampling analysis of 8,000 seriously mentally ill adults who utilize the Maricopa County mental health system to the CEO of Value Options (RBHA) and the CEOs of non-profit agencies who represent the Cultural Competency Policy Committee. As a committee member, I provided feedback to the training departmen...
Login or Register to view the full resume.
