Cara Sutliffe

Work History

Self employed.

08.2018 - Current

Conducted interviews with parents with children 0 to 3 years old. Throughout the state of Michigan, finding out what their needs & wants are. What is and isn't working in the state of Michigan for them.
Connecting parents to resources to be able to get classes on parenting skills, child development, behavior management strategies and other related topics.
As well as some commity resources such as housing, food banks, healthcare and childcare programs.
I have been Collaborating with 2 differant school personnel to ensure that my children educational goals were being met for the past 12 years as well as helped some friends with their children IEP meeting.
Advocate for families within the Early Childhood system by bringing the parent voice to many different organizations boards such as home visiting programs with my Local Leadership group Great Start Parent Collaborative, Thank Babies Michigan as well as the MICC State Michigan's appointed board.

Self-employeed

Grand Rapids, MI

06.2011 - Current

My first son 2011 and was born prematurely and spent some time in the NICU and we found out he was born hard of hearing shortly after birth. So life with special needs Services started immediately in my parenting career.
My second son was born in 2014. At 25 hour olds he stopped breathing and had to be resuscitated the lack of oxygen caused a lot of delays so he had intense special services for the first years of his life.
Both of my daughters oldest being born in 2016 youngest 2020 also received early on services for speech my three older children all have IEPs now for different reasons.
I'm an excellent coordinator of appointments and scheduler keeper
Assisted with meal preparation, including grocery shopping and cooking for the family.
Organized and tidied up bedrooms, playrooms, and other living areas in the home.
Accompanied children to doctor appointments and extracurricular activities.
Developed positive relationships with each child in order to create a safe environment.

Head Start of Kent County

Grand Rapids, MI

03.2014 - 01.2017

Facilitated activities that promote physical, social, emotional and cognitive development of preschoolers.
Encouraged positive behavior through verbal praise, rewards and other appropriate methods of discipline.
Provided a safe and nurturing environment for children to learn and explore new ideas.
Supervised students in classroom settings as well as during outdoor playtime activities.
Assisted teachers in implementing individualized educational programs for each student.