Cheyleen Cruz
Davenport,FL
Summary
Professional with significant expertise in child welfare and family services. Proven track record of enhancing family stability and ensuring child safety through effective case management and strong advocacy. Adept at collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to achieve optimal outcomes, adaptable to evolving needs, and consistently reliable. Strong skills in assessment, problem-solving, and communication, with focus on making impactful decisions to support permanency planning.
Overview
13
13
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Permanency Specialist
Children's Home Society of Florida
05.2025 - Current
- Lead and facilitate 60 or more permanency staffings for the agency within a month, ensuring timely, safe, and appropriate permanency outcomes for children and families.
- Utilize mediation, conflict resolution, and collaborative decision-making strategies to resolve case-related disagreements and support unified care planning.
- Uphold all legal, ethical, and confidentiality standards related to child welfare operations, ensuring compliance with state and agency requirements.
- Document staffing outcomes, recommendations, and decisions in the Florida Safe Families Network (FSFN) with accuracy, clarity, and regulatory compliance.
- Collaborate with teams to evaluate case progress, identify barriers, and support permanency planning aligned with best practices.
Dependency Specialist
Children's Home Society of Florida
07.2022 - 05.2025
- Organized and facilitated Court Order Family Team Conferences for parents whose children have been removed from their care.
- Clarified the dependency process and expectations with parents.
- Collaborated with parents to evaluate their children's needs for a safe return and develop a detailed plan with necessary changes and support services.
- Planned and coordinated efforts to foster positive relationships with agencies and community members.
- Conducted comprehensive assessments to evaluate the behavioral and emotional needs of children.
- Offered assistance to prevent disruptions in placements and participate in meetings to address concerns.
- Served as a bridge between parents, caregivers, case managers, schools, and other relevant parties throughout the case.
- Conducted home visits and monitor cases.
- Attended court hearings, multi-disciplinary meetings, staffings and follow up on incidents reported.
- Ensured accurate entry of all file documentation and process data in the Florida Safe Families Network (FSFN).
- Prepared documentation for court appearances, testify at hearings, and collaborate with Children's Legal Services.
- Evaluated parental compliance with the case plan for reopening dependency cases and provide court recommendations.
Dependency Case Manager
Children's Home Society of Florida
04.2020 - 07.2022
- Assessed the needs of children and families, evaluated their environment, and connected them to community resources to maintain and strengthen the family unit.
- Increased parental engagement by addressing barriers such as transportation, scheduling conflicts, or language differences through proactive solutions.
- Facilitated the removal and placement of children into safe environments when necessary.
- Developed and maintained quality case and program documentation reflecting client progress, company objectives, and Department of Children and Family requirements.
- Regularly visited homes to monitor and support clients.
- Managed a caseload of 30 children or more.
- Provided court testimonies, delivering client case status reports and recommendations on reunification, termination of parental rights, or other permanency plans.
- Enhanced team communication by attending regular case review meetings, promoting information sharing, and fostering a collaborative work environment.
- Conducted comprehensive assessments and developed individualized case plans to improve family stability.
- Provided crisis support to families by coordinating emergency services and appropriate resources.
- Established rapport with families by building trust, demonstrating empathy, and actively listening to their concerns.
- Maintained accurate documentation of all case management activities for compliance with state regulations and agency policies.
- Collaborated with legal advocates to represent clients' best interests during court proceedings, ensuring effective communication of accurate case information.
- Promoted family reunification by implementing tailored services to strengthen parent-child relationships and address reunification barriers.
- Conducted regular home visits to assess living conditions, monitor progress, and offer support to clients navigating challenging situations.
- Enhanced child safety by collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to address risk factors and implement interventions.
- Mentored new Dependency Case Managers, sharing best practices and providing guidance on cases.
Case Manager III
Valley Youth House
03.2015 - 08.2019
- Far exceeded 90% services expectation averaging 97.5% throughout each year.
- Engaged and maintained up to 20 youth and families for up to six months.
- Completed yearly 15 training hours to meet program standards.
- Supported children and families in fostering independence, growth, and development.
- Assisted children and families in achieving their identified goals.
- Accurately assess strengths, supports, and barriers of families, identified children, and communities.
- Assisted in decreasing chronic absenteeism from children attending Allentown School District by providing families with advocacy and resources.
- Participated in multi-disciplinary team meeting in development, implementation and evaluation to increase school attendance and performance.
- Developed and evaluated goals with family and team members from Allentown School District.
- Network with school personnel to identify student’s needs and resources available for student(s) and family at their individual school sites.
- Maintained consistent communication through monthly attendance meetings and weekly home visits with families.
- Prepared for and attend court appearances to represent children and families at Lehigh County Truancy Court and Family Court.
- Provide case management services for children and their families until discharged.
- Prepared, maintained, and submitted confidential client records in case files and database.
- Trained new hires.
Program Counselor
Community Education Centers, West Easton Treatment Center
09.2012 - 01.2015
- Conducted educational sessions addressing challenges of addiction for inmate groups exceeding 35 participants.
- Facilitated one-on-one interactions.
- Trained internal staff members on administrative processes, work instructions and procedures to facilitate consistent and seamless company operations.
- Maintained thorough clinical treatment notes.
- Supported and counseled clients with drug and alcohol addiction.
- Organized treatment projects that focused on problem solving skills and creative thinking.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Crime and Justice
Albright College
Reading, PA08.2016
Associates of Arts - Criminal Justice Administration
Lehigh Carbon Community College
Schnecksville, PA08.2007
Skills
- Detail-oriented
- Proficient in Microsoft applications
- Problem-solving skills
- Documentation management
- Organizational skills
- Client support
- Verbal and written communication
- Strong relationship-building abilities
- Conflict Resolution
- Team collaboration
Certification
Florida Certified Child Welfare Case Manager
Work Availability
monday
tuesday
wednesday
thursday
friday
saturday
sunday
morning
afternoon
evening
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Languages
Spanish
Limited Working
Timeline
Permanency Specialist
Children's Home Society of Florida
05.2025 - Current
Dependency Specialist
Children's Home Society of Florida
07.2022 - 05.2025
Dependency Case Manager
Children's Home Society of Florida
04.2020 - 07.2022
Case Manager III
Valley Youth House
03.2015 - 08.2019
Program Counselor
Community Education Centers, West Easton Treatment Center
09.2012 - 01.2015
Associates of Arts - Criminal Justice Administration
Lehigh Carbon Community College
Bachelor of Science - Crime and Justice
Albright College