Demetra Douglas
Richmond,Texas
Summary
Child Protective Services professional with extensive experience at Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Accomplished Conservatorship Worker, skilled in navigating complex cases and developing impactful care plans. Demonstrated expertise in judgment, active listening, and critical thinking, fostering collaboration with families and interdisciplinary teams. Achievements include safeguarding vulnerable individuals while enhancing autonomy and driving positive change through advocacy and case management.
Overview
26
26
years of professional experience
Work History
CPS Adoption Preparation Specialist III
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
Houston, Texas
03.2024 - Current
- Recruits, identifies and matches children with prospective adoptive families; and provides services to children in adoptive placement
- Recruits, trains, completes studies, licenses and develops foster and adoptive families.
- Maintains sufficient case documentation, including forms and narratives, to provide a complete and accurate written record
- Builds and maintains communication and working relationships within the program and region and community groups in order to ensure that the objectives of the agency are accomplished.
- Conducts assessments of current life situations of child or children and families to determine the presence of child abuse and neglect.
- Provides services after normal working hours and on weekends to maintain 24-hour coverage.
- Performs other duties as assigned and required to maintain unit operations.
- Promotes and demonstrates appropriate respect for cultural diversity among coworkers and all work-related contacts
CPS Conservatorship Worker Specialist II
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
06.2021 - 01.2024
- Receives cases from investigators after children are removed from their homes, placed in CPS conservatorship, and placed in care outside their homes.
- Determines each child’s needs and ensuring that appropriate referrals for testing, evaluations, records, or further assessments are made. Ensures all services are focused on achieving positive permanency.
- Working with children, families, and communities to plan for a child's permanency.
- Identifying potential permanency resources for the child through ongoing contact with parents, family members, and other individuals the child and family identify as important to them.
- Searching for potential kinship providers throughout the case. Completing home studies of a child's family members or family friends (kinship providers) who might care for the child.
- Meets with the parents to assess risk and safety issues, identify behavior changes necessary to achieve child safety, referring parents to appropriate services to address the identified needs to move towards positive permanency. Discusses with parents their progress towards making changes to behaviors that pose dangers to their child(ren).
- Meets with children, parents, family friends, or foster homes in public as well as in their own homes.
- Collaborates with a Placement Team, including Kinship staff, for placements, as needed.
- Participates in meetings and conferences at times and places convenient for the family members as well as everyone involved in the case.
- Visits children monthly to assess the child’s feeling of safety in their current home, to plan for permanency, and to discuss their needs, wishes, and progress while in care
- Attends and participates in court hearings about the child and family. This includes contacting the parties in the case before hearings, preparing court reports, and testifying in court on the child’s needs, the family’s progress, and the department’s efforts to achieve permanency for the child.
- Keeps the child’s, parents, caregivers, court-appointed attorney and guardian ad litem(s) informed about the child’s circumstances and significant events.
- Works with the department's attorney to prepare for contested-court hearings and trials.
- Works with kinship caregivers and foster parents to ensure that they have what they need to care for the child or youth placed with them i.e., keeping them informed about developments in the case, returning phone calls, and in some areas of the state being available 24 hours a day / 7 days a week at certain times.
- Transitions children home during reunification services and provides support to the family until the legal case is closed.
- Supervises adoptive placements until the adoption is final or until the case is transferred to an adoption caseworker.
- Using effective time-management skills to make sure all key tasks are done.
- Documents case records by completing forms, narratives, and reports to form a written record for each client.
- Develops and maintains effective working relationships between Child Protective Services staff and law enforcement officials, judicial officials, legal resources, medical professionals, and other community resources.
- Performs other duties as assigned and required to maintain unit operations.
- Promotes and demonstrates appropriate respect for cultural diversity among coworkers, clients, and all work-related contacts.
Human Services Technician III
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
08.1999 - 06.2021
- The position functions as an assistant to agency staff and supervisors in providing human services to Child Protective Services (CPS) clients, including transportation and documentation of services provided.
- It also includes supervising visitations between parents and children and providing various clerical functions.
- The position interacts routinely with Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (FPS) staff, representatives from various organizations, and the general public.
Social Work Internship
Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences - The Victim’s Assistance
08.2017 - 05.2018
- Provides Social Work students with a rich educational experience through a hands-on practical approach to victim’s services and working with grieving families.
- Interns work closely with a victim assistance specialist performing a variety of tasks including family interaction, resource referrals, next-of-kin assistance and community outreach.
- In addition to regular and daily work assignments, all interns are assigned a research project to complete and present to the Institute’s staff at the end of the internship.
Education
Master of Science - Social Work
University of Houston
Houston, TX08-2020
Bachelor of Science - Social Work
University of Houston-Downtown
Houston, TX01.2018
Associate of Arts - Arts
Houston Community College
Houston, TX05-2015
Skills
- Case management
- Child assessment
- Permanency planning
- Home study completion
- Family engagement
- Community resource development
- Report documentation
- Policy implementation
- Crisis intervention
- Legal compliance
- Effective communication
- Cultural competency
- Court proceedings expertise
- Assessment skills
- Conflict resolution
- Time management
- Relationship building
- Child welfare
- Conservation planning
- Environmental monitoring
- Child development
- Conducting interviews
- Emergency preparedness
- Client documentation
- Motivational interviewing
- Trauma-informed care
- Professionalism
- Community referrals
- Teamwork and collaboration
- Attention to detail
- Experience with at-risk youth
- Recommend care
- Adolescent therapy
- Multitasking Abilities
- Goal setting
- Community resources
- Multicultural awareness
- Teamwork
- Substance abuse prevention
- Family services
- Team collaboration
- File management
- Organizational skills
- Prepare reports
- Evidence-based practice
Volunteer Experience
- SWCAN – Social Work Student Community Advocacy Network, 01/01/16
- Phi Alpha – Social Work Student Honor Society, 01/01/17
- Sheltering Arms, 01/01/17, 12/31/17, 10
- The Beacon, 01/01/15, 12/31/15, 10
- Girl Scout leader, 01/01/05, 12/31/08
Affiliations
University of Houston-Downtown
(Cum Laude)
Spring 2017 Dean’s List
Houston Community College
Associate of Arts (Magna cum laude)
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
CPS Adoption Preparation Specialist III
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
03.2024 - Current
CPS Conservatorship Worker Specialist II
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
06.2021 - 01.2024
Social Work Internship
Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences - The Victim’s Assistance
08.2017 - 05.2018
Human Services Technician III
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
08.1999 - 06.2021
Master of Science - Social Work
University of Houston
Bachelor of Science - Social Work
University of Houston-Downtown
Associate of Arts - Arts
Houston Community College
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