Latasha Riddick

• Serve as district leader for Department of School Social Work, Homeless Services and Dropout Prevention.
• Training 90 school social work staff on completion of assessments.
• Monitoring referrals and reviewing completed EC assessments to ensure accuracy and timely submission that directly impacts support services provided to students via Individualized Education Plans.
• Extending support to promote fidelity of implementation of comprehensive SSW (School Social Worker) program.
• Ensuring that all 90 school social workers are operating within their professional scope of practice using guiding framework that will impact student outcomes directly through services provided to families and staff. This support includes assisting SSWs with strengthening health, wellness, and safety at their school sites through their SSW comprehensive program.
• Facilitating professional development sessions for SSWs and conducting audits.
• Collecting and analyzing data to inform strategies and provide overview of state of department.
• Co-facilitate department’s leadership Team, assisting with growing leaders with strong equity lens committed to expanding support for guidance department wide.
• Provide support to field supervisors and interns to achieve skill mastery, professional development, recruitment, and retention.

• Complete Clinical Comprehensive Assessments and develop clinical treatment plans.
• Implement and maintain Integrated Behavioral Health Program’s philosophy, principles, and procedures in all facets of performance.
• Provide clinically appropriate treatment based on mental health assessments and treatment plans.
• Service delivery to children, adolescents, adults, families, and married couples.
• Complete timely and accurate documentation.
• Respond to crisis with emergency care techniques and protocols.
• Provide referrals for additional services as needed.
• Building and maintaining ethically appropriate therapeutic relationships with patients.
• Treating diagnosis such as Major Depressive Disorder, Anxiety Disorders, ADHD, ODD, OCD, Bipolar Disorder, and PTSD.

• Identify barriers that impede on academic success, such as homelessness, mental illness, food insecurity etc
• Collaboration with key stakeholders, including teachers, parents, administrators, community partners and students
• Provide one-on-one and/or group support for students, addressing emotional and case management needs
• Assure that school level interventions meet both district level goals and specific school needs
• Support improved school attendance by reviewing attendance data and implementing evidence-based tiered interventions geared to achieve school attendance goals
• Facilitate and lead efforts of school’s Attendance/Engagement Team in implementing Chronic Attendance and Dropout Prevention strategies to encourage student success
• Establish community partnerships and provide appropriate resources to students and their families
• Function as a team member and lead for school’s student support services team, including School Counselors
• Function as Social Emotional Learning facilitator and resource schoolwide, assuring that students can comprehend their emotions, to feel those emotions fully, and demonstrate empathy for others in the classroom setting
• Achievements:
• Promoted to Comprehensive School Social Work/Assessments Lead June 15, 2023
• Nominated for School Social Worker of the Year for the 23-24 school year
• Nominated and voted to be a member of Guilford County School’s School Social Work and Dropout Prevention Leadership Team to serve for two-year term (2021-2022 and 2022-2023)
• Nominated and voted to serve as a member of school level Leadership Team to serve for two years (2021-2022 and 2022-2023)
• Chosen to serve on Guilford County Schools Crisis Response Team district wide
• Deemed appropriately skilled to mentor new hire/1st year School social workers
• Granted opportunity to work with district leadership on preparing orientation for newly hired school social workers
• Selected to assist district level leaders with Dropout Prevention and Recovery and Exceptional Children Evaluations during summer months.

• Complete Clinical Comprehensive Assessments and develop clinical treatment plans
• Deliver interventions from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Motivational Interviewing modalities
• Manage caseload up to 50-60 clients, including children, adolescents, adults, and elderly
• Being well versed with Managed Care Organization (MCO) compliance guidelines used by agency and assessing compliance amongst clinicians and treatment teams
• Treating diagnosis such as Major Depressive Disorder, Anxiety Disorders, ADHD, ODD, OCD, Bipolar Disorder, and PTSD
• Provide crisis intervention as needed for outpatient and intensive in-home clients
• Manage daily operations for Intensive In-Home program and Outpatient Clinicians
• Assessing service delivery of treatment team and reporting to management
• Also, responsible for developing plans of correction to assure quality of care
• Managed all public relations activities for Intensive In-Home Team
• Proven leadership in clinical and client care techniques that streamline operations and add to profits
• Working with external agencies to provide case management needs, including connecting clients to appropriate community resources
• Proven ability to turn projects around that are behind schedule or not in compliance with MCO guidelines
• Appropriately documenting interventions and treatment progress for each client encounter via case notes
• Achievements:
• Promoted to oversee Intensive In-Home programs and outpatient therapist
• Provided mentorship to new clinicians and qualified professionals.

• Facilitate regular contact with families who are approved for in-home services through grant funded intensive in-home program. Families needed this level of support, due to accompanying youth being removed from home and taken into CPS custody. Moreover, to qualify for this program permanency plan must be reunification.
• Conduct family sessions with youth and family, helping secure smooth transition of youth back into home, by strengthening parent-child relationships, and setting family goals and rules.
• Address family barriers, such as drug and alcohol use, mental illness, domestic violence etc.
• Report case progress to legal courts and child protective services (Children, Youth and Families) regularly throughout duration of each case.
• Document encounters with youth and their families in County’s KIDS (Key Information and Demographics System) Database.

Responsibilities for Mental Health School Support

• Provide counseling services for students who were removed from their originally zoned school and enrolled in Holy Family Institute Day School, alternative program.
• Address crisis and safety concerns as they arise with students, during school day, including deescalating physical and verbal confrontations.
• Promote classroom readiness and in classroom support for students, by addressing emotional and behavioral barriers.
• Assess, review and track progress of student’s IEPs (Individualized Education Plan/Program) and Behavioral Plans.
• Discussed and developed safety plans with teachers, principals, parents/guardians etc. for students when appropriate.
• Meeting with individual students weekly to assess risk, provide emotional support and track progress towards goals.

Achievements:

• Position started and internship, but was offered full time employment once internship was completed because of work ethic and performance.