Melissa Tiffie

I was assigned as a lead worker or backup supervisor to lower-level Child Welfare Specialists carries complex and difficult caseloads and have been assigned responsibilities involving case consultation. I work with all victims of various degrees of crime and abuse. Including domestic violence and sexual assaults, neglect, and child deaths to ensure they receive the care and resources they deserve. I am responsible for completing in depth interviews with all members of the family and victims to assess the validity of the referrals. I work with the child advocacy center along with law enforcement in the coordination of joint response, of forensic interviews as well as serve as a member of the MDT for the counties I am assigned to. Work directly with the ADA and the judges in these counties to ensure child safety and when necessary, coordinate intervention and court involved custody. After staffing with the supervisor, I write up the affidavits and orders for the judge’s signatures when DHS custody is necessary to ensure the children are safe. I serve as a team leader in case staff meetings, provides ongoing case consultation, and advise and trains lower-level Child Welfare Specialists in case management and interpretation of policies and procedures. I monitor investigations and individualized service plans and reviews court reports. I lead child safety meetings and staffing’s in regard to the investigations that I have worked where there in some level of intervention with the children and families involved. I assist in the coordination with efforts of the foster care program or with those of other related programs within the agency, with other state agencies, and between other states. I assess families for placing children in a safety plan. I continually work on a diverse team and directly with people from diverse backgrounds specifically racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and disabilities. Before becoming the lead CPS Investigator, I was assigned to Region IV South Adoption Transition Unit. In my role as an Adoption Transition Specialist, I have been assigned a caseload that involves children that fall in the Quad 2 category as well as the Quad 2 baseline. Our purpose is to work directly with the children that we are assigned to help them to achieve permanency, in whatever that looks like for that particular child. We our tasked the job of updating child profiles to ensure that each child has a chance through not only their personal progress but through written word to allow families to see a broad look at these children's lives in a more positive perspective as well as ensuring that all information pertaining to the child has been accurately documented. In ATU, we are given the opportunity to truly get to know these children in all levels of their lives and ensure that they are given the opportunity to understand that they are worthy of a future that involves having a forever family but also that they are able to be heard. For older children, we are given the task of helping them to define permanency, but also to help them identify people in their lives that are now or can become a permanent connection for them in their futures. We help each child that wants to be adopted identify what a family looks like for their future, we then work active efforts in a variety of ways to ensure that they are able to achieve this family. These efforts can include but are not limited to state-wide staffing, social media, annual photos, news media videos, adoption websites that include their current photos and a synopsis of this child's life, which focuses on their strengths and positive attributes, with also listing their weaknesses. As an ATU worker we complete monthly home visits and document these visits in the KIDS system. While completing the visit we are assessing the child's safety at all times. We are also working with a team of CWS, therapist, a variety of agencies, families, as well as our mental health consultants to ensure that each child has individual attention to their case, their goals, as well as their individual needs, as our goal is always the best interest for the children in our care and for each member of the team to have input on that child and to be on the same page with other members of the team. In my particular unit, I am assigned the extra duties of proofreading some of the child profiles for organization and flow of information. I have also been assigned as the internet liaison and have in the past worked to get a report updated that had been previously developed to show accurate data in registering our children on the internet. In working all efforts that are available to us, as an ATU worker we also assist permanency in reading through each home study that is submitted for these children in selecting a match to further move towards adoption. We assist the families resource workers in disclosures as well as working toward pre-placement visits with these families and the child to ensure that after each visit the child has someone that they can open up to discuss their feelings in regard to the family. Oklahoma has partnered with Wendy's Wonderful Kids, where ATU has gone through extensive training in evidence-based practices to become recruiters in following with the model of finding families for kids.

• Identified appropriate community resources and provided referrals for services.
• Worked with care team to assess client needs and discuss collaborative treatment efforts.
• Established behavioral modification goals and assessed progress toward goals.
• Maintained confidentiality through stringent handling of charts and data.
• Used job-related software to compose or prepare correspondence, case notes and technical reports
• Worked with community resources to engage youth in pro-social activities and help families access services.
• Built trust and rapport with victims of violent crimes by remaining calm and compassionate in variety of situations.
• Interviewed clients individually and in groups to assess situations, capabilities and problems.
• Participated in ongoing training to maintain license and enhance knowledge of relevant mental health topics.
• Counseled parents on proper child-rearing choices.
• Collaborated with state agencies and benefits coordinators to develop individualized plans for each case.
• Investigated reports or indications of abuse, neglect or exploitation of at-risk adults, adolescents and children.
• Attended hearings with victims to provide emotional support.
• Interfaced with local court system, attending court proceedings and working directly with attorneys.
• Advocated for victims during difficult situations by filing police reports and connecting to needed services.
• Supported individuals by facilitating weekly group sessions.
• Managed parent support groups addressing topics such as positive discipline and parenting styles.
• Facilitated parental workshops and classes to provide support to children in achieving school and academic success.
• Informed victims about legal processes and timelines.
• Evaluated personal characteristics and home conditions of foster home or adoption applicants.
• Arranged adoptions and found foster homes for abandoned or abused children.
• Supervised team of volunteers, delivering in-depth training and mentoring.
• Reviewed and analyzed violent crime reports to identify crime trends.