Tawanna Garrett
Concord
Summary
A results-driven learner with passion for continuous improvement and academic excellence. Proven ability to adapt to new challenges and contribute effectively to team efforts. Reliable and flexible, with strong skills in critical thinking and collaboration. Known for maintaining high standards and delivering quality results.
Overview
12
12
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
DSP/ Job Coach
Abound Health
10.2024 - Current
- Provided compassionate support to individuals with disabilities, enhancing daily living skills and independence.
- Assisted clients in developing personal goals, fostering a sense of achievement and self-worth.
- Implemented individualized care plans, ensuring tailored support aligned with client needs.
- Coordinated recreational activities, promoting social engagement and community integration for clients.
- Monitored client progress, documenting changes in behavior and well-being for team review.
- Trained new staff on best practices in direct support, improving overall service delivery quality.
- Advocated for clients' needs during interdisciplinary meetings, ensuring their voices were heard in care decisions.
- Developed and maintained strong relationships with families, providing updates on client progress and support strategies.
- Maintained clean, safe, and well-organized patient environment.
- Documented progress notes thoroughly to track client achievements, concerns, or changes in behavior patterns that may need attention from the interdisciplinary team.
- Assisted clients with daily living needs to maintain self-esteem and general wellness.
- Assisted with crisis intervention to de-escalate challenging behavior and maintain peaceful encounters.
- Enhanced quality of life for individuals with disabilities by providing compassionate and consistent direct support.
- Assisted clients in achieving personal goals through tailored care plans and daily skill-building activities.
- Supported clients with personal care tasks, ensuring their dignity and privacy were maintained at all times.
- Monitored medication administration, maintaining accurate records to ensure client safety and compliance with prescribed treatment plans.
- Participated in ongoing training opportunities to stay current on best practices in disability support services.
- Provided ongoing communication between clients, families, and other service providers to enhance overall care coordination efforts.
- Assisted disabled clients to support independence and well-being.
- Maintained a safe and inclusive environment by addressing behavioral challenges with patience and understanding.
- Facilitated social outings and community integration activities, promoting inclusion and positive experiences for clients.
- Monitored clients to assess and report physical and behavioral changes to supervisors.
- Encouraged and supported clients to participate in recreational and leisure activities to promote social interactions and reduce loneliness.
- Addressed emergency situations calmly and effectively, prioritizing the safety of both clients and staff members involved.
- Promoted physical well-being by supporting clients in engaging in regular exercise routines or therapeutic activities suited to their abilities.
- Monitored progress and documented patient health status changes to keep care team updated.
- Improved client self-sufficiency through teaching essential skills such as meal preparation, housekeeping, and financial management.
- Developed and implemented individualized care plans to meet individual needs of each client.
- Assessed clients'' needs on an ongoing basis, making adjustments to support plans as necessary to ensure optimal outcomes.
- Advocated for clients'' rights within the broader community, raising awareness about issues affecting those with disabilities.
- Adapted support approaches based on individual client preferences, fostering increased trust and rapport over time.
- Established strong relationships with local community resources to connect clients with additional supports as needed.
- Provided emotional and practical support to individuals, fostering positive and supportive living environment.
- Advocated for clients' needs and rights in various settings, enhancing their quality of life.
- Conducted daily documentation of clients' progress and incidents, maintaining accurate and up-to-date records.
Student Support
Pioneer Springs Community School
08.2024 - 06.2025
- Acts as a mandated reporter for the purpose of ensuring the safety of the students.
- Adapts classroom activities, assignments and/or materials under the direction of the supervising teacher for the purpose of supporting and reinforcing classroom objectives and meeting IEP goals.
- Administers tests, homework, make-up work, etc. for the purpose of supporting student needs in the classroom.
- Assists students (e.g. diapering, lifting, transitioning from desk to wheel chair etc.….) for the purpose of attending to the student's personal hygiene and care needs.
- Attends meetings and in-service presentations for the purpose of acquiring and/or conveying information relative to job functions.
- Communicates with supervising instructional staff, and a variety of health care professionals, and professional support personnel for the purpose of communicating progress or implementing IEP objectives.
- Escorts student (e.g. bathroom, classroom, community etc.….) for the purpose of ensuring an efficient and safe arrival to and/or from a destination.
- Implements, under the supervision of assigned teacher, research based interventions for the purpose of presenting and/or reinforcing learning concepts.
- Intervenes in potential conflicts utilizing appropriate physical and/or therapeutic approaches for the purpose of diffusing confrontations and minimizing disruptions.
- Maintains instructional materials and/or manual and electronic files/records for the purpose of ensuring availability of items; providing written reference; and/or meeting mandated requirements.
- Monitors student's daily schedule and behavior plan for the purpose of maintaining a safe and positive learning environment.
- Provides, under the supervision of assigned teacher, instruction to the student in a variety of individual and group activities for the purpose of reinforcing instructional objectives; implementing IEP plans; and ensuring the student's access to his/her least restrictive environment.
- Supervises individual and/or groups of students in a variety of settings (e.g. community field trips, hallways, bus loading areas, cafeteria, parking lots, classrooms, etc.) for the purpose of providing a safe and a positive learning environment.
- Prepares the learning environment to allow the student to participate in classroom activities.
- Supervises and escorts the student during any and all emergency drills or during actual emergencies for the purpose of providing a safe learning environment.
- Attends any problem solving/IEP meeting and provides input as to the student's progress for the purpose of maintaining a whole student approach to his/her education.
- Collects data on the student's IEP goals for the purpose of maintaining accurate records and engaging in data based decision making.
- Continuously updated knowledge of best practices for student support, attending relevant conferences and trainings to maintain a high level of expertise.
- Enhanced student support by providing one-on-one assistance and tutoring in various subjects.
- Served as active member of student support team.
- Participated in ongoing professional development opportunities to stay current with best practices in academic mentoring and student support services.
- Coordinated multi-disciplinary team meetings involving educators, parents, therapists, and administrators to develop comprehensive plans for individualized student support.
- Served on departmental committees focused on improving curriculum offerings and student support services.
- Assisted administrators in designing schedules that optimize staff utilization while maintaining required levels of student support services available throughout the day-to-day operations of the school.
- Participated in professional development opportunities to stay current with best practices in student support services.
Behavior Technician/ABA Therapy
Connect n Care ABA
09.2023 - 08.2024
- Dedicated and compassionate behavior technician with experience delivering evidence-based behavior interventions to children with autism spectrum disorder. Proficient in conducting functional behavior assessments, implementing behavior modification plans, and collecting data to monitor progress. School student support as one on one.
Caregiver/DSP/ Independent Contractor
What Matters Most
09.2021 - 10.2023
- Maintaining a safe environment by following safety procedures and using safety equipment while caring for clients and providing services to adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.
- Providing emotional support by listening to client concerns and problems, helping the client understand their feelings, and teaching them how to handle difficult situations.
- Accompanying the client to doctor's appointments and other medical facilities for checkups and treatment. Helping clients with administering medication and medication reminders.
- Prepare meals and run errands for clients.
- Helping the client develop social skills by encouraging interaction with peers and adults.
- Instructing and helping clients with daily routines such as brushing teeth, bathing and getting dressed.
- Teaching adaptive skills and Planning activities. Also providing Community networking, community living support and supportive living.
Greeter/Customer Service
The Hertz Corporation
12.2021 - 06.2022
- Meet the demands of a fast-paced environment by using good judgment and the ability to multi-task.
- Own all requests and complaints; resolve issues immediately and follow up to ensure the guest's satisfaction.
- Provide excellent guest service consistent with the company's core service standards and brand attributes.
Pantry Chef
American Food & Vending Corporation
06.2018 - 03.2020
- Prepare and oversee the consistency of various preparations within the cold kitchen to ensure quality product and adherence to standard recipes. Responsible for preparing all cold food and bake goods according to recipes, guidelines and standards set by the Executive Chef. Ensure that assigned work area has proper level of par stocks and supplies according to daily production sheets, daily menus and catering events. Always keep all refrigeration, equipment, storage and working areas in clean, working condition in order to comply with health department regulations.
Billing Specialist
Robinson Electrical & Mechanical Inc
01.2018 - 06.2018
- Received and entered incoming payments. managed account status and balance Identified billing discrepancies.
- Provided premier customer service to all clients. Assisted in monthly close-outs.
- Supported multiple managers and groups consisting of professional and technical employees both remotely and on-site as well as performing administrative tasks as needed.
- Verified completeness and accuracy of billing case controls to ensure compliance with established procedures and formats. Identified and resolves inconsistencies shown on the on various inventory reports. Extracted and analyzed data to monitor time sensitive information and deadlines, alerts the group manager and technical employees to ensure protection of the organizations interest.
- Retrieve from automated systems, a variety of reports and technical material including forms, correspondence, supporting documents, etc.
- Utilized software to prepare correspondence, reports, forms, requisitions, requests for personnel actions and legal documents. Reviewed outgoing correspondence for proper format, conformance with procedural instructions, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and attachments.
- Gathered, summarized and timely responds to management inquires for billing, project and program information. Prepared a variety of correspondence, reports, forms, requisitions and billing-related documents regarding requests from higher levels in the organization.
- Retrieved and controlled mail and suspense items, routing them directly to the appropriate person or office for action, follows-up on outstanding controls and research information before routing mail to the appropriate individuals. Prepared transmittals, boxes, and ships case files and other business documents.
- Organized, maintained, and purged files and records, manuals, handbooks, and other related materials.
- Prepares company records for storage. Maintained calendar, schedule appointments and engagements
Billing Manager
TKK Trucking LLC
06.2016 - 12.2017
- Oversee the account receivable and payable daily.
- Worked with the inter-department to ensure billing and receivable operation maintained orderly cash flow.
- Performed quality reviews on billing packets within 24 hours. Reconciled all unbilled accounts once weekly. issues, and refer them as appropriate to the appropriate organization for resolution.
- Validated billing inputs information to open, assign, transfer and close cases using various case management automated systems.
- Analyzed case information to determine the appropriate procedures to close cases involving multiple work streams. Maintained and updated a variety of manual and automated tracking systems used in processing cases.
- Input and/or verified billing issues.
- Manually and electronically prepared folders, case files, acknowledgments, forms, closing documents and transmittal instructions for use by employees to assist them in arriving at the final disposition of a billing issue.
- Received telephone calls and visitors, determined the nature of the business, gives routine and non-routine information, answers questions in accordance with policies and operations or directs callers and visitors to the appropriate person or office.
- Served as a resource person to the group(s) in matters such as case procedures, group administrative procedures, etc. Served as proxy for manager(s) on automated systems such as the billing tracking system.
Chef
Georgia Baptist Children's Homes and Family Minis
08.2015 - 08.2016
- Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Food Preparation and Serving. Under direction of the Kitchen Supervisor, plans, prepares and serves attractive and nutritionally balanced meals for the children, promoting and reinforcing good nutritional habits; trying new foods, portion control and a balanced diet.
- Utilize Production Worksheets to plan proper amounts of ingredients to prepare menu items sufficient for the number of clients to be served. Adhere to ingredients, measurements and cooking methods as stated on the recipes to meet the nutritional requirements (maintain 30% total fat content of meals).
- Ensure that food supplies are securely stored. Meet sanitation requirements, including but not limited to: Wearing proper cooking attire (i.e. apron, hat or hair net, gloves, etc.). Instructing others to wearing proper attire during food handling. Using proper dishwashing methods. Ensuring that all dining tables and chairs, kitchen, cooking related areas and equipment are clean and in good working order at all times. Cleaning kitchen areas after each meal is served. Alert the Kitchen Supervisor or Maintenance Department to maintenance requests asking for unsafe equipment to be removed and/or assistance with cleaning difficult to clean food preparation areas. Assist the Kitchen Supervisor with ordering food and supplies as necessary. Supervision of Children. Provides direct child care to the client’s reinforcing safety and sanitation while providing supervision and guidelines to clients while working in the kitchen.
- Provide supervision to children who are assigned to assist in meal preparation. Responsible for creating a favorable group climate in which the child’s safety, emotional nurturing and healthy development are of primary concern. Assist children in understanding nutritional principals, work ethics, safety and basic job skills. Work cooperatively with the group home Residential Staff as an advisor to them regarding food preparation of all meals on the menu. Provides the following specialized services while maintaining the parental function of safety and supervision of all children working in his/her area: Trains and assists clients with life skills such as how to prepare nutritious meals and food safety. Acts as a supervisor and role model to children while working together to accomplish the above job duties. Intervene in crisis situations as learned in Agency approved Crisis Intervention training to ensure the safety of clients and staff.
Weekend Lead Cook
Solomon Temple
07.2015 - 01.2016
- Was responsible for preparing all lunch and dinner weekend meals for consumers. Made weekly weekend menus, trained weekend staff, stocking and receiving inventory and was also responsible for all cleanliness of kitchen and dining areas.
Lead Cook
Lead Cook
01.2014 - 05.2015
- Was acting Chef during the absence of official Chef. Met and exceeded industry and food safety standards for preparation, storage, and serving food. Prepared meals in accordance with standardized recipes.
- Check food and kitchen supplies, ensure cooking utensils, pans and other equipment was kept in clean and sanitary conditions. Assigned cleaning duties as needed. Ensured all food preparation and kitchen was cleaned and ready for the next shift. Accurately completed daily, weekly and monthly cleaning schedules.
- Assisted with training of kitchen personnel.
- Recorded and documented food temp, food production and food waste. Also performed other duties assigned such as ordering, inventory, and weekly and monthly budget cost.
Education
Associate of Science - Culinary Arts
Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts
Atlanta, GA12.2006
Bachelor of Science - Chaplaincy
Liberty University
Lynchburg, VA04-2027
Skills
- Teamwork and collaboration
- Fast learner
- Problem-solving
- Time management
- Excellent communication
- Critical thinking
- Organizational skills
- Certified in CPR/AED
- Interpersonal skills
- Documentation and recordkeeping
- Professionalism
- First aid certification
Certification
- Certified Correctional Careers, Lakewood, WA
Timeline
DSP/ Job Coach
Abound Health
10.2024 - Current
Student Support
Pioneer Springs Community School
08.2024 - 06.2025
Behavior Technician/ABA Therapy
Connect n Care ABA
09.2023 - 08.2024
Greeter/Customer Service
The Hertz Corporation
12.2021 - 06.2022
Caregiver/DSP/ Independent Contractor
What Matters Most
09.2021 - 10.2023
Pantry Chef
American Food & Vending Corporation
06.2018 - 03.2020
Billing Specialist
Robinson Electrical & Mechanical Inc
01.2018 - 06.2018
Billing Manager
TKK Trucking LLC
06.2016 - 12.2017
Chef
Georgia Baptist Children's Homes and Family Minis
08.2015 - 08.2016
Weekend Lead Cook
Solomon Temple
07.2015 - 01.2016
Lead Cook
Lead Cook
01.2014 - 05.2015
Associate of Science - Culinary Arts
Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts
Bachelor of Science - Chaplaincy
Liberty University