Taji J Valentine
• Home: 228-***-**** • Cell: 228-***-**** • *****************@*****.***
Professional Summary
Results-oriented Master's Social Worker adept at building positive relationships to help develop necessary academic, life, and social skills. Excellent collaboration with individuals, teams, and families to support progress. Strategic planner and decisive leader.
Skills
●Administrative duties, Office
●Community resources
●Case manager, Peer review
●Case management, Personnel
●Oral communication, Policies
●Conferences, Presentations
●Counseling, Problem solving
●Intervention, Speaking
●Critical thinking, Quality
●Client, Recruitment
●Clients, Research
●Data management, Safety
●Database, Staffing
●Diagnosis, Supervisor
●Discharge planning, Supervising
●Drafting, Supervision
●Government, Type
●Health promotion
●Instructor
●Medical terminology
●Meetings
●Mental health
●Superb writer
●Decisive
●Self-starter
●Computer-savvy
●Strong PR background
●Goal-oriented
●Reliable
Work History
Goodwill of Memphis (1/27/2021-present)
ADC Attendant
Open and close the donation center
Assist donors receiving donations with courteous support
Sort, pick and pack donations for transfer
Maintain clean and safe work environment
Assist others on team with assignments
Daily Record keeping and data entry
Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services-Abilityworks 09/2019-present
Personal Care Attendant (PCA)
Olive Branch, MS 38654
●Provide community and home-based to disabled clients.
●Household chores, cooking, cleaning, bathing, grooming, laundry
●Community Participation-outings, shopping, companion care
●Medication Management and supervision
Public Health Social Worker III, 08/2015 to 07/2019
Mississippi State Department of Health – Southaven, MS
●Post-MSW practice working with maternity patients and infants who present with risk or who may be at risk for perinatal and developmental risk.
●Serves as lead case manager within a three discipline team that includes a registered dietitian and registered nurse.
●Initiating referrals, follow up with potential clients, assessing factors that impact the health and overall well-being of the person in focus, health education, serving as liaison with referring agencies, care coordination, and transitional care planning.
●Network with community partners, health promotion speaking engagements, and ongoing learning conference hosting, participation, and collaboration.
●Managed quality assurance program including on site evaluations, internal audits and customer surveys.
●Devoted special emphasis to punctuality and worked to maintain outstanding attendance records, consistently arriving to work ready to start immediately.
Direct Care Worker, 01/2018 to 10/2018
Millcreek Of Olive Branch Mississippi – Olive Branch, MS
●Monitoring and supervising residents in a supervised living setting overnight.
●Helped family members plan healthy meals, purchase ingredients and cook meals to provide adequate nutrition for client wellbeing.
●General housekeeping, interacting with residents according to care plan needs
●Offers social support by transporting individuals to events and activities, in addition to medical appointments and shopping trips.
●Kept close eye on client vital signs, administered medications and tracked behaviors to keep healthcare supervisors well-informed.
●Used Ultipro and Healthstream software to maintain records of services performed and conditions of patients.
DHS-Area Social Work Supervisor, 07/2012 to 07/2015
Mississippi Department Of Human Services – Gulfport, MS
●Supervised 28 plus Direct Care Social Workers in providing excellent customer service to callers requiring assistance for Family and Children's service needs and case management issues.
●Developed team communications and information for senior staff and internal meetings for the team.
●Performed various administrative functions, including filing paperwork, delivering mail, sorting mail, office cleaning and bookkeeping.
●Worked with family members to develop support networks and multifaceted coping techniques focused on client needs.
●Devised and enhanced treatment strategies to promote continued progress.
Post Adoption Specialist, 09/2009 to 06/2012
Southern Christian Services For Children & Youth – Batesville, MS
●Developed rapport to create a safe and trusting environment for care.
●Built solid and trusting rapport with children and families, fostering trust and communication to meet case needs.
●Monitored progress and documented any patient health status changes to keep the healthcare team updated.
●Increased youth participation in pro-social activities by 85% through collaboration with therapist assistants and community resources.
●Documented data and completed accurate updates to case records.
●Collaborated with community program leaders and advocates to make resources accessible to those in need.
●Planned, promoted and managed parent workshops on assisting children in attaining academic success.
●Performed various administrative functions, including filing paperwork, delivering mail, sorting mail, office cleaning and bookkeeping.
●Managed quality assurance program including on site evaluations, internal audits and customer surveys.
Area Social Work Supervisor, 08/2007 to 08/2009
Mississippi Department of Human Services – Senatobia, MS
●Responsible for the supervision of social service programs for families.
●Responsible for on-call on a 24-hour basis.
●Provide supportive supervision to subordinates and other levels of management.
●Ensures maintenance of acceptable standards of social work practice in the geographic area of responsibility.
●Supervised and is administratively in charge of the area of service and the area of social workers.
●Provide in-services and ongoing training to staff to maintain compliance with policies and guidelines of practice.
●Provides performance evaluations and performance improvement plans as needed.
●Prepares reports and trend analysis on the operations of geographic area of responsibility.
●Make presentations to community, civic, and church groups on abuse/neglect and other timely topics.
●Assists county staff in the development and utilization of resources necessary for carrying out programs.
Institutional Social Worker, 09/2005 to 08/2007
Mississippi State Hospital-Grenada Crisis Intervention – Grenada, MS
●Intake and admission of clients with dual diagnosis (psych/chemical), acute psychiatric, and/or chemical dependency in need of care.
●Conducting psychosocial assessments, actively participate as a member of treatment teams composed of nurses, psychiatrist, psychologist, direct care staff, and patient families to best meet the needs of the patient while in the hospital setting.
●Individual and group counseling with patients, family, and treatment team members to meet the psychosocial needs of individuals with mental illness and chemical dependencies.
●Facilitated caregiver support group for caregivers of patients.
●Discharge planning, referrals for outpatient services upon exit from an acute setting.
●Networking to provide the best aftercare plan with patients preparing for return to the community.
●Knowledge and experience in the use of medical and mental health diagnoses according to DSM-V TR, disabilities and treatment procedures.
●This includes acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effect/side effects, and medical terminology.
●Knowledge of psychosocial treatment and ability to independently implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical and social problems to achieve treatment goals.
●Independent judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving or crisis intervention techniques.
●Ability to independently provide counseling and /or psychotherapy services to individuals, groups, and families within the scope of practice, skill, and experience within the bounds of license/certification.
●Ability to independently evaluate his/her own practice through participation in professional peer review case conferences, research studies, or other organized means.
●Coordinate and direct social/recreational activities along with recreational therapists for patients such as picnics, basketball games, movies, trips to local shopping centers, etc.
Child And Adult Protection Specialist, 08/1999 to 07/2005
Mississippi Department Of Human Services – Grenada, MS
●Intake and Investigations of suspected abuse, neglect, and exploitation to children and vulnerable adults.
●Oversight, assessment, and provision of community resources, networking, and placement needs of children at risk.
●Fast-pace work which requires the ability to utilize crisis intervention knowledge and skills, critical thinking abilities to make decisions to best meet the needs of individuals reducing risk factors.
●Participation in IEP meetings with students/parents/educator supports
●Served on multidisciplinary teams/boards with school representatives, parent peer support educators, youth court officials, truancy officials, school based mental health therapist, youth outreach group representatives, etc.
●Ability to demonstrate written and oral communication skills.
●Knowledge of local and state laws, and agency policies and guidelines that govern social welfare practice.
●Effectively work with community leaders and other officials on the county, regional, and state levels of government.
●Case management, assess and mobilize appropriate placement for children in foster care, adult community and home-based services as deemed appropriate and ongoing communication with the attorney general's office for legal guidance and instruction as required.
●On-call on a 24-hour basis.
●Ability to serve as a field instructor for social work students in support of university collaborations and recruitment through internships, field placements, and volunteer service commitments.
Grenada Lake Medical Center (Internship) 01/1999 to 05/1999-Grenada, MS
Initial screenings and evaluation of patient and families
Comprehensive psychosocial assessment of patients
Helping patients and families understand the illness and treatment options
Educating patients on levels of care (acute, sub-acute, homecare, etc) entitlements, advanced directives & community resources
Facilitating decision making on behalf of patients and families
Educating hospital staff/teams on patient psychosocial issues
Coordinating patient discharge and continuity of care planning
Promoting patient navigation services
Education
Master of Science: Social Work, 05/2012
Mississippi Valley State University - Itta Bena, MS
GPA: 3.76
●Graduated in Top 10% of Class
●Inducted into The Heritage Registry of Who's Who Among Professionals
●Member of Phi Alpha Honor's Society
Bachelor of Science: Social Work
Delta State University - Cleveland, MS
●Elected to President for School of Social Work Club in 1998-99
●Awarded Best Macro Project in Internship with Grenada Lake Medical Center (Implemented Grief/Loss Support Group)
High School Diploma
Winona High School - Winona, MS
●Graduated in Top 10% of Class
Accomplishments
●8/17 Certified Infant, Early Childhood, Adolescent, and Adult Mental Health Training (Trauma-Informed Therapy)
●02/17 Clinical Supervision for Licensed Clinical Social Workers (ongoing)-LCSW
●10/2/2018-12/13/2022-American CPR Care Association certified CPR: Adult, Child, Infant & AED (BLS)
●05/14 Intensive Clinical Supervisory Training Level II, MS Department of Human Services Professional Development Unit 04/14 Ethics and the Multidisciplinary Team, Children's Advocacy Centers of Mississippi
●03/06 Defensive Driving II for MS State Hospital/Crisis Intervention Centers, Mississippi Tort Claims Board
●01/04 (Recurring) Exploring Diversity, MS Department of Human Services Training Unit
●02/03 Psychosocial Integration of Persons with Mental Illness, Mississippi Valley State University
●02/03 (Recurring) HIPPA, Individual Service Plans & Quality Improvement, MS Department of Human Services Training Unit.
License/Certifications
Licensed Master's Social Worker (LMSW) GA license #MSW008837
Licensed Master's Social Worker (LMSW) MS license #M6364
Active Member of National Association of Social Workers (NASW)