Melissa Lowe Email & Phone Number

Columbia, Tennessee, United States

United States

Brentwood, Tennessee, United States

Tennessee, United States

Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Assisting with start up of new Tennessee Serves Neighbors program, including recruiting and hiring for key core team positions, developing clinical aspects of the program, assessing community needs, and networking with community partners and providers in counties to be served.

Columbia, Tn

* Provided administrative support and oversight to South Central region’s Placement, Foster Parent Support, Permanency, Social Service, and Extension of Foster Care teams to help ensure timely, efficient, and quality service provision that are in accordance with policy and best practice. * Coached, mentored and supervised team leaders for Placement, Foster Parent Support, Permanency, Social Service, and Extension of Foster Care teams, including case consultations, monthly performance… Show more * Provided administrative support and oversight to South Central region’s Placement, Foster Parent Support, Permanency, Social Service, and Extension of Foster Care teams to help ensure timely, efficient, and quality service provision that are in accordance with policy and best practice. * Coached, mentored and supervised team leaders for Placement, Foster Parent Support, Permanency, Social Service, and Extension of Foster Care teams, including case consultations, monthly performance briefings and completion of performance management documents. * Provided clinical consultation and case direction to teams, including troubleshooting more difficult situations, participating in Child and Family Team Meetings, and advocating for best interest of youth, families, and/or foster families. * Tracked and monitored regional data for teams supervised. * Facilitated regional high risk review team meetings. * Developed and tracked progress of South Central region’s Foster Home Recruitment and Retention Plan, including participation in recruitment events and activities. * Organized and facilitated regional Team Leader Academy. Provided MSW Consultation during monthly permanency reviews. * Built and maintained relationships with community and private providers to enhance quality and help ensure efficiency and timeliness of services. * Collaborated with DCS Central Office leadership in areas of placement, foster parent support, adoptions, and extension of foster care. Reviewed and provided regional approval or denial for waivers (of criminal convictions, pre and in-service training requirements, and non-safety issues) for potential foster and kinship parents and for special and extraordinary foster care rate requests. * Provided on call support to Child Protective Services Assessment, Placement, and Social Services teams. * Provided supervision and field instruction for MSW interns. * Assisted in planning and executing annual “Step Into Your Future” event. Show less

Greater Nashville Area, Tn

• Conducted reviews of child death and near death cases, including review of hard case file and TFACTS material and debriefing interviews with DCS staff involved with the child and family • Prepared Child Death/Near Death Summary and Systems Analysis Report for identified case reviews• Presented Child Death/Near Death Summary and case information to Central Office Child Death Review Team and make recommendations regarding the need for further systems analysis of the… Show more • Conducted reviews of child death and near death cases, including review of hard case file and TFACTS material and debriefing interviews with DCS staff involved with the child and family • Prepared Child Death/Near Death Summary and Systems Analysis Report for identified case reviews• Presented Child Death/Near Death Summary and case information to Central Office Child Death Review Team and make recommendations regarding the need for further systems analysis of the case• Facilitated meetings with the Grand Middle Region Systems Analysis Team, including presenting details of cases being reviewed (as documented in Systems Analysis Report), and guiding the team through Systems Mapping process to identify contributing systemic factors to key findings noted through case review • Completed Systems Map and Narratives of findings noted through case review and meeting with regional Systems Analysis Team, along with other required documentation• Recruited and provided orientation for new Systems Analysis Team members• Participated in quarterly meetings for Child Death Review considerations development• Assisted in the development of Systems Analysis communimetric tool, used for more standardized assessment of cases reviewed across the state Show less

*Performed quality Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) case reviews for Department of Children's Services (DCS) South Central region within protocol timeframes*Conducted and maintained new employee and recertification training for South Central DCS staff in the use of the CANS and FAST assessment tools*Provided consultation to Family Service Workers on interpretation of the CANS for use in service planning and to help inform best practice around the strengths and need of a… Show more *Performed quality Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) case reviews for Department of Children's Services (DCS) South Central region within protocol timeframes*Conducted and maintained new employee and recertification training for South Central DCS staff in the use of the CANS and FAST assessment tools*Provided consultation to Family Service Workers on interpretation of the CANS for use in service planning and to help inform best practice around the strengths and need of a youth and family, both in one-on-one consultation and during Child and Family team meetings, as requested*Generated monthly reports reflecting regional CANS data and provide consultation/feedback to regional leadership regarding this data and ways to improve protocol compliance and utilization of CANS tool in service planning Show less

*Coordinated clinical services within therapeutic day school setting, including scheduling staff assignments, coordinating the assignment of cases to therapists, and providing orientation to new staff.*Oversaw clinical services within therapeutic day school setting, including consultation with teachers, supervision of therapists, crisis team and outreach/truancy worker, and collaboration with principal*Provided clinical services to students (grades K-8) in therapeutic day school… Show more *Coordinated clinical services within therapeutic day school setting, including scheduling staff assignments, coordinating the assignment of cases to therapists, and providing orientation to new staff.*Oversaw clinical services within therapeutic day school setting, including consultation with teachers, supervision of therapists, crisis team and outreach/truancy worker, and collaboration with principal*Provided clinical services to students (grades K-8) in therapeutic day school setting, including individual, group and family counseling, assessing appropriateness of therapeutic school placement, linking families to needed community resources, providing crisis intervention, and advocating for best interest of students*Completed IEP paperwork and presented clinical progress, goals, and recommendations during IEP meetings*Conducted and coordinated intakes for elementary day school program*Served on Clinical Practices committee whose purpose is to help improve quality of clinical services offered by agency*Trained program staff on clinical issues, including Tranference/Countertransference, Creating an Effective Environment, concept of Solid Object in relation to working with difficult youth, and effective therapeutic interventions when clients are at varying stages of the crisis cycle.*Conducted quality assurance reviews for elementary day school program*Conducted incident reviews, as needed, for other agency programs Show less

*Conducted individual, group and family counseling with abused and neglected children and adolescents aged 6-20 years in a residential setting*Provided diagnostic assessment in residential setting for children and adolescents aged 6-18 years, including diagnosis, mental health assessments and individualized treatment planning*Advocated for client needs and long term placement and treatment planning through participation in Placement Review Team, Step Down, Individualized Education… Show more *Conducted individual, group and family counseling with abused and neglected children and adolescents aged 6-20 years in a residential setting*Provided diagnostic assessment in residential setting for children and adolescents aged 6-18 years, including diagnosis, mental health assessments and individualized treatment planning*Advocated for client needs and long term placement and treatment planning through participation in Placement Review Team, Step Down, Individualized Education Planning, HELP Unit, and Child and Family Team Meetings*Collaborated with other mental health professionals (i.e. psychiatrist, substance abuse counselors, SACY therapists, psychologists, caseworkers, SASS workers, etc.) and agencies to facilitate appropriate treatment and placement referrals*Provided crisis intervention*Supervised and consulted with treatment team and residential home staff to facilitate appropriate treatment and interventions*Conducted intake assessments for child and adolescent acute psychiatric hospital unit*Clinically supervised non-licensed clinicians and oversaw the clinical care of their cases*Chaired committee of clinicians to provide clinical training to new and current employees, organize clinical training schedule, modify existing training materials to better streamline information*Presented clinical training to new and current employees*Participated on program development committees to help expand services offered by the agency Show less

Master Of Science (Ms), Social Work

Concentration: Advanced Clinical Practice: Family, Youth and Children's Services

Bachelor Of Arts (Ba), Psychology

Psychology