CV

CURRICULUM VITAE

Christina Tilney, LMSW

616-818-9611 

AREA OF PRACTICE*

Counseling on disability-related issues including preparation for vocational rehabilitation, benefits counseling and systems advocacy.  Practice includes accompanying clients to meetings with the Social Security Administration, DHS offices, and the intermediate school district.

*Practice area limited to Kent County.  Clients in Ottawa, Allegan and Kalamazoo Counties may contact for information and referral.

APPROPRIATE REFERRALS

·      Adults with disabilities

·      Adults new to disability

·      Families with children who have disabilities

Experience
February 2010 – present            

Christina Tilney, LMSW, principal of Independent Support & Supervision Services, LLC

Social Worker, Private Practice serving people with disabilities and families who have children with disabilities

·      Determined and developed documented community need for disability-related systems advocacy, i.e., Social Security Administration, Medicaid, Medicare, ISD Special Education, and auto no-fault first party claims for people with disabilities and families who have children with disabilities

·      Secured “Memorandum of Understanding” with Network 180 to provide program development and supervision for independent supports coordinators

·      Working with clients to identify problem and develop client directed service plan

·      Working with clients new to disability and formulate “new” career and social life plan, monitoring until goal completion

·      Accompanying clients to meetings with the Social Security Administration and the ISD

June 1998 – October 2009

Social Worker, Department Director

Disability Advocates of Kent County (DAKC)

·      DAKC April 2004, advanced to Department Director

·      Established programs and processes for the organization’s foundational services

·      Supervised seven staff, three social work interns, and a number of volunteers

·      Successfully facilitated, developed, and implemented the department’s strategic plan, supporting the organization’s annual goals

·      Identified measurable objectives to meet annual program goals and organization’s long range plan

·      Oversight of $330,000 department budget

·      Leveraged new funding sources with existing funding sources to ensure program sustainability

·      Contributed to grant writing activities, responding to “Requests for Proposals”

·      Appointed data collection specialist

·      Worked closely with GVSU’s school of nursing to coordinate outreach program for on-sight student nurse interns

·      Represented agency at meetings with community partners and statewide networks

·      Independent Living Specialist from 1998 – 2004

·      Client contact to identify problem and develop self-directed service plan

·      Accompany client to meetings with the Social Security Administration, DHS, ISD, Secretary of State (driver’s license division) and other bureaucratic institutions and facilitated problem-resolution discussions

·      Worked closely with other agencies in Kent County that serve people with disabilities

·      Organized and facilitated client work groups and disorder specific support groups

·      Linked people with like circumstances for peer support

·      Recruited volunteers

·      Participated in fund raising activities

 

EDUCATION
September 1995 - May, 1998 Northern Michigan University     

·      Bachelor’s degree, Social Work, clinical/macro focus

September 1998 – May 2001, Grand Valley State University

·      Master’s degree, Social Work, clinical/macro focus

 

TRAININGS

 

·      Trauma Informed Care

·      Developmental Disabilities Leadership

·      Brain Injury Specialist

·      Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, Jeffrey Mitchell Model

·      Dispute Resolution

·      Living Well with a Disability

·      National Advocacy, Families, USA

·      Six Thinking Hats, DeBono model

 

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

October 2010 – present

·      Facilitator Kiwanis International Aktion Club

October 2010 – present

·      Member of proposal review committee for Michigan’s Developmental Disabilities Council in Lansing

April 2006 – present

·      Member Coalition to Protect Auto No Fault (CPAN)

September 2005 – December 2010        

·      Served as board president for Alternative Pathways, a local non-profit organization serving people with developmental disabilities

COMPETENCIES

·      Delivers person-centered and outcome-based services

·      Excellent written and oral communication

·      Accurate, consistent, and timely reporting

·      Seamless movement between projects, with keen attention to detail

·      Creative thinker with evaluative approach to service delivery

·      Proficient with Microsoft Office products