State needs Spanish-speaking social workers

The population of Spanish-speaking Texans is rapidly increasing, but University social work experts say the number of social workers and mental health professionals who speak the language is insufficient to care for Hispanic populations in need of services.

“There is no available data to quantify it, but we know from our anecdotal reports and research studies that have been done over time that there really aren’t enough social work providers in Texas or nationally to meet the needs of Spanish-speaking populations,” said Merrell Foote, the spokeswoman for the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. “Our goal in this program is to increase the workforce out there and bring awareness to social work as a career.”

This semester, 22 students throughout the country received $386,000 worth of scholarships from the foundation. Founded in 2008, the organization’s scholarship program provides full-tuition scholarships to bilingual students seeking master’s degrees in social work at one of 11 schools in Texas accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.

To be eligible, students must pass a fluency exam and agree to work in the social work or mental health field in Texas for at least the same length of time as their master’s program.

Since its inception, the program has provided scholarships for 51 students.

Although the foundation is based at UT, Foote said it is important to get students involved at all accredited schools so they will be prepared to meet diverse needs.

“Our mission is to improve the mental health of Texans across the state. There’s a lot of diversity across Texas, not just in language,” Foote said. “You have different needs in East Texas and West Texas or in the Valley region. We wanted to make sure we reached schools across Texas and didn’t just focus on a certain region.”

Seven students have already completed one-year master’s programs and began work in social services and mental health professions. Flor Avellaneda, who graduated from the Baylor School of Social Work last spring, said social work and Spanish are her two passions. Avellaneda was raised in a family of Mexican immigrants and sees firsthand the effects language and cultural barriers can have on individuals.

“There is such a need in our community,” she said. “I have a very strong passion for serving the poor. Seeing poverty and seeing children is a driving force. I don’t think, ‘It’s happening, that’s too bad.’ I think, ‘It’s happening. Let’s seek justice and empower the population.’”

Avellaneda is now working in the Waco area with an organization that provides counseling for children, increases community outreach and brings resources to schools.

This summer, Gov. Rick Perry signed House Bill 233, which increases the standards for translators in hospitals to prevent errors. Despite such efforts, David Springer, the associate dean of academic affairs at UT’s School of Social Work, said the gap between the number of Spanish speakers who need social services and the work force available to serve them is increasing.

“With the Hispanic population growing as rapidly as it is, we’re going to have to find creative ways to respond to the serious mental health workforce shortage, particularly with regard to bilingual providers,” Springer said.

Programs like the Hogg Foundation scholarship are making it possible for interested students to pursue careers in social work that will serve Texas’ neediest populations. Denise Baxindine, a UT social work graduate student who received a Hogg scholarship, said her undergraduate work with justice issues led her to become fluent in Spanish and considers it one of the most important academic decisions she has made.

“For me, being bilingual isn’t just speaking two languages,” Baxindine said. “It’s ensuring that everyone has access to the resources and information necessary to live safely and successfully in our society.”

Comments

7 comments

Melting pot

Tue Nov 3 2009 18:19

"Great American Experiment known as the greatest melting pot on Earth." — "Melting pot" suggests that new ingredients, when added to the pot, do not remain in lumps and clumps but melt and blend into the near homogeneous mixture of all previous ingredients. New ingredients blend into the existing pot contents. Existing pot contents, generally, do not coagulate around new ingredients to allow them to remain isolated from the entire mix.

Rosario and Kevin

Tue Nov 3 2009 12:30

Most immigrants work very hard to learn the language of their host country. It is a fallacy that they don't. However, it is a generational phenomenon. Older, first generation immigrants have a harder time trying to learn a language. It's well documented that learning a second language at advanced ages is difficult. To those who simply want to say "learn English" and do nothing else, they defeat their own argument. With any wave of immigration, there is a need to bridge the two cultures. Bi-lingual experts in all fields serve to do this. Without these bridges, immigrants are more likely to stay in their cultural and linguistic shells because it is safer and more comfortable there. We need to reach out to each other, embrace each other's languages, differences and cultures. Only then will we truly continue this Great American Experiment known as the greatest melting pot on Earth. This is why my children are bi-lingual.

Your name

Tue Nov 3 2009 10:57

Immigrants can't get jobs because they can't speak English. Increasingly Americans can't get jobs if they don't speak Spanish. We need to have more opportunities for immigrants to learn English and they need to actually need to make the effort to learn English if they're going to live in America.

Responsibility

Mon Nov 2 2009 18:01

There is nothing wrong with fluency in more than one language. I wish I was fluent in German, the primary language of my grandparents. The rapidly increasing population of Spanish-speaking Texans should do what my German-speaking grandparents did — learn English and teach English to their progeny.

David Patterson

Mon Nov 2 2009 09:41

Studies show that 2nd generation immigrants are bi-lingual and 3rd generations all but forget the native language. If the need is there, the need is there at the time. I learned Spanish when I didn't have to, because I already had a degree. I lived close to Mexico at the time and took every opportunity to be there because it was close. I learned Spanish, practiced it almost daily, and used it in my work. That was 35 years ago, and it is the most satisfying thing I ever did.

Get real

Mon Nov 2 2009 08:51

The 'native' language of Americans is English. Immigrants, legal and illegal, who want to be successful in American society must communicate in the native language of America. American society does not and cannot be expected to communicate with each immigrant in the tongue native to the land of the immigrant's birth. The burden of communication is and always has been the responsibility of the immigrant.

John

Mon Nov 2 2009 07:59

While serving Americans in their native language is laudable, "no" is the same word in both English and Spanish in Texas. No timeliness. No service. No staffing. And, for the Republican administration of this state, "no" attention to this critical problem. If families are not served, the schools get ill-fed, ill-prepared, and poorly ready pre-schoolers.

As Texans can be heard to say, "no bueno."

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