Language is not enough: Institutional supports for Spanish speaking client-worker engagement in child welfare

Lanesskog, Deirdre; Muñoz, José A.; Castillo, Koressa

doi:10.1080/15548732.2019.1621235

Cited by 9 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Our findings resonate with previous research which pointed to the stressful work environment of providers working with Latino immigrant clients (e.g. Jones, 2012; Lanesskog et al, 2015, Lanesskog et al, 2019. Nevertheless, this study expands our understanding of the implications of working with highly marginalized populations.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Studies have begun to document the experiences of providers working with Latino immigrants and potential factors that may put them at a risk for burnout (Baranowski, 2015;Engstrom et al, 2009;Jones, 2012;Lanesskog et al, 2015Lanesskog et al, , 2019. Jones (2012) found that social workers providing services to Latino immigrants in New York often felt frustrated and powerless.…”

Section: Working With Latino Immigrant Familiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“Their needs are higher than what I can do”: Moral distress in providers working with Latino immigrant families

Olcoń

Gulbas

2020

Qualitative Social Work

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Social service providers tasked with alleviating the problems of the most marginalized and vulnerable populations are at particular risk for work-related stress and subsequent burnout. This article aims to move beyond individualized understandings of provider burnout and render visible the structural barriers that limit providers’ capacity to authentically help their clients. Guided by the concept of moral distress, we examined the experiences of 17 service providers who deliver behavioral and mental health services to Latino immigrants in a metropolitan area in Texas. An applied thematic analysis of individual interviews collected in 2015 revealed providers’ frustration with the countless systemic issues and helplessness in their inability to make substantial changes in their clients’ lives. This emotional toll, in turn, created a cycle where providers’ capacity to envision authentic, systemic change became limited. Our findings suggest that social work needs to go beyond the recommendations for self-care to prevent provider burnout and to address the inherent paradoxes in service provision to oppressed and vulnerable groups. We urge a shift toward a social action model to show an authentic commitment to social justice and to empower both providers and the marginalized populations they serve.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Working With Latino Immigrant Familiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Their needs are higher than what I can do”: Moral distress in providers working with Latino immigrant families

Olcoń

Gulbas

2020

Qualitative Social Work

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“…Such tasks might include, providing in-depth information not only about the child welfare system but other systems such as immigration or social welfare services, translating documents not available in Spanish, and translating for non-Spanish-speaking staff when a translator is not available (Engstrom et al, 2009;Engstrom & Min, 2004;Garcia et al, 2012;Logan, 2018). These time consuming tasks may or may not be related to the issue that brought the family to the child welfare system but regardless, SEB social workers complete them without extra compensation because they understand that they may be the only one available to provide these services in Spanish to their LEP clients (Lanesskog et al, 2020;Logan, 2018).…”

Section: Latinx Children and Families In The Child Welfare Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research has been conducted on the advantage of speaking in one's preferred language when it comes to emotions, experiences, engagement and therapeutic alliance (Gonzalez et al, 2015;Lanesskog et al, 2020;Marrs Fuchsel, 2015;Sevilla et al, 2018;Verdinelli & Biever, 2009b). Second, due to the increase of LEP children and families in need of services, there are insufficient SEB social workers to meet this need (Gonzalez et al, 2015;Lanesskog et al, 2020;Marrs Fuchsel, 2015;Verdinelli & Biever, 2009b) often resulting in inequitable work demands (Engstrom & Min, 2004;Lanesskog et al, 2020;Verdinelli & Biever, 2009b). This puts an undue strain on SEB social workers who often begin their work without any specialized education or training around language use.…”

Section: Distributive Justicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most social work programs in the US do not prepare SEB social workers to work with LEP clients (Lanesskog et al, 2020;Olcón & Gulbas, 2021). Courses are taught in English, reading materials are in English, assignments are expected to be turned in in English, and simulations or role plays that occur in class are in English (Sevilla et al, 2018).…”

Section: Language and Social Work Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Educating Bilingual Social Workers for the Child Welfare Workforce

Rozas¹,

Marrero-Johnson

Davis

2022

ASW

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Spanish/English bilingual (SEB) speaking social workers are in high demand, particularly in the area of Child Welfare. Most require training and institutional support to increase their cultural and linguistic competence, yet the majority receive no specific education or support. As a result, many encounter inequities in the workforce. Research points to several elements that are essential to the education and development of SEB social workers. They include professional terminology, supervision in Spanish, and the opportunity to integrate theory and practice. To respond to the needs of a growing Spanish-speaking population, the UConn BSW Program has added a Child Welfare and Protection (CWP) track. CWP is designed to provide BSW SEB speaking students with specialized knowledge and experience to meet the needs of Latinx families served by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (CT DCF). This paper describes how the UConn BSW program and DCF collaborated to re-envision social work education for SEB students and contribute to distributive justice for client and worker. The CWP Track prepares BSW students to work with a range of Spanish-speaking clients while facilitating institutional support including incentives to create a much-needed workforce pipeline for SEB social work students interested in child welfare.

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“They Show Us that We’re Important”: Facilitators of Service Utilization Among Expectant and Parenting Youth with Foster Care Histories

Villagrana

Carver

Holley

et al. 2022

Child Adolesc Soc Work J

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Language is not enough: Institutional supports for Spanish speaking client-worker engagement in child welfare

Cited by 9 publications

References 44 publications

“Their needs are higher than what I can do”: Moral distress in providers working with Latino immigrant families

“Their needs are higher than what I can do”: Moral distress in providers working with Latino immigrant families

Educating Bilingual Social Workers for the Child Welfare Workforce

“They Show Us that We’re Important”: Facilitators of Service Utilization Among Expectant and Parenting Youth with Foster Care Histories

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