Clara Cazares,
Dixon Family Services

I am the oldest of four children. My parents are immigrants from Mexico who have been living in the United States for about thirty years. I am the first member in my family to attend a university and graduate with a bachelor degree in social work from Sacramento State. I have also been the only member to continue my education and I am currently a master student in the social work department at Sacramento State. I am very proud of my family and of my accomplishments and now that I am working on my masters degree I am aware of the necessities of my community and therefore, I would like to assist the Latino community in anything that I can.

I am currently involved in an internship at the Yolo Family Service Agency that has helped me identify my next step in my career. I would like to work with as many minorities as I possibly can but I would like to focus on the Latino community. By being bilingual I would be able to help not only English speaking clients but I would also help Spanish-speaking clients. By interning at this current internship has given me the opportunity of translating information for a Spanish speaking parenting class involved in CPS and also translating information for the agencies monthly newsletter. I believe that being bilingual will allow me to help a larger population. In my internship I am involved with the Latino community and I co-facilitated a Spanish parenting class. By working with the Latino population I have discovered that there is a great need for bilingual social workers and I want to be one of them.

Like many other children in the United States whose parents migrated to this country for a better life I had to become a translator at a very young age. I am fluent and proficient in both Spanish and English. I had to learn English at school and try to keep up with the rest of the native speakers. I had to help my parents communicate with those who did not speak Spanish. I helped them communicate with cashiers at the store, teachers, operators, social workers and even doctors. My parents have tried to learn the language but on occasionally I am still asked to help them translate. At my current internship I am in charge of completing the Spanish intakes and I provide mental health services for the Spanish speaking community. I have also found that there is not a lot of information for our Latino community that has been translated. Therefore, I have also taken the time to translate information that can be of help to the local Latino population. This helps them to be aware of the resources and opportunities that they have in their community.

Jenny Garcia,
DHHS Child Protective Services, Informal Supervision

I have chosen my field of study because I would like to work with the underrepresented Hispanic population, and represent a voice for our children. Being a Hispanic myself, and growing up in a world that was difficult for my parents to understand, I find myself pondering how I could make it easier for them.  Having been immersed into multiple issues that affect many Hispanic families, I have been working on determining ways in which I can guide them to the community resources that have been established to assist them in this country.  Therefore, becoming a Child Welfare Social Worker will give me the opportunity to assist these families in need.
During the 2002-2003 school year, I volunteered as an Americorps member, which is a non-profit corporation for national and community service.  I became a part of a program called Project Scholars at Bellevue Elementary School in Santa Rosa.  Through this program, I was involved in tutoring four at risk elementary school students in reading and writing.  Throughout my tutoring sessions, I noticed the lack of parenting guidance and neglect the children were receiving at home.   This experience has thus sparked my interest in becoming a social worker.  My desire grew even more to work within the public child welfare system.

As an undergraduate student during the Fall 2005 and Spring 2006 semester, I interned with DHHS, Child Protective Services.  As a parenting educator intern during the Fall semester, I worked with both voluntary and involuntary parents that were involved in the Child Welfare system. Additionally, translated documents and revised the curriculum that was taught to the Hispanic parents, as it wasn’t equivalent to the information that was provided to the English-speaking parents.  During the Spring 2006 semester, I interned with CPS, Adoptions.  As an Adoptions student intern, I assisted with conducting home visits with families that were the foster parents of the child and interested in adopting that same child.  I was responsible in assisting with any issues or concerns the family may have been experiencing throughout the adoption to facilitate the process.  I have also interned with DHHS, Child Protective Services, as an Emergency Response worker.  As an Emergency Response worker, I was responsible for investigating complaints of child abuse, making assessments of the family’s needs for services, making referrals to other CPS programs or community programs, removing children from high-risk unsafe abusive situations, and continuing ongoing investigation after removal of a child to determine if a child can be safely returned home. 

I will be interning with DHHS, Informal Supervision this Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 semesters.  I will be working directly with families and case management.  Through this program, I will be offering families that are at high risk of having their children removed from the home, intense services.  It is a preventive program that will allow me to work directly with families to see what services they will benefit from.  My past and current internship have provided me with extensive experience that will assist me in developing my professional self as a child welfare social worker.  It has exposed me to families that are currently in the system, both voluntary and involuntary clients.  It has also made me aware of the many community resources that are available to assist these families, to strengthen them and build partnerships with.  Upon completing school, I plan to work for DHHS Child Protective Services.  My career objective in social work is to assist abused and neglected children by advocating and providing justice on their behalf.  This career objective fits within the ethics of the social work profession in which I will be promoting social justice and change for the underrepresented population, primarily abused and neglected Hispanic children.

Patricia Mendoza,
EMQ Children and Family Services

A belief that I have held throughout my life is that it is important to offer social services and provide options to individuals in order to empower them to improve their present situation and living conditions.  Social Workers have the important role to serve and advocate for individuals who need to be heard.  Through strength based practices, I believe we can improve quality of life so that individuals can be contributors in creating a better society for all. After graduating from the Masters Program in Social Work I look forward to working in various areas of the CPS Department. I am well aware that CPS is in dire need for qualified, caring case workers who can serve and meet the needs of diverse populations. I envision myself graduating and obtaining employment with CPS in the court services. I hope to have an even greater impact in the well being of children, especially on the Spanish speaking families, by working directly with CPS after completing my masters.

Currently, I am interning at EMQ Children & Family Services (EMQ). When I initially started to interning at EMQ I did not realize the impact we had on the families we serve. I take pride in that the agency’s main objectives are to promote family-centered programs that help children recover from trauma, severe depression, and thoughts of suicide. I believe that it is important to be in this position long enough to really learn about the resources that would help me empower families. Helping children that suffer from trauma, depression, and thoughts of suicide is a difficult task. However, I know that it is a rewarding experience when resources, information, and therapy are provided to those who need it most or when a family is helped through intervention. Sometimes families face obstacles because they are not aware that social services such as, counseling, medical, or even help with basic needs such as clothing, aid with utilities and transportation are available. This is the area that I believe will make a significant impact on lives of families. I strongly believe that through information, education, and therapy we can empower families so that they can protect and always put the welfare of their children first.

I am one of two Spanish speaking social workers in the entire agency. Therefore, my role as an Intern at EMQ has had an enormous impact on families that I serve due to my bilingual skills. I am able to provide services and support to Spanish speaking families. While working with the Latino population I realized that they trusted me more than they other workers. When I asked the Latino clients personal questions they confided in me, especially when it came to their legal status in the United States. I felt that they had a connection with me because of the cultural connection and language. The Latino population that doesn’t speak English needs social workers to provide them with social services and resources in their native language. I also have come to realize that many working professionals that work in social services understand the Latino population. There are many misconceptions about the Latino community. I feel that there needs to be more representation on behalf of the Latino population among the social service professionals. There is an enormous need for Spanish speaking social workers that understand the needs in the Latino community. Being Mexican myself I have gone through some of those hardships and I know what it feels like to not have people understand my needs. My internship at EMQ Children & Family Service has given me a stronger reason to become a professional social worker who knows and understands the needs of the Latino community.

Aurora Murillo,
Healthy Start Center at Bates Elementay School

 “One hundred years from now, it will not matter-what car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much I had in my bank account, nor what my clothes looked like. But the world may be a little better because I was important in the life of a child.” This quote written by an unknown author has inspired me to accomplish my dream of becoming a school and family counselor. As the quote says, material possessions are not as valuable as the help we can offer others, especially children.  

I was born in Mexico City. My mom, brother, and I came to the United States when I was twelve years old. Moving from Mexico to the United States has not been easy. Learning a new language and having economic difficulties have been some of the major challenges we have faced. Now, I am a Senior at California State University, Sacramento pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Child Development.

My dream is to become a school and family counselor. I want to help children and their families achieve a higher education as well as supporting their academic and socio-emotional development. I believe that coming from a low-economic status, being bilingual and having a Hispanic heritage would help me better address the needs of many multicultural children and families.

Of all professions, being a school and family counselor inspires me the most. As a counselor, I would be able to motivate children and their families to thrive for higher education. I would also be prepared to appropriately guide, support, listen, and advice, children and families through difficult situations. Furthermore, I would be able to provide them with resources to assist their needs.

I believe that children and families are the heart of our society. I believe that by becoming counselor, I would be able to help strengthen families; and as the quotes above suggests, make a positive difference in the live of many children.

I feel very happy to be the first member of my family to attend college and serve as a role model for my brother and younger cousins. My parents were only able to finish junior high school and through their social, economic, and job struggles, I have realized that becoming counselor is the best path to help children and their families achieve their dreams and obtain a higher education.

Lupe Pessoa,
Terkensha Associates North Area Community Mental Health Center

I am a proud Mexican-American woman. I come from a family of five, in which, my sibling and I are the first generation Americans. I belong to a very close family unit who taught me the importance and value of a family. I learned very early on in life to take on the role of assisting my parents with the language barrier. It began the day when my eighteen-year-old brother left the home to go to college and said to me, “ Now it is your turn to help mom and dad.” At the time, my mother was a housekeeper with a first grade level education and my father was a construction worker with a sixth grade education.

At the age of nine, I became the primary English-speaking interpreter for the rest of the family. My parents promoted the importance of pursuing a higher education. They wanted my two brothers and I not to experience many of the difficult struggles they went through in life. My admirable parents did everything in their power to put me through college at California State University, Chico, where I graduated with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Child Development back in 2003.

I began working with Early Head Start (EHS) in Butte County soon after graduation. At work I was the only bilingual Family Educator and therefore, the Spanish language was in high demand at work as well. I was assigned all the Spanish-speaking families plus English-speaking families. I tried to obtain as many resources for my Spanish-speaking families as I would for all my other families, but in reality, not as many exist for the obvious reason. My home visits were obviously conducted all in Spanish and I had to translate some of the paperwork into Spanish to make it easier for the families to understand the paperwork and developmental screenings. But the best experience I had working at EHS was being able to assist my Spanish-speaking families with breaking the language barriers, connecting them to community resources, or simply being present in their lives as a support or friend. It was at that point that I knew that I wanted to continue to be an advocate for my people.

I have the privilege to be the first of my family to attend graduate school. I wanted to pursue a career where I could reach out and help the different Latino communities. I was lucky enough to have found that here in the Social Work Program at California State University, Sacramento some of the positive attributes that I can contribute to the profession of social work are my strong desire to help improve people’s lives. I care about working with people and trying to make a positive difference in their lives. I want to continue to provide others with the resources and tools to assist them in becoming self-sufficient.

Cha Vue,
Sacramento County Department of Health & Human - Child Protective Services

I was born in a small village in Laos called Pa Dang, where I spent the first four years of my life prior to coming to the United States. I was six years old when my family arrived in America.

I am interested in Social Work because I have a passion to help people who are less privileged and those who are in need of social services. Ever since my elementary school years, I have taken on the role as the language interpreter for my parents and many of my relatives, due to language barriers. Whether it was to the doctor’s office, welfare office, or school conferences/meetings, my parents could never attend to it unless language assistance was provided. Unfortunately, not many language services were available at the time, so I was the main translator for my parents and many relatives. Besides the verbal translations, there was always tons of legal paperwork that I had to help fill out to the best of my knowledge. My language assistance helped alleviate stress on my parents and many relatives, given that they are English illiterate.

Aside from helping family members, I have worked as a Bilingual Teaching Associate for Elk Grove Unified School District, where I provided service for Hmong students and their non-English speaking parents. Two of my main duties as a Bilingual Teaching Associate were to provide assistance in my native language to Hmong students who face difficulties in areas such as math, reading, and writing, and translate in parent conferences/meetings. Besides verbal translations, I also translated English written documents into Hmong for the non-English speaking (Hmong) parents. Further, I administered the Primary Language Test (Hmong) for new students entering Elk Grove School District.

I have also worked for the Sacramento Children’s Home where I was a residential counselor, dealing with SED and abused children from the ages of 6-10 years old. There, I assisted children with daily routines and group activities. In addition to that, I have worked as an Instructional Assistant for James McKee Elementary School where I assisted severely handicap students with class activities and group participation.

My main objectives are to work in either a public child welfare service agency as a Social Worker, or in an elementary school environment as a School Social Worker. Because most of my work experience comes from working with younger children and vulnerable population, the school setting and public child welfare services are my areas of interest.

My objectives fit with the purpose, values, and ethics of the social work profession because I am helping people - specifically children - who are in need of services. Because the purpose, values, and ethnics of social work corresponds with my passion to advocate for people and to help them in whichever way I can, my career objectives will be the population I serve.

Koua Yang,
La Familia Counseling Center, Inc.

On June 1980, I was sponsored by a church family and came to live in Cahokia, Illinois by myself.  My sponsor family was Caucasian and they taught me how to read and write in English.  At the same time, I was attending ESL class.  It was extremely difficult to adjust to a new country and new culture because I did not speak the language and was not familiar with the cultural customs.  However, my sponsor family continued to encourage and support me through school.  Through my ambitions and motivation I attended college and obtained an Associate Degree from Belleville Area College and worked as computer operator for five years before I relocated to California.  Transitioning to a new country has been difficult and challenging, however, rewarding because I have been able to pursue and accomplish my goals and provide my children with a better way of life and better opportunities for the future.

In 1989 I worked for Merced Lao Family Community, Inc. as a Job Developer and Job Counselor for the Southeast Asian Community.  Through personal and work experience, I learned that helping others was one of my career interests and social work was the field to enter.  I have worked in the health and human services field for several years providing case management, advocacy, translation services, and supportive services to individuals from many different races and ethnicities. I graduated from Chapman University in November of 2000 and received a B.A. degree in Social Work. 

I relocated to Sacramento on December 2000, I worked for Crossroads Employment Services as Job Counselor for one year before came to La Familia Counseling Center, Inc.  I have worked with many individuals from low socio-economic and disadvantaged communities.  I am currently a graduate student trainee at the La Familia Counseling Center. La Familia Counseling Center is a private, nonprofit, community-based organization located in South Sacramento.  At LFCC I have served as a Program Services Counselor for 4 years and clinician for 2 years, which gave me the opportunity to provide supportive services and work with individuals from different ethnic backgrounds with an emphasis on the Latino population.  All of these clients are also low-income families, who are welfare recipients. I work with children on improving their social skills, behaviors, and interaction with their peers.  It is important to offer these children alternative positive recreational activities to change their lives positively.

In addition, I also work closely with the children and their families helping them to get involved with the community system in order to have a positive experience.  I offer and provide appropriate referrals and community resources to families.  I discovered how much I enjoy working with children and families.  Now that I have been raising all my children, they are older, and going to school, I have the opportunity to continue on pursuing higher education.  I want to improve leadership skills and to obtain my MSW.  I believe that I can offer help and support to individuals who are in need.  My experience working with the community has motivated me to help others who have experienced many challenges such as immigration to the U.S. and barriers such as myself.

Patricia Mendoza,
Child Protective Services Court Investigation

The United States has been my home for many years. My parents decided to come and live in the United States because of their poor economic situation in Mexico. My parents came to this country as illegal immigrants who later in life became United States citizens. When my parents first arrived in this country they had four children and lived in very poor conditions. They did not bring much with them from Mexico. Since we were a family of seven there were many expenses such as food, clothing, school utilities, and house utilities that had to be paid and provided for the family. My family worked in the fields picking, thinning, sorting, and pruning peaches. Picking peaches is one of the hardest jobs I have ever done in my life. My parents needed the help working in the fields to provide for my family. I was the youngest and also part of the family, so once I turned thirteen I had to work in the fields just like my older brother and sisters. My parents encouraged us very much to go to college and get an education so that I would not have to work in the fields for as many years as they did. So presently, I have graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Social Work and am working on finishing my master’s degree in Social Work in the upcoming Spring. I am the first in my family to pursue a master’s degree.

Currently, I am placed at Child Protective Services (CPS) in the Court Services (CS) sector. The cases are in Court Services for an approximation of three weeks give or take and then they are to be transferred to another department pending the Jurisdiction/Disposition Hearing. Families are usually only seen once and during that time questions about the allegations of child abuse are being asked to the parents. CS is a Court driven program whose purpose is to determine whether children meet the legal definition of child abuse or neglect per the 300 Welfare and Institution Codes. Its function is to gather the sustaining evidence and investigate all the allegations of child abuse or neglect and report the findings to the court. My role as a social worker in CS is to investigate the allegations of child abuse and make appropriate recommendations for the family.     

We receive cases when a petition has been filed on behalf of the Dependent Intake social worker. Once a petition has been filed the case goes through these three types of court hearings which go as follows: Detention, Jurisdiction, and Disposition. I try to be present for all hearings because it is very important to share information with the court that might only be known by the social worker.

I am in the Title IV-E Program because my career objective is to work in Child Protective Services in order to prevent child abuse of any kind. In many cases there are instances of abuse, sexual abuse, and home instability where many children are place in foster homes. Children need advocates to stand up for them and be the voice that keeps them from harm’s way. I believe that through intervention practices parents can be educated and provided with skills and resources that would help them to become better parents, thus reducing child abuse and increasing family reunification. I hope to incorporate the belief that the children we serve are the most vulnerable population. Additionally, it allows me to promote social justice for children and parents, to cultivate growing and health relationships between children and parents.

Nevertheless, it is always important to remember that the safety and well being of the children should always be placed first. Children are precious and valued in our society because they are innocent and the future of our country. For this reason it is very important to be concerned with the well being of children that enter the child welfare system. As a Child Protective Service worker I believe that it is our job and duty to protect children because they cannot protect themselves.

Vanessa Rocha-Diaz,
Healthy Start, Hiram Johnson High School

I am in my second year in the Masters in Social Work (MSW) program at California State University, Sacramento.  I will be graduating with my master’s degree this spring. Receiving my master’s degree will be a great accomplishment and will open the doors to a variety of possibilities in the field of social service.

I currently work at a local high school in Sacramento. I am a school social work intern at Healthy Start, a drop in teen and family resource center located at Hiram Johnson High School (HJHS).  HJHS has a student enrollment of about 2,000 students. The student population is very diverse with Latinos, Asians, and African-Americans representing the majority of students. My tasks at Healthy Start vary each day since students are referred by school personnel or drop in on their own. However individual crisis counseling is what I focus with students the most as well as working with Latino families. I have only been at Healthy Start for about five months, yet I feel as though I have been there longer. I have built strong relationships with students and at the same time I have been exposed to a variety of issues that I would probably not of found any where else.  Each student’s problems are different from other students, therefore everyday is different and this is what I find the most interesting aspect of social work. There is no dull day in social work and there is no better reward then helping your clients lead successful and stable lives.

My future aspiration as I approach completion of my master’s program is to continue working with adolescents and expand at the professional level.  With my master’s degree I will be able to be in an administration position one day and have the opportunity to provide direction and assistance to other practitioners who have the same objectives as me, helping others. Also, in the near future I see myself working towards licensure to be a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and be able to provide clients therapeutic sessions and assistance. Finally I want to point out that one other reason I want to grow as a professional is that there are very few Latinos/as who have their MSWs and even fewer who are licensed. Nothing would make me feel even happier than helping my own community by providing them with assistance with a bicultural connection and not just a language connection.

Cha Vue,
Child Protective Services, Informal Supervision Department

I was born in a small village in Laos called Pa Dang, where I spent the first four years of my life prior to coming to the United States. I was six years old when my family arrived in America. I am interested in Social Work because I have a passion to help those who are less privileged and in need of social services.

Ever since my elementary school years, I have taken on the role as the language interpreter for my parents and many relatives due to language barriers. Whether it was to the doctor’s office, welfare office, or school conferences/meetings, my parents could never attend to it unless language assistance was provided. Unfortunately, not many language services were available at the time so my parents and relatives relied heavily on my assistance. Besides the verbal translations, there was always a ton of legal paperwork that I had to help fill out to the best of my knowledge. Though I was merely a child at the time, my language assistance helped alleviate stress on my parents and many relatives given that they are English illiterate.

It has been a difficult but rewarding journey for me. Transitioning to life in America at the age of six with parents who had no formal education was a big challenge for me and my siblings; besides the assistance at school, no other source of assistance was available at home for us during our most difficult years. Despite all the academic hardships my siblings and I endured, I continuously strived with every possible opportunity to overcome those barriers. Today, I am proud to say that I am the first grandchild within my grandparent’s bloodline to graduate from college, and will also be the first grandchild to graduate with a Masters degree.   

Over the years, I have come to realize that a background such as mine is actually a strength as I will be interfacing with diverse populations to perform my duties as a Child Protective Services worker. The attributes I bring in that might be relevant to my future performance as a professional Social Worker are that I am Hmong, which brings in diversity to the field, and bilingual, which gives me the ability to assist those who are not proficient in English. That is not to say that I will only aid those who speak my native language. For those who do not speak either language (Hmong or English), it is imperative for me to link them with appropriate resources and/or services that cater to their needs because after all, the most crucial part of being a social worker is the willingness to help everyone, regardless of age, gender, race, sexual orientation, and/or disability. Because I grew up providing assistance to those who are in need of services, and have worked in various areas where there are special needs, I strongly feel that I can take an active role in advocating for children and families. It is my hope that my attributes will help me in my future performance as a professional Social Worker.

Koua Yang,
La familia Counseling Center, Inc.

On June 1980, I was sponsored by a church family and came to live in Cahokia, Illinois by myself.  My sponsor family was Caucasian and they taught me how to read and write in English.  At the same time, I was attending ESL class.  It was extremely difficult to adjust to a new country and new culture because I did not speak the language and was not familiar with the cultural customs.  However, my sponsor family continued to encourage and support me through school.  Through my ambitions and motivation I attended college and obtained an Associate Degree from Belleville Area College and worked as computer operator for five years before I relocated to California.  Transitioning to a new country has been difficult and challenging, however, rewarding because I have been able to pursue and accomplish my goals and provide my children with a better way of life and better opportunities for the future.

In 1989, I worked for Merced Lao Family Community, Inc. as a Job Developer and Job Counselor for the Southeast Asian Community.  Through personal and work experience, I learned that helping others was one of my career interests and social work was the field to enter.  I have worked in the health and human services field for several years providing case management, advocacy, translation services, and supportive services to individuals from many different races and ethnicities. I graduated from Chapman University in November of 2000 and received a B.A. degree in Social Work. 

I relocated to Sacramento on December 2000, I worked for Crossroads Employment Services as Job Counselor for one year before came to La Familia Counseling Center, Inc.  I have worked with many individuals from low socio-economic and disadvantage communities.  I am currently graduate student trainee at the La Familia Counseling Center. La Familia Counseling Center is a private, nonprofit, community-based organization located in South Sacramento.  At LFCC I have served as a Program Services Counselor for 4 years and clinician for 2 years, which gave me the opportunity to provide supportive services and work with individuals from different ethnic backgrounds with an emphasis on the Latino population.  All of these clients are also low-income families, who are welfare recipients. I work with children on improving their social skills, behaviors, and interaction with their peers.  It is important to offer these children alternative positive recreational activities to change their lives positively. 

In addition, I also work closely with the children and their families helping them to get involved with the community system in order to have a positive experience.  I offer and provide appropriate referrals and community resources to families.  I discovered how much I enjoy working with children and families.  Now that I have been raising all my children, they are older, and going to school, I have the opportunity to continue on pursuing higher education.  I want to improve leadership skills and to obtain my MSW.  I believe that I can offer help and support to individuals who are in need.  My experience working with the community has motivated me to help others who have experienced many challenges such as immigration to the U.S. and barriers such as me.