Culturally Responsive School Social Work with Central American Immigrant Students

Spanish-speaking immigrant youth comprise one of the fastest-growing populations in public schools in the United States. Schools are well-positioned to serve as cultural bridges and conduits to broader U.S. society. When those institutions are inclusive and culturally responsive, they play powerful roles as drivers of acculturation and integration, with significant positive implications for well-being and academic achievement. However, U.S. public education is rooted in antiquated one-size-fits-all policies that are a remnant from a system designed to serve primarily white, U.S.-born students. As a result, schools often perpetuate values associated with assimilation, or eschewing one’s identity and culture of origin in favor of becoming wholly ＂American.＂

To address this institutional harm, Culturally Responsive School Social Work with Central American Immigrant Students explores the lived experiences, cultural wealth and strength, and broader contextual dynamics that affect Central American immigrant youth. Recognizing the ideal position of school social workers to lead the charge for culturally responsive and affirming clinical and advocacy work, Stephanie Carnes offers practical strategies and techniques for effecting change. Using case studies, reflection exercises, self-care activities, and brainstorming prompts, Carnes identifies what makes Central American immigrant students unique and lays the groundwork for fostering truly culturally responsive school social work practice at both the individual and systemic levels.

Stephanie Carnes, PhD, LCSW, LL.M, is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Sacred Heart University, as well as a bilingual clinician, advocate, and researcher. She has spent the better part of the past 15 years engaged in clinical practice and advocacy work with Central American immigrant youth, first at a federally funded shelter program and subsequently as a school social worker in a public high school in New York’s Westchester County. In addition to a doctorate in social welfare and an MSW degree, Stephanie also holds an LL.M Masters of International Human Rights Law.