Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 23, 2004

Contact: Marisa Ramirez
713.743.8152 (office)
mrcannon@uh.edu

HOUSTON, Nov. 23, 2004—A survey of social service organizations in Houston finds that many are discontinuing programs because of a lack of Spanish-speaking social workers. Those programs that do remain must then compete for personnel from a small pool of available bilingual social workers.

A three-year project at the University of Houston Graduate School of Social Work takes aim at the issue by raising scholarship money to keep Spanish-speaking graduate students in school.

“We have a responsibility to respond to community needs,” said Barbara Henley, clinical instructor at the UH Graduate School of Social Work and co-chair of the Committee for Scholarships for Spanish Speaking Social Work Students. “We are striving to remedy this crisis by finding ways to attract and support bilingual students through graduate school.”

The survey of social service organizations found that 37 percent of 120 active field instructors for the Graduate School of Social Work found programs cancelled because of a lack of Spanish-speaking employees. Sixty-eight percent reported “some” or “much” difficulty in hiring Spanish-speaking social workers. The Graduate School of Social Work conducted the survey.

“This is indicative of the need in the community and the importance of our efforts,” said Henley. “In addition, agencies that responded indicate they are further challenged by private practices that can offer higher salaries to social workers.”

The Scholarship Committee aims to raise full tuition funding for 15 bilingual graduate students during the next three years. Candidates must first be admitted to the School and pass an oral Spanish-fluency test. The project will be evaluated in three years to determine its effectiveness. Recipients must commit to working in Houston social service agencies for two years following graduation.

For more information about the UH Graduate School of Social Work, visit www.sw.uh.edu/

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