Celebrating Social Work Month at the Young Center

My name is Tami Benchoam Rogers. I have been a Social Worker at the Young Center for almost five years. I was drawn to being a social worker because I knew I wanted to support people and work to change systems and people’s lives for the better.

My foundation for wanting to pursue social work and specifically work with immigrant children came from my parents. My mother fled a military dictatorship in 1970s Argentina and came to the United States as a refugee. As one of the youngest people imprisoned by the junta’s security forces, she met my father, also an avid activist, when he became her translator while she told her story before the U.S. Congress.

While much of what I do is personal, social work is an important part of working with unaccompanied children. Through compassion and empathy, we can connect with children and their stories. Social workers are trained to look at the environment the child is in, whether in detention, another step in their journey, or what their home life looks like. All those factors impact a child’s mental health and interactions with others.

It wasn’t long ago when I first met with a child and volunteer. I sat down with the two of them to explain who the Young Center is and to get to know the child. After explaining our role to the child, I noticed that he looked withdrawn and sad. I asked him about this, and he shared he was feeling distressed and had urges to self-harm due to past trauma. Because I was there with our volunteer, I was able to ask him more questions, including what he needed in the moment, and I was able to make sure when we left, he was supported by a trusted facility staff member.

Like any other profession, social work has some positive aspects and some challenging aspects. One of the positive aspects is that many social workers push for positive systematic change, both within the profession and in external systems. So many social workers I have met are driven individuals working to help others, it’s extremely inspiring.

However, one of the challenges in this field is the difficulty in working in systems that historically and actively hurt people. As much as we work towards change, we still must work in these harmful systems. My advice for people looking to get into social work is that you won’t learn all you need in school, and that most of your lessons will be learned after school. In addition, being sensitive and emotional is not a detriment, it shows how much you care so lean into that instead of pushing it away.

As for social workers who work with unaccompanied and separated children, I’d like to think we’re all working to a common goal. My dream is for the facilities where some of these children are held to instead be integrated into the community, so that they can have a supportive place to live while being able to go to school in the community and as they acclimate to new life in the United States.

By Tami Benchoam Rogers, Young Center Senior Social Worker.