Paola Esparza

I have 10+ years of experience working as a counselor for students and their families, supporting at-risk youth and facilitating group restorative circles in the school community, including staff and parents. One of the best attributes I bring to the field is that I genuinely care for people as they are and still wish to support them. My lived experiences have given me the empathy and compassion needed to work with diverse communities with a wide range of backgrounds and value systems.

• I provide counseling and crisis intervention for newly arrived refugee students in PreK-5th grade with various emotional, social, and case management needs. 
• Advocate for migrant students' and family's needs by seeking and distributing resources, including clothing, translation services, legal immigration support, educational supplies, and emotional wellness materials.
• I provide individual counseling for students in temporary housing to address the trauma involving their home displacement. 
• I facilitate five support groups for the newly arrived migrant children in Pre-K, kindergarten, (2) first and second grades. I plan and lead psychoeducational activities to focus on integration, trauma, healing, and wellness while using various modalities such as meditation, psychoeducation, and skills-based learning.
• During individual sessions or groups, I help students with coping skills in self-regulation, expressing emotions, narrating traumatic experiences and language barriers, and improving self-esteem and social-emotional learning. 
• As one of the few bilingual speakers on-site, I often translate between staff and Spanish-speaking students/families. 
• Provide staff with essential information to understand better factors (cultural, societal, economic, familial, health, etc.) affecting a student’s performance and behavior.
• Advocate and collaborate within multiple systems (i.e., Child Welfare, Public Assistance, Medical, Legal, etc.).
• Evaluate, research, assess and analyze various policies affecting the refugee community and those in temporary housing.
• Collaborated with the attendance team to support students with chronic absences/lateness and addressed 

Masters's Degree in Social Work from Columbia University in the city of New York.