Dr. Irene Queiro-Tajalli is recognized by NASW as an Outstanding Hispanic Social Worker

Dr Irene Queiro-Tajalli

Nov. 26, 2008 - Dr. Irene Queiro-Tajalli of the Indiana University School of Social Work has been recognized on the National Association of Social Workers website as one of the Outstanding Hispanic social workers in the profession.

In an article on the NASW website, Dr. Queiro-Tajalli, the Executive Director of Undergraduate Education and Interim Executive Director of the Labor Studies program, touches on why she became a social worker as well as her thoughts about the biggest challenges to serving a growing Hispanic population.

Dr. Queiro-Tajalli explained that as a daughter of an Argentine blue-collar family, she grew up with many ideas of social justice that were instilled by family stories about the struggles of her grandparents and older aunts and uncles.

A sister, who is a practicing lawyer in Buenos Aires, introduced her to the profession of social work and she came to realize that her desire to bring change to those in need could best be done with a degree in social work.

“Social work has opened my mind to a world of inquiry, opportunities, professional contributions, knowledge, values, and skills that no other profession could have offered,” she explained in the article.

As far as serving the Hispanic population, Dr. Queiro-Tajalli noted that it’s important first to remember that Hispanics are part of a “diverse community in terms of economic levels, race, language proficiency, education, country of origin, length of residency, legal status, age and other descriptors that may translate to specific assets and challenges.”

With that in mind, she pointed out the social work profession needs to prepare a “critical m ass of bilingual and bicultural practitioners that are ready to work with Hispanics. We need to graduate more macro practitioners who can address and help to mitigate profiling and hate crimes that our people are increasingly dealing with.”

To see the entire article on the NASW webpage, go to http://www.helpstartshere.org/