Latino and Hmong Behavioral Health Project Grant Helps Reduce Mental Health Stigma in Schools

Ta Vang is a 2022 Master of Social Work graduate from Fresno State and a member of the first cohort of Latino/Hmong scholarship graduates in the Department of Social Work. Fresno State received the $1.9 million grant, funded by the Administration of health resources and services, provide advanced training to provide culturally appropriate behavioral health services to Latino-Hispanic and Hmong populations in the Central Valley.

Cher Teng Yang was her instructor for a course designed to help beneficiaries provide more effective cultural and linguistic behavioral health prevention, intervention and treatment for the Hmong population. He remembers how helpful Vang was in the classroom, teaching his classmates about Hmong conversation, language and behavior, as well as sharing his personal experiences.

“Ta Vang was key in connecting the dots of this course with his classmates, the Hmong community and the community as a whole,” Yang said.

After graduation, Vang landed a job with the Fresno Unified School District, where she was able to put her credential to student personnel services to good use. Her job is to work with school-age children, but she also ends up working with the parents of those children.

When asked how her training has impacted her current job, Vang immediately commented on how she approaches assessments in school differently now, as opposed to before her participation in the grant.

In particular, her interest in cultural and spiritual practices changed. It used to assess these areas adequately, but now they are given special attention. The importance of providing culturally appropriate services became much more apparent to her.

“A lot of families I work with don’t understand mental health, don’t like to talk about it, and think it’s a taboo subject. Part of my job is to reduce stigma and provide ongoing education,” Vang said. “But stigma is hard to fight. For example, one of the students I see every week recently asked me “Do you think I’m crazy?” I was surprised because we have seen each other for a while and have a strong relationship. When I asked her why she asked, she indicated that she thought she might be crazy just because she was talking with a social worker.

One of the courses Vang took on the scholarship focused on Hmong and Southeast Asian families.

“My experience has been that these families generally have more resistance to Western concepts of mental health, whether that’s due to factors like intergenerational trauma or their experiences,” she said. “For example, a mother asked me – ‘Are you Hmong’ and ‘Are you a social worker?’ She was surprised to find someone who is Hmong working in behavioral health and who is so open to talking about these things. Some may find it very difficult to talk about mental health topics because even though they have a better understanding of mental health, many family members don’t understand it that way.

“Being born and raised in the Central Valley, I wouldn’t have been able to understand some of these issues in the community if I hadn’t been part of this grant. The community engagement portion of the training was particularly helpful.

The grant is a four-year grant that will ultimately provide stipends and training to 76 Master of Social Work students over a four-year period.

(Written by Dr. Randy Nedegaard, Professor in the Department of Social Work Education)