Daniel Espana is one of a dozen clinical social workers who serve new immigrants in Oakland’s public schools. Based out of Rudsdale Continuation School in deep East Oakland, Espana provides mental health care and case management to students aged 16 to 22 who arrived in the United States within the last three years.
In an interview with The Oaklandside, Espana recalled a newcomer student who’d left his family in Florida to move to Oakland to care for his young son, whose mother lives here. Earlier this year, Espana said, some of the student’s family members in Florida got deported.
“That student now no longer comes to school,” Espana said. “He’s like, ‘I’m just gonna work because I don’t have anyone else here to support me and my child.’”…