‘Like an angel’ — Miami-Dade social worker helps two kindergartners return to school
Brithany Ulloa Bustamante and her little brother Cristopher were ghost students.
They did not show up at Claude Pepper Elementary when the school year began, nor did they log on to virtual school from home.
They were among the 10,000 students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ vast population of 245,000 seemingly lost in the havoc of the coronavirus pandemic. Had they left Miami, two years after arriving with their mother from Honduras? Or were they unable to secure an internet connection for remote learning?
Their teachers were determined to find out. Once the siblings had accumulated more than 20 absences, a red flag was raised and a case file was opened.
Both the Miami-Dade and Broward school districts employ their own teams of social workers who search for missing or truant students and try to reconnect them with the schools where they should be enrolled. This year, caseloads have doubled or tripled because of displacements and disruptions in families’ lives caused by the pandemic.
In Miami-Dade, 90 percent of the missing students have been accounted for — including Brithany and Cristopher. Most either enrolled in private schools or moved away, Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said.
The Ulloa Bustamante children hadn’t gone anywhere. They were stuck in limbo with their parents in the tiny garage apartment they’re renting in Kendall. They had an unreliable internet connection. The parents were reluctant to send the kids to school for fear of catching or transmitting the virus, especially given their cramped, un-airconditioned living quarters.
Social worker Raiza Soler-Perea found Brithany, 7, Cristopher, 6, dad Arnold Ulloa and mom Wendy Bustamante — none of whom speak English — hunkered down at home, broke, hungry and overwhelmed.
“Raiza was like an angel coming to our door,” Bustamante said. “Without her, we would feel abandoned. She went above and beyond her job to help us. She was always available to answer questions, solve computer problems and talk to the kids.”
The children are now enrolled in kindergarten (Brithany is repeating a year) at Pepper Elementary and thriving.
“They have space to play. They have books. They’re making friends. They have more confidence with their homework and they are learning English,” Bustamante said. “It’s a feeling of relief.”
Ulloa and Bustamante are from the small town of San Marcos de Colón, near the Nicaraguan border, where jobs were scarce. They both worked at a plant nursery.
Ulloa has a high school certificate in finance and Bustamante has a fifthgrade education. They immigrated to Miami seeking a better life and more opportunities for their children.
But the pandemic threw their plans into disarray. Bustamante’s jobs cleaning houses dried up when COVID hit, and Ulloa was unemployed for months until he got a job at a body shop. They’re both working at a cabinet-making company, but it’s tough to pay the $900 rent.
“COVID knocked us backward, and it has been hard for the children,” Bustamante said. “Without COVID, I think we would have progressed further on our goals, like buying a car, and Brithany and Cristopher would have progressed further in their schooling.”
The family was receiving free food from their church. Soler-Perea registered them with the district’s Families in Need program so they can pick up food at school. She’s linked them with a host of other social services so that they’ve received household items, clothing, shoes, soap, shampoo and toothpaste.
The children are up to date on their immunizations after being referred to a free clinic. Legal aid to help the family through the immigration process is available.
“We take a compassionate approach to assist families with myriad issues that go beyond education, whether it’s housing insecurity, food insecurity, medical issues, employment issues, trauma or death in the family,” said Daniel Ore, department chair of the district’s school social work program. “Our role is to dig deeper to understand why the child isn’t going to school or is struggling in school.
“Academic re-engagement is one piece, but we also develop an intervention plan and follow up with wellness checks.”
While the job doesn’t always lead to happy endings, families like those of Brithany and Cristopher make social work rewarding, Soler-Perea said.
“They represent what we see every day as school social workers — hardworking families trying to make it while dealing with the hardship of an economy and environment impacted by the pandemic,” she said. “The Ulloa Bustamantes were also willing to listen to us and accept the help that we offered. It made this relationship so much easier because we established that home and school connection that is so needed for change.”
During the pandemic, the detective work required of social workers has been extra challenging, said Angie Torres, district director of Exceptional Student Education programs.
“It’s a job about relationships that you don’t leave at the office,” Torres said. “Our social workers have still managed to deliver the human touch despite the obstacles.”
As Bustamante showed off school pictures of her son and daughter and pointed to their baptism certificates hanging on the wall, she said she could see light at the end of a dark year.
“We are grateful to Raiza and our school,” she said. “They gave us hope.”