Jose Patino to be part of ADE School Safety Task Force

Today, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman announced the members of the Arizona Department of Education School Safety Task Force.

Our Education & Advocacy Director, Jose Patino, is part of the task force, representing us here at Aliento to share insights from the DACA and mixed status families community!

“I want to commend Superintendent Kathy Hoffman office for working with students, community members, lawmakers, non-profit advocates, educators, law enforcement, and experts to create the School Safety Taskforce. I am truly honored and humbled by the appointment. As a former educator & current DACA recipient I will do my very best to uplift the experiences that mixed status families, undocumented & DACA students go through on a day to day basis in Arizona schools.”

The task force is made up of students, school administrators, community members, advocacy groups, and law enforcement representatives. Arizona Department of Education staffers will support the work of the task force.

Aliento conducts monthly Arts & Healing workshops with mixed status families, undoucmentred & DACA students where participants in a multigenerational setting heal in community. We hope to bring the experiences of students struggling with depression, anxiety, and stress due in large part to the anti-immigration rhetoric coming from the White House, the El Paso shootings targeting the Latino community, and constant threat of family separation. Aliento hopes to create a world where healing and reconciliation is the norm, a world where everyone’s humanity is at the core and is the driving force, where we seek collective problem-solving when harm is done.

Read more about the ADE School Safety Task Force: https://www.azed.gov/communications/2019/09/12/superintendent-hoffman-announces-members-of-school-safety-task-force/