Angel in the Nursery: Argelia Tlatelpa Perez

By: Julian Ho

When Argelia Tlatelpa Perez reaches into her “therapeutic toolkit,” she’s not just referring to her wealth of knowledge and expertise – she takes out an actual box of supplies and demonstrates how she uses them in practice. Ms. Tlatelpa Perez is a Senior Social Services Coordinator at Kids In Need of Defense (KIND), an organization whose mission is to advocate for the rights of unaccompanied migrant and refugee children in the United States. Ms. Tlatelpa Perez opens each drawer showing the carefully curated items for children, including puppets, “feeling sticks” (colorful sticks used to represent different emotions), craft paper, and toys. 
 
Ms. Tlatelpa Perez recalls the moment when she was working with an infant who had difficulty calming down while the infant’s mother was meeting with an immigration attorney. Ms. Tlatelpa Perez described her decision to offer a toy mirror to the dysregulated infant and noticed that the child’s expression immediately shifted, and he was able to stay calm so KIND’s legal team could complete the intake process with the mother. Ms. Tlatelpa Perez acknowledges the importance of being culturally responsive and being conscientious to ask permission from the caregiver before presenting the toy because mirrors can take on a different significance depending on a client’s culture. 
 
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Ms. Tlatelpa Perez completed her Master of Social Work (MSW) from Fordham University and has had a variety of work experience, including providing play therapy to children who have experienced trauma. In Ms. Tlatelpa Perez’s current role, she provides social-emotional activities to children, connecting them to resources in their community, and provides support to KIND’s legal team. 
 
When considering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategies that Ms. Tlatelpa Perez utilizes in her practice, she emphasized the importance of creating a welcoming environment. Ms. Tlatelpa Perez collaborates with the program coordinator to identify each family’s home country and preferred language. Ms. Tlatelpa Perez created a colorful banner with the flags of different countries and identities (such as LGBTQ) to ensure that all the families she works with are represented and that children can internalize the message that “I’m not different, but unique.” While most of the families she works with are from the Northern Triangle in the heart of Central America, comprised of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, Ms. Tlatelpa Perez stated that she also works with families who have other indigenous backgrounds and speak a variety of languages including French Creole, French, Mam, and Mixteco. 
 
To stay current with the latest research and trends in the early childhood field, Ms. Tlatelpa Perez acknowledges utilizing resources such as the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and Zero To Three. Ms. Tlatelpa Perez encourages early childhood professionals to always work with a lens of curiosity and listen to what children are communicating, whether it’s through crying or pointing. Ms. Tlatelpa Perez acknowledges that children are telling us what they need and sometimes it may not be trauma related. 
 
Ms. Tlatelpa Perez finds inspiration for working with migrating families in her own experience emigrating from Mexico as a teenager and having to adjust to a new country. Ms. Tlatelpa Perez reflects, “it was meant for me to work in early childhood…we have the opportunity to plant seeds to contribute to child’s development, self-esteem, and their resilience at a very young age.” Through her work with young children, Ms. Tlatelpa Perez hopes that she is contributing to a better society and will continue to give hope to those in need.