Monica Paz, a graduate student at the USC School of Social Work, has been awarded a $3,000 Consuelo W. Gosnell Scholarship from the National Association of Social Workers.

The scholarship is awarded each academic year to master's degree candidates in social work who have expressed an interest in working with American Indian/Alaska Native and Hispanic/Latino populations, or in public and voluntary nonprofit agency settings.

Paz spent the past five years as a research associate on the Infant Development, Environment and Lifestyle (IDEAL) study at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, which conducts research and works with children who suffered prenatal exposure to methamphetamines. She completed field work that allowed her to meet and assist low-income families in accessing the services they need for their children.

Paz also participated in a month-long social work immersion program in Costa Rica, helping her hone her Spanish to enable easier communication with Latino and Hispanic clients.

After receiving her psychology degree from the University of Michigan in 2003, Paz wanted to go into a more hands-on field, which led her to the USC social work program. Upon graduating in 2009, she hopes to work in a mental health clinic focusing on Latino and Hispanic children and adolescents. Paz wants to provide resiliency training and teach coping methods to the children, whom she says are underrepresented and come from families that are often unaware of the services available to them for help.

"I want to empower these children to make better life choices and take advantage of their academic resources so they will have better opportunities available to them later in life," she said.