The Undergraduate Students Association Council passed a resolution alleging UCLA does not adequately support parenting students.
The resolution, which was passed Sept. 30, claims UCLA violated California Assembly Bill 79 and Assembly Bill 1326 by not employing a designated California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids liaison to proactively engage with student-parents. CalWORKs is a welfare program that aids California families with housing, utilities, medical care, food and clothing.
“The Undergraduate Student Association Council request UCLA to allocate funding for a full-time CalWORKS Coordinator/Laison trained to assist undergraduate and graduate CalWorks recipients with case management, benefit documentation, and compliance with county re requirements; maintain institutional compliance with AB 79 and AB1326; and conduct proactive outreach to identity and assist eligible student-parents,” the resolution said.
USAC officers alleged in the resolution that UCLA’s lack of a CalWORKs liaison has negatively impacted parenting students’ well-being, educational achievements and potential to obtain full governmental benefits.
“When you have a CalWORKs liaison, who is now hired to support this group of individuals, that will now give them more clarity and transparency on how to support them in their (CalWORKs) application, so they’re not getting denied and not being misinformed,” added USAC General Representative Jayha Buhs Jackson.
In the resolution, USAC requested UCLA allocate funding to hire a full-time CalWORKs Liaison and to provide complete transparency in their hiring process, working alongside Bruin Parenting Scholars – an organization under the Students with Dependents Program – to implement the group’s “Blueprint for Transformation.”
The “Blueprint for Transformation” collects information about parenting students across the UC to understand current gaps in the system, said Buhs Jackson, a second-year African American studies and public affairs student.
USAC Transfer Student Representative Hyerim Yoon said the resolution passed unanimously and required little to no deliberation.
“Everyone is in at least mutual agreement that our parenting scholars at UCLA need a lot more support – a lot more institutional support – than they’re receiving right now,” said Yoon, a fourth-year English and history student.
The Bruin Resource Center said in an emailed statement that the parenting student community is largely eligible to receive Pell Grants and is supported in its academic goals by the Students with Dependents Program.
“The program received funding to expand staffing,” the BRC said in the statement. “The goal is to strengthen the university’s future success through collaborations with campus and community partners and student organizations, inclusive of the work that the Undergraduate Student Association Council and Bruin Parenting Scholars provide on behalf of parenting students.”
Buhs Jackson said focusing on the success of students with dependents will help increase UC retention rates and improve social mobility at UCLA.
USAC will continue to work with BPS and administration so that the demands of the resolution are met, Yoon said. Parenting students should have a voice, Yoon added.
“As one group succeeds, I feel like we all succeed. And we all have a place and a right to be educated at the school,” Yoon said. “If some folks have a more difficult time obtaining that education, I think it’s up to us as a collective student body to uplift them and make sure that we’re filling in the gaps and they’re getting the same quality of education as we are.”
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