FAFSA March 2 Deadline Approaching
 
The 2016/2017 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now available for submission by students planning to attend college in Fall 2016. Submission of a FAFSA is required for all forms of federal aid and most California State aid as well including CalGrants and Chafee grants. While the FAFSA can be submitted at any time, submission by March 2^nd is required to qualify for the maximum amount of financial aid. Between now and the March 2^nd deadline, FAFSA workshops will be held throughout the state. To find a workshop in your area, click here. To view a webinar presented by the John Burton Foundation click here.
 
For students looking for quick answers to brief questions, the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) is partnering with Get Schooled, to provide short answers to college access questions via text. This includes assistance with questions about college applications, scholarships, financial aid and the FAFSA.

 Students can text “NAEHCY” to 335577 to have their questions answered.

Brief from Urban Institute Provides Suggestions to Help Low-Income Working Parents Who Attend School
 
The college-going population is more diverse than ever and includes more parents than ever. The educational challenges facing working parents are especially heavy for former foster youth who are twice as likely to become parents by age 21 and without many of the supports their peers rely upon. The Urban Institute’s report titled Supporting Parents Who Work and Go to School points to how to assist working parents to succeed in educational goals.
 
Key challenges include irregular work schedules that make it difficult to schedule schooling and childcare, the need for childcare assistance, and difficulty identifying and obtaining available assistance from social service agencies. The report indicates that most parent-students rely on family for childcare. This highlights the special difficulty for former foster youth who might not have family supports available.
 
The brief suggests how existing federal policy initiatives such as the new Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and the Child Care Development Fund can better support working parents in their educational pursuits. Suggestions for helping these working parent-students involve providing counseling support to help them design workable schedules, access all available financial support and obtain child-care referrals. More childcare during nontraditional hours and for young children will enable more working parents to complete education. Partnerships between workforce agencies, educational institutions and childcare agencies are important for offering innovations in block scheduling, diverse class locations, as well as childcare. To download the full report click here.

New NASPA Homelessness and Foster Care Community Co-Chairs
 
The National Association of Student Affairs Administrators (NASPA) announced two new co-chairs for the Homelessness and Foster Care Community including California’s own Sara Gamez. Sara is the Associate Director for Student Support & Equity Programs at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, overseeing the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), the Renaissance Scholars program which serves foster youth students, and the Undeclared Student Program. In her role as co-chair, Sara hopes to create a platform that enables professionals to learn from each other by sharing best practices, lessons learned, and provide an avenue to share research and literature that can help institutions and programs to better understand and serve homeless and foster care students on college campuses. She is joined by Cyekeia Lee, the Director of Higher Education Initiatives with the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY).