Acknowledging the Identities and Intersectionalities of Student Parents

New America: Could you tell us more about yourself, your work, and your higher education journey?

Tracey Faulkner: As a former single mother, welfare recipient, and City College of San Francisco (CCSF) student, I helped found the CCSF Family Resource Center (FRC). In 1999, the FRC opened its doors, and four years later, after I obtained my bachelor’s degree, I accepted the position of Program Director. Twenty years later, having earned an M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education and a graduate certificate in Inclusive Early Childhood Practice, I am still running the FRC and committed to maintaining and improving the center. As a family advocate who recognizes and appreciates a variety of family systems and values, I work closely with several community and nonprofit organizations, including Parent Voices of San Francisco, The Pregnant Scholar, Center for WorkLife Law, Safe & Sound, and the Urban Institute’s SPARK Collaborative to support and advocate for student parents at CCSF and nationally.

FRC is a multicultural center with members from all backgrounds, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and cultures. All students are welcome, whether parents or not. The mission of the FRC is to provide a safe and supportive place for parenting students to receive the support they need to reach their educational goals. The center provides information about on- and off-campus resources, basic needs support such as free diapers, a child-friendly computer lab, a supervised child activity room for drop-in, and the Parent Exchange Program (PEP), which provides up to 12 hours a week of free childcare while student parents attend classes. Ultimately, the FRC aims to meet the immediate needs of each family, whether academic or personal, by connecting them to resources and other support services. The FRC also empowers student parents to become peer mentors and provides coaching for child development students new to the field. The most important element is inviting families to join a creative, diverse community in which all members can collaborate and support one another.

New America: What resources, supports, or programs have helped support you as a student parent or pregnant student? What resources, supports, or programs did you wish were available?

Tracey Faulkner: When I was a student parent at CCSF in the mid-90s, dealing with severe poverty and no family or community to turn to for help, my child’s preschool was a lifesaver. Located on campus, the teachers there fed me when I was hungry, let me rest when I was tired, and took time to talk to me about parenting and child development when I had questions. They were also incredibly supportive when we began creating the FRC in 1998-99. Later, when I took over as Director, this experience became  foundational to how we operate.

From my own experience, as well as working with hundreds of families over the years, I know connecting families to both community and on-campus resources is essential to ensure they have the support they need to reach their educational goals. For example, family support services such as Safe & Sound’s Talkline can provide mental health and emotional support, while on-campus services, such as CCSF’s Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education (CARE) program, can provide much-needed additional resources such as book vouchers and academic support. The FRC’s role is to be the hub for student parents and their children to recharge, network, and provide referrals, making sure that connecting families to resources goes as smoothly as possible.

New America: What policies should be a top priority for policymakers to enact to better support student parents and pregnant students in achieving postsecondary success?

Tracey Faulkner: Currently, based on mandates provided by the California Community College State Chancellor's Office, CCSF reports on the success rates of specific equity populations: Black/African American, Latino/a/x, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Filipino/a/x, students with disabilities, LGBTQ+ students, students facing homelessness or housing insecurity, foster youth, and justice impacted (formerly incarcerated) students, all of whom can experience additional inequities and barriers if they are also caregivers. If California added student parents to the list of equity populations—or at least officially recognized the intersectionality of equity populations, including how being a parent impacts access and retention—educational institutions would be required to collect data on student parents.

California’s Community Colleges are given funding through the Student Equity and Achievement (SEA) Program, which, among other things, requires the development and maintenance of an equity plan designed to measure specific “success indicators,” as well as the development of detailed goals and measures to address disparities. When colleges do not consider the added barriers created by being a parent while in school within this plan, they do a massive disservice to the population they are mandated (and funded) to help.

Lastly, the State needs to earmark funding specifically for student parents’ success. Colleges and universities should be able to decide how funds are utilized, but future funding needs to be tied to success rates.

New America: What is most important to advancing equity for student parents and pregnant students?

Tracey Faulkner: Student Parents’ Title IX rights should be clearly stated on both college and university websites and in every class syllabus, with clear instructions on the process to submit a complaint. Faculty, staff, and administrators need to be fully trained and educated on every aspect of Title IX, and adherence needs to be enforced.

Community colleges need to see their role in combating poverty, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Each college and university needs a Family Resource Center that provides two-generation wrap-around services and has strong ties to local community family support services. By partnering with local community family services, community colleges could play a pivotal role in California’s economic recovery and benefit future generations.

New America: In honor of Student Parent Month, what is something you’d like others to know?

Tracey Faulkner: We cannot look at a student parent as being just a parent—as if the only barrier they face is taking care of children, although that is a lot. If we want true equity for student parents, we must look at the systemic issues that create even more barriers and further entrench status quo practices. It is important to remember that children are also affected by the systemic barriers their parents face, no matter how much parents try to protect them. How we recognize and treat families in school has an enormous impact on the next generation.

I think this quote from Kimberlé Crenshaw sums it all up:

"We tend to talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class, sexuality, or immigrant status. What’s often missing is how some people are subject to all of these, and the experience is not just the sum of its parts." 

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