Published April 29, 2024
MONROE, LA – ULM TRIO CCAMPIS (Child Care Access Means Parents In School) staff member Anthony Bartley
recently attended the first Generation Hope national conference in New Orleans, HOPE
2024. The event was held March 13th-16th and was created by Nicole Lynn Lewis, author
of Pregnant Girl: A Story of Teen Motherhood, College, and Creating a Better Future for
Young Families.
Lewis, herself a former teenage student-parent, works tirelessly to bring to light
the needs of student-parents and how higher ed can help to meet those needs. “From the beginning, we wanted this to be a different kind of conference -- one where
attendees felt connected, learned from people they didn't always interact with, and
left with real action steps,” Lewis stated. “It was also critical that at HOPE, student-parents
felt seen, valued, and centered. The energy in the room indicated we hit those marks.”
Attending the conference were faculty and staff from community colleges, four-year
institutions, Generation Hope Alums, FamilyU Cohort members, and student-parent fellows
from around the country. The prevailing theme centered on identifying student-parents
on campus, working with faculty to accommodate and incorporate students with children
on campus and, when necessary, into their classrooms. Many topics were discussed,
including flexible schedules, access to housing, wraparound services, affordable tuition,
and access to childcare.
Currently, our nation has a childcare crisis made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Access to quality and reliable childcare is becoming harder to find. There is much
research that shows children who attend high-quality early care and education programs
are more prepared for school and have better and more persistent educational outcomes.
Statistically, less than 2% of teen mothers will earn their degrees before age 30.
Student-parents are more likely to be students of color. Estimates show that nearly
1 in 5 undergraduate students are student-parents and that 40 percent of Black women
undergraduate students are parenting while in college. Studies have shown that student-parents
have incredible persistence to completion and academically outperform their non-parenting
peers.
“We have to do more to try and identify student-parents”, Bartley said. “Once done,
we can work to establish lines of communication that will allow us to better serve
these students. For example, a single mother or father of a 6-month-old child will
have different needs from those with a 14-year-old. Do they have access to childcare
close to the institution? Does it have flexible hours? We have to meet them where
they are, find what needs we are meeting and what we are falling short on, and work
with faculty, staff, and administration to meet those needs,” he added.
For more information, contact the ULM CCAMPIS office at (318) 342-1097, Tammy Anderson
(taanderson@ulm.edu) or Anthony Bartley (bartley@ulm.edu).
