[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-582945-105":59,"doc-detail-582945-en":134},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":127,"head_meta":129,"extra_data":131,"updated_unix":133},105,"en","barriers-and-mental-health-challenges-for-parenting-students-in-calworks-research-findings","Barriers and Mental Health Challenges for Parenting Students in CalWORKs - Research Findings","","Parenting students often juggle work, classes, and caregiving, while public systems and programs can add stress, anxiety, and depression—especially for families with low incomes. A 2022 research brief by the Center for the Study of Social Policy and Project SPARC examines barriers faced by CalWORKs participants in California and shows how administrative requirements and unmet mental health access worsen long-term wellbeing. It highlights persistent gaps in adult and children’s mental health services and connects these challenges to trauma such as domestic violence and deportation.",{"@graph":69,"@context":126},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/barriers-and-mental-health-challenges-for-parenting-students-in-calworks-research-findings/582945/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/barriers-and-mental-health-challenges-for-parenting-students-in-calworks-research-findings/582945.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Rhys","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-06","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118,122],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What research question does this brief address about CalWORKs parenting students?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It examines barriers faced by parenting students participating in CalWORKs and how public systems and programs can cause and exacerbate mental health challenges for them and their families.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How do administrative requirements affect parenting students’ mental health?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Administrative requirements in CalWORKs and other economic supports add stress, anxiety, and depression on top of parenting and student responsibilities.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Why is access to mental health services especially difficult for many families?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Although many families have health insurance through Medi-Cal, many struggle to access mental health services when needed, with gaps affecting both adults and children.",{"name":123,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":124},"What impact do mental health challenges have on education?",{"text":125,"@type":113},"Mental health challenges can disrupt progress by contributing to course drops and taking leave from school, meaning many parenting CalWORKs students’ education plans are interrupted.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":128,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":130,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":132,"site_id":62},582945,1792915303,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":135},{"doc_id":132,"user_id":136,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":137,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":138,"file_id":139,"file_url":140,"file_type":141,"file_size":142,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":24,"language":143,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":144,"faqs":145,"seo_title":146,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":147,"read_time":148,"preview_page_count":4},687207024643,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","Parenting students work hard every day to pursue their goals, often juggling work, classes, and caregiving responsibilities. Public systems and programs can provide critical support, but frequently create additional hurdles for parenting students and their families—especially those with low incomes. In 2022, the Center for the Study of Social Policy and Project SPARC conducted research to better understand the barriers experienced by parenting students participating in CalWORKs, California’s cash assistance program for families with children.  \nThis brief highlights findings from the research on how public systems too often cause and exacerbate stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges for parenting students and their families. While parenting students persevere in order to support their children and pursue their goals, these systemic problems slow their progress and undermine their health and wellbeing over the long term.  \nMEET KATY, A MOM OF TWO AND A STUDENT IN THE BAY AREA:  \nKaty lives with her two daughters in the Bay Area and is working toward a career in the legal field. She and her daughters are domestic violence survivors, and she shared that her goal is to ensure that her children are “safe and happy.” On top of her caregiving responsibilities and studies, Katy works 20 hours a week and spends time and energy trying to meet requirements to maintain her CalWORKs cash assistance. The competing responsibilities take a toll. As Katy explained, \"I actually do counseling, and my counselor tells me all the time, ‘Something's got to give. You've got to stop being stressed out,’ but yeah, it's just what I have to do right now.”  \nParents report that administrative requirements in CalWORKs and other economic supports exacerbate stress, anxiety, and depression, as they come ontop of their other responsibilities as parents and students.  \n“  \nTrying to maintain a good GPA with the work study, and then all the requirements for CalWORKs and other programs that I'm in, it's a lotto handle. Sometimes, I just want to take a nap all day… It obviously takes a toll on [my mental health] . It's a lot of work, a lot of stress. I feel like there's a lot of weight on my shoulders.”  \n—JACKIE, A MOM OF TWO AND A STUDENT IN THE BAY AREA  \nNearly all families participating in CalWORKs have health insurance through Medi-Cal, but many struggle to access mental health services.  \nBARRIERS PERSIST FOR APPROXIMATELY A QUARTER OF PARENTING STUDENTS & A FIFTH OF THEIR CHILDREN WHO \"NEVER\" OR \"RARELY\" RECEIVED MENTAL HEALTH  \nSERVICES WHEN NEEDED  \nAdult access to mental health services  \n Children's access to mental health services  \nn=589  \nn=597  \nNever Rarely Sometimes Usually Always  \nWhen asked, \"If You Or Your Child(ren) Have Needed Mental Health Services Over The Last  \nYear, Have You Been Able To Access Care?\"  \nFor families who have experienced trauma—from domestic violence to the loss ofa parent—the need for mental health services is especially acute.  \nFor some, intervening public systems such as immigration were the cause of initial trauma, and the failure of public systems to adequately support individuals and families experiencing trauma exacerbated their mental health challenges.  \n“My husband was deported, so it just flipped our world upside down…  \nIt's emotionally draining. It is. We all have our good days and bad. My middle one's really suffering with anxiety. She misses her dad. \"Mommy, I miss my dad. And the day is too long. I want to be with you.\" So, I had to get her a therapist.\"  \n— AMBER, A MOM OF THREE AND A STUDENT IN CENTRAL COAST  \n“When I look at my son, his father's currently incarcerated, and what the  \nfather did, he no longer has contact with us... And that breaks my heart, because he knows his dad, he was in home with the dad, and now there's no home with dad, and he's a Black young boy, and just keeping his head straight, pushing him towards school, and getting him the help he needs,[while]","cbCaihgBXEDBFuBS","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaihgBXEDBFuBS","pdf",513953,"English","# Research purpose and context\n## How public systems intensify mental health stress\n# Case stories from parenting students and families\n## Examples from the Bay Area, Central Coast, and other regions\n# Barriers to mental health service access\n## Adult access and children’s access patterns\n# Trauma and system-level impacts\n## Domestic violence, deportation, incarceration, and loss\n# Education disruption and consequences\n## Dropped courses and leaves from school\n# What’s needed next\n## Improving access and reducing administrative burdens","[{\"question\":\"What research question does this brief address about CalWORKs parenting students?\",\"answer\":\"It examines barriers faced by parenting students participating in CalWORKs and how public systems and programs can cause and exacerbate mental health challenges for them and their families.\"},{\"question\":\"How do administrative requirements affect parenting students’ mental health?\",\"answer\":\"Administrative requirements in CalWORKs and other economic supports add stress, anxiety, and depression on top of parenting and student responsibilities.\"},{\"question\":\"Why is access to mental health services especially difficult for many families?\",\"answer\":\"Although many families have health insurance through Medi-Cal, many struggle to access mental health services when needed, with gaps affecting both adults and children.\"},{\"question\":\"What impact do mental health challenges have on education?\",\"answer\":\"Mental health challenges can disrupt progress by contributing to course drops and taking leave from school, meaning many parenting CalWORKs students’ education plans are interrupted.\"}]","Barriers and Mental Health Challenges for Parenting Students in CalWORKs - Research Findings | PDF",1792045077,13]