[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-582897-105":59,"doc-detail-582897-en":130},{"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":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","calworks-parenting-students-research-brief-on-administrative-burdens","CalWORKs Parenting Students: Research Brief on Administrative Burdens","","Research from the Center for the Study of Social Policy and Project SPARC examines barriers experienced by parenting students participating in CalWORKs in California. Key findings focus on administrative burden from complex rules, paperwork, and documentation requirements, alongside system navigation challenges and limited caseworker support. Parents describe difficulty completing logs for child care, transportation, and work requirements, and report benefit disruptions tied to late, missing, or miscommunicated documents. Administrative churn and poor communication create time loss that undermines education, caregiving, and work goals.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[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/calworks-parenting-students-research-brief-on-administrative-burdens/582897/",{"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/calworks-parenting-students-research-brief-on-administrative-burdens/582897.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Rhys","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What type of barriers does the research identify for parenting students in CalWORKs?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The research highlights barriers from complicated program rules and requirements, especially extensive paperwork, plus difficulties navigating the system and limited caseworker support.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What paperwork tasks do parents report having to complete?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Parents describe completing student activity requirements and maintaining logs documenting child care hours and transportation needs, as well as tracking hours related to work requirements.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How do communication problems or missing documents affect benefits?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"When families cannot reach caseworkers or submit documentation on time, benefits can be reduced or disrupted, leaving families to absorb consequences and lose vital resources.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},582897,1792865084,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":29,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},687207024643,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","Parenting students work hard everyday 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  \nby parenting students participating in CalWORKs, California’s cash assistance program for families with children.  \nThis brief highlights findings from the research about parenting students'experiences navigating complicated program rules and requirements, including paperwork. This administrative burden creates significant hurdles for parents as they work toward their educational certificates and degrees.  \n“  \nI realized I was feeling burnt out. All the paperwork I have to do every month with CalWORKs. You have to do your student activity, you got to fill out the log for daycare . You need to do your transportation log, all the homework. It was a lot coming at me .”  \n—JESSICA, A MOM TO A YOUNG DAUGHTER AND A STUDENT IN CENTRAL COAST  \nParenting students must complete time-consuming paperwork and navigate complicated systems to receive benefits to which they are entitled.  \nParents report having to complete paperwork to demonstrate that they meet the work requirement in CalWORKs, as well as submit logs documenting their child care and transportation needs to request and receive assistance.  \n“  \nThe amount of paperwork is a hassle because you have to log all of the hours. You have to log the hours that you spent in school separate from the hours you spent studying. You have to calculate the hours that you were traveling…That’s really hard because you have to calculate everything, and then…that transfers into child care hours, too. [It’s hard] when you're three exams deep in finals week and you [realize], ‘I didn't do that.’”  \n—GRACE, A MOM AND A STUDENT IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA  \nNavigating systems is difficult for parenting students because they often cannot find anyone to help them within the system.  \nParents may or may not have a caseworker through CalWORKs. Even when they areassigned caseworkers, they often do not help them access other benefits—and difficulty communicating with caseworkers can sometimes lead to benefit cuts.  \n“  \n[My caseworker] would answer me in two or three days, but it took her forever to do something… She was my worker for about three or four years and I don't know what happened. She dropped off the face of the earth and I just started getting new ones…We use the welfare to pay our rent, but this month they cut our welfare money just because they wanted my child's immunization records and I couldn't get ahold of my worker. So all of May, I'm trying to call her to settle it so I have enough for rent this month in June and she hasn't answered me. So now they cut my money [and] I'm missing $200 for rent.”  \n—CLARISA, A MOM OF TWO AND A STUDENT IN SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY  \nThe frequent turnover among county caseworkers, along with their inaccessibility, leaves many parenting students confused about who to contact if they have questions or there are problems with their benefits.  \n3 caseworkers  \nThe median number of caseworks, case managers, or counselors parenting students report having had since they first enrolled in CalWORKs is three.  \n50%  \nAmong the survey respondents, 50 percent enrolled in CalWORKs between 2021 and 2022, a relatively short period of time to have had multiple caseworkers.  \nThe inaccessibility and churn of caseworkers forces parenting students to spend time they intended to spend studying, caregiving, or working, instead advocating on their own behalf to ensure their benefits are not cut.  \n“I got off CalWORKs because I didn't turn  \nsomething in. It was a big mess…Next time, I'm going to take a selfie of me putting my papers in this box and reco","cbCaibQoRX95ItQK","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaibQoRX95ItQK","pdf",723977,"English","# Background and Purpose\n# Administrative Burden from Paperwork\n## Documentation and Logs\n# Barriers in System Navigation\n## Caseworker Access and Turnover\n# Consequences of Communication Breakdowns","[{\"question\":\"What type of barriers does the research identify for parenting students in CalWORKs?\",\"answer\":\"The research highlights barriers from complicated program rules and requirements, especially extensive paperwork, plus difficulties navigating the system and limited caseworker support.\"},{\"question\":\"What paperwork tasks do parents report having to complete?\",\"answer\":\"Parents describe completing student activity requirements and maintaining logs documenting child care hours and transportation needs, as well as tracking hours related to work requirements.\"},{\"question\":\"How do communication problems or missing documents affect benefits?\",\"answer\":\"When families cannot reach caseworkers or submit documentation on time, benefits can be reduced or disrupted, leaving families to absorb consequences and lose vital resources.\"}]","CalWORKs Parenting Students: Research Brief on Administrative Burdens | PDF",1792044856,15]