The Students Who Parent Workshop within the Wellstar College of Health and Human Services created a parenting support program in which students can enroll to be a part of a free multi-session workshop.
The workshops, which will open in September, consist of six 60-minute sessions where students will be able to ask questions and listen to guest speakers. The workshop also gives students access to The Family Resource Hub, Student-Parent Toolkit and Student-Parent D2L page.
During the workshop, students will take part in two surveys which will help the workshop staff individualize the course. The workshop also creates a great opportunity for participants to connect socially in addition to helping them maintain a work-life balance.
“At the end of the program participants will be given a list of community resources that will help them navigate and find needed services,” Director of Children and Family Programs at KSU Allison Garefino said, “We also educate student parents about KSU resources parents can take advantage of.”
Students can join for online resources or in-person meetings depending on their personal schedules. Drop-in hours are also available.
“The workshops occur live in an online format. The director and lab interns present evidence-based practices and strategies that parents can use with their children to make their homes run more smoothly,” Garefino said, “Students can also voice their individual parenting concerns and receive advice.”
The workshop’s drop-in sessions open opportunities for students to discuss available childcare, financial aid, scholarships, self-care, and helpful parenting strategies.
Garefino recommends that student parents join the workshops for the multiple resources that become available to them through the program. This includes: “evidence-based behavioral strategies, access to our D2L page with resources such as time management and self-care, [and] parenting advice from babies to teen years.”
The workshops were also recently featured in a January 2022 U.S. News article about the difficulties parent-students face. The program was featured the same month in an article by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Children and Family Program at KSU has a variety of resources that students can benefit from including addiction recovery, women’s resources, CARE services and more.
According to IWPR.org, 52% of student parents drop out of college within six years after trying to balance time for classes and studying while also taking care of day-to-day needs like cooking, cleaning, working a job and taking care of a child. For most student parents, daycare isn’t an option because of the high costs that have resulted from post-pandemic economic inflation. Furthermore, a Bloomberg article states that childcare costs are now cutting into more than 20% of parents’ incomes.
