The holiday season is...
traditionally a time of year when more people are paying attention to food insecurity. Although this year brings unique challenges, the problems of food and housing insecurity haven’t gone away; in many ways, the pandemic has exacerbated them.

This special issue newsletter highlights tools, strategies, and best practices for addressing basic needs so that every member of the California Community College System—students, faculty, and staff included—may thrive.

Find more Basic Needs resources and news at the California Community Colleges Health & Wellness website: https://www.cccstudentmentalhealth.org/basic-needs-initiative

New Basic Needs Resources from the Chancellor's Office!

The Chancellor’s Office is excited to share three new resources that colleges can use to assess, plan, implement, and promote basic needs resources and strategies on their campus.

The Meeting Basic Needs: Campus Planning Toolbox is designed to help administrators, staff, and faculty who are interested or engaged in planning basic needs services for their campus. These tools may be most useful for colleges that are just beginning to develop their resources related to basic needs, or that are seeking to expand their services and partnerships. 
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The Meeting Basic Needs: Customizable Resource List is intended to help colleges raise awareness about basic needs resources that are available. Working with other key stakeholders in your college, use this document to compile information about available resources and share it with your students, faculty, and staff.
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Basic Needs, Poverty, and Impact on Academic Success describes new data from more than 40,000 California Community College students showing the scale and scope of basic needs challenges in the system. Expanding on the Chancellor’s Office’s seven-step “Vision for Success,” this report provides recommendations for how the colleges can address student basic needs and promote equity.
More from the Chancellor's Office!
Infographic: Supporting CC Students in Meeting
Basic Needs
California Community Colleges Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Guidebook
Includes SNAP Application and Staple Food Guidelines
In the News: Rapid Rehousing at Long Beach City College (LBCC)
The Long Beach Post recently recognized Long Beach City College’s efforts to support students experiencing homelessness. Through rapid rehousing funds from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, LBCC has partnered with a local supportive housing program to help about 40 students per year to get into housing quickly. In addition, LBCC’s new Office of Basic Needs provides a one-stop shop for help with housing, food insecurity, technology, mental health, and more.

Student Jonathan Ramirez, who was living in his car when COVID shutdowns began, describes why he is “grateful” for this program: “We’re not just living here. We’re getting set up for success."


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Guide: Student-Led Emergency Aid at City College of San Francisco (CCSF)
This #RealCollege “Beyond the Food Pantry” guide highlights the efforts of Students Making A Change (SMAC), a small student-led organization dedicated to improving student equity at CCSF and across California through advocacy and organizing. When the pandemic began, SMAC received a $300,000 emergency aid grant to support students. Written by SMAC members, this brief guide explains their successful concrete strategies to engage and support students with emergency aid grants during the pandemic.


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Key Resource: Supporting Homeless and Foster Youth During the Holidays Amidst of COVID-19
SchoolHouse Connection, Youth Villages, and Juvenile Law Center created an editable toolkit for colleges and universities to help inform decisions to support students with experience with homelessness and foster care during COVID-19. As the semester comes to a close and the holidays are quickly approaching, they now offer six practical, concrete tips for institutions to support these students.


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Report: Instructional Staff Are Under-resourced to Meet Basic Needs
New research from The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice examines economic challenges among more than 550 educators across five higher education institutions, including Compton College in California. Nearly 40% of educators experienced some sort of basic needs insecurity in the past year. One in three respondents experienced housing insecurity in the past year, and one in six had food insecurity in the past 30 days alone.

The report also shows that this is a major equity issue: some educators experience more basic needs challenges, including educators of color, LGBTQ educators, younger educators, part-time educators and educators working multiple jobs, and educators with high debt.


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Conference Slides: California Higher Education Basic Needs Alliance (CHEBNA) 2020 Summit
Last February, more than 750 leaders from the California Community College, University of California, and California State University Systems convened for an “Intersegmental Basic Needs Summit.” You can now access the slides (PDF) from more than 50 keynotes and sessions presented at the conference! Topics include emergency aid, food insecurity, health services, and much more.
The California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA) is an organization of county governments working to improve mental health outcomes for individuals, families and communities. Prevention and Early Intervention programs implemented by CalMHSA are funded through the voter-approved Mental Health Services Act (Prop 63). Prop. 63 provides the funding and framework needed to expand mental health services to previously underserved populations and all of California's diverse communities.