Human Services Agency Survey: Increasing College Student Economic Success through Public Benefits
The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), established in 1969, is a nonpartisan anti-poverty organization that conducts research and advocacy on policies that transform systems and promote economic mobility for people of color and those who have low incomes.
With the generous support of the Lumina Foundation, CLASP will provide technical assistance to selected states to support development of policies and practices that increase college student access to public benefits. The purpose of this survey is to help CLASP provide technical assistance by building a shared understanding of your state’s current climate and goals as well as potential areas of opportunity.
Survey Description and Completion
To be considered for technical assistance, the human services and higher education agencies must complete separate surveys and submit them by February 28. There are minor differences between the higher education and human services agency surveys.
The persons best equipped to complete this survey should be interested in expanding community college student access to public benefits, have a general understanding of current policies and practices, and have a sense of key stakeholders' interest in increasing public benefits for college students. You may wish to ask multiple individuals representing state government to complete different sections of the survey to ensure you provide enough information to generate a productive initial conversation with CLASP. Simply send a survey link to new respondents with a description of the questions you want them to complete.
The survey focuses on the following categories as they relate to college student access to public benefits:
1. Environmental Scan
2. Cross-Program Access and Alignment
3. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
4. SNAP Employment & Training
5. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
6. Child Care Assistance
7. Free or Low-Cost Health Insurance
8. Housing Assistance
CLASP understands that survey respondents may not know answers to all questions or be interested in state policy or practice strategies in all sections. Respondents may selectively complete the tool, although we encourage completion of at least the environmental scan and the cross-program access and alignment section. If your state administers public benefits at the local level, you may describe variation between counties in the notes.
You may save the survey by clicking on "Next" and return to it later as long as you leave it open in your browser. To submit, click on "Done" at the end or "Exit" on the top right after clicking Next. Each survey will take approximately 60-90 minutes to complete. CLASP will not attribute any information from the environmental scan section directly to respondents and their organizations or share that information outside of CLASP and its consultants. Completing this survey does not mean that your state is committing to pursue technical assistance or specific strategies. Respondents who need further assistance on survey completion may contact Lauren Walizer (lwalizer@clasp.org).
State Options Document
Please click here for a high-level document on state options to improve college student access to public benefits, which was developed as a companion piece to this survey. (You do not need to complete the checkboxes on that document at this time.) While not intended to be comprehensive, the document can help you focus your goals and identify strategies within each survey section to increase student access to public benefits.
With the generous support of the Lumina Foundation, CLASP will provide technical assistance to selected states to support development of policies and practices that increase college student access to public benefits. The purpose of this survey is to help CLASP provide technical assistance by building a shared understanding of your state’s current climate and goals as well as potential areas of opportunity.
Survey Description and Completion
To be considered for technical assistance, the human services and higher education agencies must complete separate surveys and submit them by February 28. There are minor differences between the higher education and human services agency surveys.
The persons best equipped to complete this survey should be interested in expanding community college student access to public benefits, have a general understanding of current policies and practices, and have a sense of key stakeholders' interest in increasing public benefits for college students. You may wish to ask multiple individuals representing state government to complete different sections of the survey to ensure you provide enough information to generate a productive initial conversation with CLASP. Simply send a survey link to new respondents with a description of the questions you want them to complete.
The survey focuses on the following categories as they relate to college student access to public benefits:
1. Environmental Scan
2. Cross-Program Access and Alignment
3. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
4. SNAP Employment & Training
5. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
6. Child Care Assistance
7. Free or Low-Cost Health Insurance
8. Housing Assistance
CLASP understands that survey respondents may not know answers to all questions or be interested in state policy or practice strategies in all sections. Respondents may selectively complete the tool, although we encourage completion of at least the environmental scan and the cross-program access and alignment section. If your state administers public benefits at the local level, you may describe variation between counties in the notes.
You may save the survey by clicking on "Next" and return to it later as long as you leave it open in your browser. To submit, click on "Done" at the end or "Exit" on the top right after clicking Next. Each survey will take approximately 60-90 minutes to complete. CLASP will not attribute any information from the environmental scan section directly to respondents and their organizations or share that information outside of CLASP and its consultants. Completing this survey does not mean that your state is committing to pursue technical assistance or specific strategies. Respondents who need further assistance on survey completion may contact Lauren Walizer (lwalizer@clasp.org).
State Options Document
Please click here for a high-level document on state options to improve college student access to public benefits, which was developed as a companion piece to this survey. (You do not need to complete the checkboxes on that document at this time.) While not intended to be comprehensive, the document can help you focus your goals and identify strategies within each survey section to increase student access to public benefits.