Twenty-eight percent of the 3.1 million California students who graduated from a public high school between 2015 and 2021 had CalFresh benefits during at least a portion of their time in grades 9-12, according to a report published by the California Policy Lab (CPL) in April.
Drawing on student enrollment, financial aid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (referred to as CalFresh in the state) data, Supporting Young People’s Food Security: CalFresh Participation During and After High School examined participation in the program as well as reasons that effect why or why not young people continue to get benefits.
“The transition from high school to early adulthood is a time when students must learn how to handle elements of daily life independently, and is a particularly challenging time to experience food insecurity,” according to the report. “Students who previously had access to food benefits in high school, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), may have trouble retaining that support, particularly if they move away from home and must re-apply on their own. Eligibility rules that apply only to college students may also present another barrier. Connecting more young people to the public benefits they’re eligible for may help them to succeed in college or their early careers.”
In the graduating classes of 2015–21, 19 percent of teens belonged to families that participated in CalFresh during their senior year. Two years later, fewer than half still received benefits, the CPL found.
Of the students who graduated during the height of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, continued access to the program when starting college was more likely than earlier cohorts. “This may be due to pandemic-era policies that increased the amount of monthly benefits and made it easier to enroll (and stay enrolled) in CalFresh,” the report states.
Only 3.7 percent of young people whose high school backgrounds didn’t include CalFresh were signed up for the program within two years of graduating.
The longer high schoolers had benefits, the higher the probability they participated in college. “We find significant variation in who stays enrolled in CalFresh during college by race and ethnicity and indicators of disadvantage, which has implications for outreach efforts,” according to the report.
Overall, University of California students are more prone to remain program participants compared to those at California Community Colleges, in part because they are more likely to be eligible for benefits.
“Of students who stopped participating in CalFresh when they entered college, we estimate that more than half (60 percent) were still eligible,” according to the California Policy Lab. “Many of the remaining 40 percent were no longer eligible because of the ‘student rule’ that makes it harder for college students to qualify.”
That rule requires students to be enrolled in more than part-time coursework and meet an exemption, like working an average of 20 hours per week or being a parent, a Cal Grant A or B recipient or part of a specific employment program or federal/state work study. CPL suggests that these criteria could be reconsidered to potentially serve more individuals in need.
“Alongside our partners, CPL is working to develop and test outreach strategies to connect more eligible students to CalFresh,” the report concludes.
Read more findings in the report.
