hsci 660d policy brief paper

HSCI 660D PAIRED POLICY BRIEF PAPER RUBRIC Due Date: June 13, 2017 Group Members: Vanessa Rangel & Athena Montiel Title: Policy Brief on Food Insecurity Among College Students

Format: 10 points possible _____ ➢ 6-8-page maximum (body of paper), 12-point font (Arial or Times New Roman) with 1inch margins, black ink, white paper ➢ Required paper elements described in guidelines posted in Blackboard with headings clearly identified per template requirements (Purdue Online Writing Lab: APA Style ➢ Adherence to APA style requirements (Purdue (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01) 9-10: All details in order or a minor discrepancy or two 7-8: Deviations from format easily noticeable 0-6: Formatting errors detract from overall quality, function, components missing Writing Quality: 15 points possible _____ Mechanics, e.g., spelling, grammar, punctuation ➢ Sentence / paragraph structure, e.g., subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement, ➢ clear articulation of ideas 14-15: Clean and well written at university level 12-13: Only minimal number of minor errors 0-11: Content compromised because of writing errors Mindful Content: 50 points possible _____ ➢ Each section complete, including accurate conceptual detail per guidelines: Executive summary, Context and importance of the problem, Critique of policy option(s), Policy recommendations, Appendices (if necessary). 45-50: Well written, articulate, accurate, graduate-level paper 40-44: Minor errors, inconsistencies do not compromise overall content 35 -39: Errors, inconsistencies, bring comprehension, effort into question 30-34: Number, severity of errors suggests limited comprehension, effort 0-29: Blatant errors, inconsistencies, or shallow content clearly indicate lack of comprehension or minimal effort

Group Total: 75 points possible _____

Running head: POLICY BRIEF ON FOOD INSECURITY AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

Policy Brief on Food Insecurity Among College Studen ts Vanessa Rangel & Athena Montiel California State University, San Bernardino

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Executive Summary Food insecurity is a nation-wide health issue that affects college students an d impacts a

student’s ability to meet daily needs and right to an education. The CSU system serves over 479,000 college students across 23 campuses c ampuses in California, which is a large population po pulation of students that depend on the resources the CSU system provides (CalState.edu). Research shows that as much as 59% of students studen ts in a university had been food insecure at least once during the past year (Patton-Loez, Lopez-Cevallos, Cancel-Tirado, and Vazquez, 2014). A different study conducted in 2015 with students in the CSU system found that 47% of food insecure students wanted information regarding campus nutrition assistance programs (Martinez, Brown, & Ritchie, 2016). CSU campuses should meet the needs of their student population through raising awareness and creating programs in order for students to b e successful. Food insecurity in its most simplest form can be described as the short or long term inability to to access healthy foods in a socially acceptable way. wa y. Defining food insecurity among college students is ver y complex and various factors should be considered including education, socioeconomics, and housing. These factors are important and must be kept kep t in mind when creating or implementing new programs and policies addressing college students. College students who are food insecure tend to have a lower GPA, which potentially impacts a student’s ability to graduate and affects university graduation rates, (Maroto, Snelling, & Linck, 2014). Socioeconomic status including a student’s ability to pay for books or tuition o r having to choose between making school purchases or groceries may also contribute to a student’s academic achievement. A study in 2015 found that 15% of college college students in the CSU system were forced to postpone their studies because of financial issues (Martinez et. al, 2016). Housing among college students is important becau se their housing circumstances have changed and they may now be living alone or in a dorm and in a financial situation where a large portion


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of their income goes to housing. In a study looking at food insecurity among amon g college students who live in dormitories, researchers found 33% were food insecure (Bruening, Brennhofer, van Woerden, Todd, & Laska, 2016). 2 016). Currently there is no system-wide policy in place at the CSU system level so students rely on food pantries, CalFresh, Feeding America, and National Campaign against Hunger and Homelessness. Research demonstrates the impa ct that food insecurity has on students and universities, but most importantly, the need for a CSU systemsystemwide nutrition assistance program to help college students meet their basic needs and be successful. Context and Importance of Problem

In early 2015, the CSU Chancellor ordered a study to see what programs and resources universities had put in place addressing food insecurity and homelessness and to what extent they the y served the student’s needs, (Crutchfield et al 2016). The CSU school system acknowledges responsibility in providing assistance to students who need help meeting th eir basic needs; however there is no system wide policy in place that provides nutrition assistance for the thousands of students dealing with food insecurity. The main issues regarding food insecurity among college students are distribution of responsibility and the lack o f research regarding the issue. The responsibility for providing resources and creating food assistance programs for food insecure students has primarily been left to each individual individual campus, even though the issue is prevalent across the state. CSU system leaders have just recentl y acknowledged the issue over the last few years, however funding for research on effective and innovative programs is needed. Once the CSU system takes initiative finding or creating effective programs, C SU leaders will be able to create a policy p olicy that provides a foundation for a system-wide s ystem-wide nutrition assistance


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that assists students and is maintainable. With a clear foundation of fundin g, goals, and recommendations of effective programs it can be up to the discretion of each campus to tailor the program to best meet the needs of their student population. The campus’ ability to tailor program program needs is important because of the various factors associated with food insecurity including student housing, transportation, etc. Critique of Policy Options

Currently at the CSU system, there is a basic need s initiative, in which all 23 campuses agree to commit to the success success of all 479,00 students within the system, (CalState.edu). These campuses agree to meet the following needs: food, housing, quality education, emotional support, financial support, and safety. Yet, there is n o system-wide policy to support this. However, 11 campuses have developed food pantries such as the DEN at CSUSB. At these pantries, students get the chance to receive a bag full food food and sometimes toiletry items. Nonetheless, these food pantries are based on on-campus donations only, meaning no external sources get the opportunity to donate. Faculty members working at these food pantries p antries also encourage students to enroll in programs such as CalFresh, also known as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) (SNAP) or food stamps. Students can use CalFresh as monetary value and purchase practically all types t ypes of foods at participating stores. They can also receive food vouchers and referrals to other social service resources, including housing, (Crutchfield et. al, 2016). In addition, CSU students can seek to receive help from outside sources such as Feeding America and National Student Studen t Campaign against Hunger and Homelessness. The CSU system is failing at successfully meeting the food needs of food insecure students because currently only 11 out of 23 CSU campuses have implemented a food pantry or some other type of nutritional service at their location. However, it’s important to note that even


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though the entire CSU system hasn’t successfully met this need as a whole, these campuses have successfully implemented these pantries and services due to more funds, help, and being able to break through barriers. On other hand, other campuses have no type of program implemented because they don’t have enough faculty to lead these types of services or they face an institutional barrier such as a lack of funds, (Crutchfield et. al, 2016). Moreover, one of the greatest potential barriers is that about 79% CSU students lack the knowledge about available resources, (Crutchfield et. al, 2016). Additionally, these students also lack confidence to seek help on campus, so it demonstrates a lack of awareness. If students lack the confidence to seek help, then it defeats the purpose of the pantries and nutritional services. The CSU study also showed that students felt that their needs were not being understood u nderstood by some faculty members. These negative ne gative emotions can lead students to become stuck as food insecure and not meet their health needs. Moreover, being food insecure can affect students, not only physically, but mentally as well. In other words, not giving student enough confidence, comprehension, and knowledge causes the CSU system to fail to meet the needs of students and a nd ultimately fail to satisfy the basic needs initiative. Policy Recommendations

The CSU system needs to fund further research ab out food insecurity on all 23 campuses in order to truly comprehend the needs n eeds of the students. If the CSU system were to fund more research, then researchers could also narrow down which program or model can be properly implemented across all 23 campuses. This program or model can be tweaked or changed slightly into different types of replicas in order to fit the student p opulation of each campus. They The y can gain support for this through advocacy or lobbying and perhaps maybe receive outside grants that can be used for this research. This will allow state officials and sponsors to become aware of


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the crisis that these food insecure college students are facing. After all, college students aren’t exactly the population that most people think of in terms of food insecurity. Once research is complete, the CSU system can then successfully implement a systemwide policy to meet the needs of their food insecure students. The CSU system should also work on building partnerships or alliances on campus with other faculty members and student organizations. For example, faculty members that work with hou sing or financial aid can be an essential support system for these students, (Crutchfield et. al, 2016). These faculty members can help students navigate through their financial aid and perhaps help them set up budgets in order to help them manage their finances more efficiently. This can help them allocate their funds in a smarter way, so they can still fund their academics, housing, and food. Faculty members working in housing can perhaps enroll e nroll these students in special programs for housing or help them find cheaper housing. It would also be important important to set up special special training for faculty members in order for them to provide help effectively and be sensitive to the needs of these students. This can also provide other gateways gatewa ys or points of contact, where students can get help. Overall, having properly trained and supportive facult y members can help students become more comfortable in reaching out to faculty for help. Student organizations on campus can be helpful partners because they can help with donations and awareness. Most student organizations on campus volunteer as part of their work and as a representation of their manta. Due to this, some require their members to do a certain amount of volunteer hours each quarter qua rter or semester. Therefore, the CSU system might as well build partnerships with these clubs and organizations in order to gain more volunteers who can perhaps organize special events or set up booths on school events in order to spread awareness among other students and faculty members. This can help increase donations and knowledge


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about resources, which will also increase the confidence of students to seek help for food insecurity. The Student Health Centers across all campuses c an also provide great support because they spread awareness and develop workshops in order to deal with certain health issues. Perhaps creating a workshop on how to sign up for nutritional resources and how to eat on a budget can be useful tools for food insecure students. During these workshops, guest speakers can come in as representatives from different nutritional organizations such as CalFresh, WIC, local food banks, etc. Perhaps even raffling off a grocery gift card can be used as an incentive. This will definitely provide students with a structured support system and they will feel that they are not alone. Cooking classes can also be established as part of this workshop, such as how California State University, Humboldt did so. According to Crutchfield et al 2016, they created cooking cook ing classes that used basic kitchen supplies found in d orms and taught students how to create healthy, budget-friendly foods. At the end of the workshop, the participants would take home ingredients and recipes in order to recreate them at home, (Crutchfield et al 2016). This could be a resourceful add-on that can not only provide students with knowledge, but tools as well. The CSU system can reduce the amount amoun t of stress and need among food insecure students across all 23 campuses by establishing a system s ystem wide policy. They can actually be successful at meeting the basic needs initiative by going through the following steps: advocating, lobbying, finding funds, researching, implementing the proper model or p rogram, training faculty members, and creating support networks on campu s within faculty members and student organizations or clubs. By following these steps, the CSU system will have a higher success rate with helping food insecure students and diminish health disparities among all all 23 campuses. The implementation of a system wide program can help increase graduation rates and passing grades


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since academics is majorly affected by the lack of proper nutrition. In essence, it is in the b enefit of the CSU system to establish a system wide polic y in order to see significant changes across all boards.

References

Bruening, M. , Brennhofer, S. , van Woerden, I. , Todd, M. , & Laska, M. (2016). Factors related to the high rates of food insecurity among amon g diverse, urban college freshmen. Journal o f the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 116(9), 1450-1457. Crutchfield, R., Clark, K., Gamez, S., Green, A., Munson, D., & Stribling, H. (2016, January). Serving Displaced and Food Insecure Students in the CSU. Retrieved June 8, 2017, from https://www2.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/student-success/basic-needs-


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initiative/Documents/ServingDisplacedandFoodInsecureStudetnsintheCSUJanuary20163. 8.16.pdf Maroto, M., Snelling, A., & Linck, H. (2014). Food insecurity among community college students: Prevalence and association with grade point av erage. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 39(6), 1-12. Martinez, S., Brown, E., & Ritchie, L. (2016). What factors increase risk for food insecurity among college students?. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 48(7), S4. Patton-Lóez, M., López-Cevallos, D., Cancel-Tirado, D., & Vazquez, L. (2014). Prevalence and correlates of food insecurity among students attending a midsize rural university in oregon. Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior, 46(3), 209-214.

hsci 660d policy brief paper

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