October 15, 2026
By: Andrew Avila, Policy Analyst, Early Edge California
September was Student Parent Month and I was excited to celebrate it by participating in two recent events focused on parenting students and support for child care, building off of our work of Senate Bill (SB) 271, a bill we sponsored that got signed into law last year and went into effect this January. SB 271 increased on-campus child care support and financial aid awareness for parenting students. It also required campuses of the California Community Colleges and California State University, and requested campuses of the University of California, to connect student parents with their local child care resource and referral (R&R) agency.
On September 22nd, I took part in the Student Parent Action Institute hosted by the California Alliance for Student Parent Success, part of EdTrust-West’s 2026 Ed Equity Forum. I facilitated a roundtable discussion on the origins of SB 271 and our ongoing implementation efforts such as the SB 271 Implementation Guide for staff at basic need centers at colleges and universities. The institute also highlighted recent research by Dr. Lisa Catanzarite, which estimates there are 131,576 undergraduate parenting students in California, most of them in the community college system and many of them seeking financial aid. This data underscores the need to support parenting students, especially those with young children, so they can complete their education and uplift their families in a two-generational approach.
Early Edge California’s Policy Analyst Andrew Avila (left) and Director of Policy Carolyne Crolotte (right) at the Student Parent Action Institute hosted by the California Alliance for Student Parent Success.
Early Edge’s Policy Analyst Andrew Avila facilitating a roundtable discussion on SB 271 at the Student Parent Action Institute.
Early Edge’s Policy Analyst Andrew Avila facilitating a roundtable discussion on SB 271 at the Student Parent Action Institute.
From left to right: Max Wolf-Johnson (California Competes) and Maya Valree (EdTrust-West) with Early Edge’s Carolyne Crolotte and Andrew Avila.
We continued that momentum on October 8, when I participated as a co-presenter at the 2026 Joint Conference Partnering for Impact: Strengthening Families, Supporting Communities hosted by the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network and Thriving Families California. This conference is developed by and specifically for local child care R&R agencies and Alternative Payment Programs throughout California, presenting a unique opportunity to learn about promising practices, innovations, and partnerships that expand opportunities for families. I co-presented alongside partners at the Children’s Council of San Francisco, Connections for Children in Los Angeles County, El Camino College, and the R&R Network.
María Morales, legislative director for State Senator Eloise Gómez Reyes (left), with Andrew Avila (right)
Our session was titled Building Bridges: Leveraging SB 271 to Increase Child Care Access for Student Parents. The goal of our session was to equip local R&R agencies with practical tools and share examples of partnership models that are working between local R&R agencies and colleges, from referral agreements to on-campus co-locations, so more student parents can find and afford child care support. We were also fortunate to welcome María Morales, legislative director for State Senator Eloise Gómez Reyes, the author of SB 271, as a special guest speaker at our session. Here’s what she had to share:
“The goal of SB 271 was always to meet student parents where they are and break down the institutional silos that can prevent them from accessing critical resources simply because they don’t know what is available to them. Hearing from our public higher education systems, advocates, and child care resource and referral agencies showed what’s possible when we work together to connect student parents with information and support. As SB 271 rolls out, it’s exciting to see that collaboration happening in real time and to see the vision behind this legislation becoming a reality.”
Although Student Parent Month is over, I’m excited for the work ahead in 2027 to support the hundreds of thousands of parenting students who are trying to provide the best future for their young children.