With more than 46 million Americans living in poverty, the City University of New York (CUNY) has continued a nearly decade-long effort to holistically support student success through its Single Stop Program initiative.
The Single Stop program provides a central location for students and their families to receive confidential support around food resources, health insurance, legal and financial assistance and tax preparation assistance free of charge. Currently available in all seven of CUNY’s community colleges and at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the Single Stop initiative aims to alleviate non-academic “stressors” that can hinder students’ academic success and degree completion, leaders said.
“Academics are not the only thing that contributes to retention and gradation,” said Shirley de Peña, director of Youth Matter, a foster youth college success initiative within CUNY. If someone is struggling, “more tutoring is not always the answer” and if a student is hungry, “that student is not going to do well in school.”
CUNY established its partnership with the national Single Stop organization in 2009 to better connect students and their families to existing resources and benefits. Similarly, the institution’s program streamlines a network of food pantries, schools, criminal justice and health care centers, libraries and more to support students’ academic and social well-being.
Single Stop provides several confidential services at no cost:
· Benefit screening for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); and Women, Infants and Children (WIC);
· Available food pantries
