Page 24

Reach Up Annual Report 2020 24 Thirty-two percent of the FFY18 leaver families returned within the first two months of their forced exit, similar to the 34% early return rate among FFY 2017 leavers. Section 9: Families Participating in the Post-Secondary Education (PSE) Program

Families who participate in the PSE program must have income below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level. They receive case management services, career planning, and support services that help with student needs such as transportation, books, and childcare. Most families in the PSE program are also eligible for a financial grant to help them pay for basic needs while they are attending college. The financial grant is the same as a Reach Up grant, and PSE students work in conjunction with their student advisor and case manager as they pursue their goal of an associate or bachelor’s degree.

According to data extracted from ACCESS, an average of 87 students per month participated in the PSE program during FFY19. This is a slight increase from FFY18, despite the trend of decreasing caseloads in the Reach Up program. Additionally, the point in time counts in August 2018 and August 2019 showed 91 and 98 participants respectively. The discrepancy could be due to the benefit source not yet transitioning from Reach Up to PSE at the time the data was extracted, and the point in time count versus the average. Regardless, it is encouraging to note that PSE participation continues to increase gradually.

ESD does not collect barrier information for PSE students, but from discussions with parents and case managers we know that PSE students struggle with many of the same obstacles as Reach Up participants such as finding child care, accessing transportation and affordable housing, and dealing with mental health challenges. In addition to individual obstacles participants face, systemic and statutory barriers prevent the participation of more Vermonters. For example, in a two-parent family, only one parent is currently allowed to participate in the program. This unnecessarily limits the educational attainment of the family. We know that a PSE graduate earns significantly more income than a Reach Up leaver, is more likely to be employed, and returns to Reach Up less frequently23. If two parents pursued a degree at the same time, this could potentially result in household income four times higher than a single parent Reach Up leaver.

Conclusion In this last year, we have seen a positive trend in families leaving Reach Up with employment, higher wages, increases in the number of students in the PSE program, and a decrease in the percentage of transportation barriers. Once again, Vermont’s Reach Up program is on track to meet the federal Work Participation Rate giving the program the flexibility to truly meet families where they are. This progress means that more participants are entering the workforce, meeting the financial needs of their families and the workforce needs of their communities. However, families are still experiencing significant challenges including childcare, transportation, and health issues. Continual improvements to the program aim to use nationally recognized best-practices to serve low-income families with a high degree of compassion, knowledge, and accountability. Some of these enhancements include: • Continuing to train staff and practice a participant-driven, goal-oriented approach through work with Mathematica Research Organization and Dr. LaDonna Pavetti; • Studying the demographics of families in Reach Up to more effectively allocate resources and focus attention;

23 2017 Reach Up Leavers, Leslie Black-Plumeau and Robert McIntyre, October 1, 2019