Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

[Holly Rider-Milkovich <>]

Hello colleagues:

I am writing because I have noticed in the past three years a trend of students seeking assistance in our office related to physical and/or sexual abuse being committed by a parent or family member. One of the challenges in assisting these students that I have come across is that students are tied to their parents on the FAFSA and feel compelled to maintain a relationship with the parents in order ensure their financial aid is secure.  

It is possible for students to apply without their parent information included, and ask for "special circumstances" review to determine the ability to be independent and not have parent information provided in instances where the student "left home due to an abusive family environment", but whether independent status is granted is a determination made by each institution on a case-by-case basis, and generally requires documented proof of the abuse (protection from abuse orders, court documents, police records.) 

The students we're seeing usually do not have a paper record that they have experienced violence, and usually have not left home.  Abusive parents use the financial aid tie as leverage to continue having access to the students they are abusing. If a student does submit a FAFSA without parental information on it and doesn't get declared independent by 

So--my ask:

a.) Are you providing services to students who are being abused by their parents?  if so, could you provide a rough estimate of how many students in these circumstances you see each year?

b.) of these students, have any experienced problems in trying to apply for financial aid as an independent student? Or, are there other institutional structural barriers besides the FAFSA that these students are encountering that keep them tied to their parents? 

My goal in collecting some of this information is to begin assessing whether this is a wide-spread problem, or one we are seeing locally, and if there is evidence of need for advocacy to change the determinations for independence.  The FAFSA eligibility criterion is here:

http://studentaid.ed.gov/fafsa/filling-out/dependency#am-i-dependent-or-independent

If there is interest, I am happy to share the information I receive.

 

Thanks for your help.

HRM

--
Holly M. Rider-Milkovich

Director, Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center

Co-Chair, Abuse Hurts Initiative

University of Michigan

(734) 764-7771

(734) 936-3333 (24. Hr. Crisis Line)

 

530 S. State St., G509
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1308

sapac.umich.edu

facebook: Holly At SAPAC