By Karla Lopes
Transforming a college campus into a family-friendly environment takes time and sustained commitment. For 26 years, City College’s Family Resource Centers (FRC) have provided childcare and vital support to parenting students, helping to expand access to education. With ongoing challenges that threaten this goal, the college is on a journey to work toward a more welcoming and equitable environment for students and their families.
Tracey Falkner, coordinator of the Ocean Campus FRC, is a dedicated advocate for families and parenting students. “Childcare support can break down barriers to work and school for many college students,” she said.
Falkner has been the FRC Program Coordinator since 2003. Currently, she is the only classified staff member at the center, often overworked and relying on the help of student workers to meet the demand.
“We need to have a program manager,” she said. “I can’t keep doing this alone.”
In addition to staffing, Faulkner emphasized the importance of outdoor play areas for children, expanded facilities to accommodate more students, and the need for the college to be more proactive in creating and promoting family-friendly campus environments.
“Other colleges are stepping up. We should be a part of the family and student-parent movement happening across the country.”
At the Mission Campus, part-time FRC supervisor Alejandra Rassvetaieff handles the program’s childcare support mostly on her own. Student assistants can help Rassvetaieff occasionally, but scheduling conflicts leave her without consistent support. “Our bigger challenge is low staff… I am the only regular worker here,” Rassvetaieff said.
Working as a part-time school aide, she provides drop-in childcare support from 8:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. every weekday and hopes to secure a classified position with benefits. She also calls for increased funding, improved communication between the two FRCs, and enhanced family outreach. “I’d like more advertising. Many families don’t know about us,” she said.
Needs and Gaps
Heather Brandt, a student and mother of three, is also a family advocate who has been closely connected to the FRC for many years. Brandt holds a fellowship position with Generation Hope, an organization that supports Black and brown pregnant and parenting students.
“We are working to build institutional understanding of the needs of our pregnant and parenting students.” She believes that this can be achieved through small improvements like accessible lactation rooms and changing tables in all bathrooms, as well as larger policy shifts, such as allowing children in the classroom.
“We need this not because parents want to bring their kids to class, but because sometimes they have no option.”
Working to support The Student Tutoring and Resource Center (STAR) and FRC, Amber Straus, department chair and student success instructor, emphasized the importance of City College’s support for parent students, which includes compliance with California Law AB 2881 (2023) that guarantees priority registration for parent students, and initiatives like the first “Bring your Kid to College Day” on April 23, 2026.
Additionally, Straus thanked Chancellor Kimberlee Messina for recently joining the Presidents’ Circle of Generation Hope.
“While participating in the Generation Hope President’s Circle, Messina is removing barriers and increasing support for our parent students,” Straus said.
Straus hopes for many changes to come that will contribute to a more family-friendly campus in the future. “I see City College increasing enrollment because parents know we are here to support their journey and their children’s journeys.”
Taking Action
Some of those much-needed resources are on the way, according to Amy Coffey, who oversees the Ocean Campus FRC as Dean of Student Engagement & Wellness.
“Hopefully, in the next month or so, we’ll have a second person over in the [Ocean Campus] Family Resource Center,” she said, referring to the ongoing hiring process for the role. She also mentioned plans to collaborate with other organizations to create a safe outdoor space for children, highlighting that this may take some time, as it requires establishing regulations and consulting with experts.
The college is also working with the Office of Research and Planning to assess the needs of parenting students and to foster a sense of community among them. “It is really good for parent students to come together… peer-to-peer connection is really critical,” she said.
Coffey understands the need for a larger institutional approach to support students and families, and this can not be done only by the FRC. She emphasized that while FRC plays a central role, the college needs to step in and implement policies that reflect a family-friendly culture.