Due to the shelter-in-place orders given from both UC and public health administrators, the Student Parent Center will remain open, providing services virtually, until further direction from public health administration.
While we are in this current state of service, please be assured that we will continue to provide real-time and tangible solutions to the most common and most unique issues facing our students during/beyond the current pandemic.
The information below is a "living" list of frequently asked questions, blended with the most immediate and applicable solutions, in the COVID-19/Student Parent context. Due to its constant updates, it will not be exhaustive or static.
Please check back for updates... thank you!
COVID 19 Resources and Support List
* Financial Aid and Scholarship (Covid-19 Updates)
* Early Childhood Education Program (Campus Childcare)
*Basic Needs Center Resources and Updates
- NEW!!! Berkeley Care Bubbles (parent-to-parent childcare options) Berkeley CareBubbles is a parent-to-parent resource to help UC Berkeley community members meet their childcare needs during the Covid-19 pandemic. Find other Cal families looking to trade childcare, share tutors, create bubbles, and more. Start your search today!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is the SPC still open? When and how?
A: are still 100% open, virtually/online. Our hours will be from 9a - 5p Monday thru Friday. We will start our Front Virtual Desk during the week of August 10th, 2020. Desk times will be fragmented to respect the COVID-19 shelter in place family obligations for both student and professional staff members.
Academic, parental and wellness counseling will also continue, in a virtual setting.
Q: I don't have Child Care for the Fall 2020 Semester, due to COVID 19 restrictions, how can I best balance the time for my classwork AND taking care of my kids at the same time?
A: The key factor that most student parents face is the balance of TIME for both student and parent obligations, something that was more feasible before the pandemic. The student parent AND the dependents were at a separate location for a fixed amount of TIME, giving more options to the student parent for methods to complete classwork ahead of parenting responsibilities.
In the COVID 19 pandemic, without childcare, you will more than likely need an academic accommodation/modification due to parenting obligations.
To learn more about your academic accommodations as a student parent on campus, please take (you guessed it!), time to review our latest workshop on the historical context and best practices, found HERE
To request an accommodation letter, please email studentparents@berkeley.edu or tlenear@berkeley.edu.
Q: What Child Care options are available during the pandemic?
A: There are options in the private/personal/non-UC Berkeley sector for childcare, meaning that, you will always have the freedom to secure child care from a provider that may or may not be licensed and/or accredited, by the state of CA.
The SPC understands that quality care isn't always licensed or accredited by the state, and, also are responsible for ensuring that you are not sending your child into harm’s way, by referring you to private providers pragmatically, or "on the fly", so to speak.
At the start of the semester, the SPC will being to refer students to private/personal/non-UC Berkeley providers, but with disclaimers that we are not responsible for any harm that might come to you or your dependents, moving forward. We will have more resources of this nature over the next two weeks.
We can also refer you to the independent licensed community providers below, that might possibly be an option during the pandemic.