Use of Basic Needs Services on UCLA Campus

This research project aims to harmonize basic needs service use data across UCLA offices to understood who is most utilizing these resources and how their use impacts wellness. The University of California system aims to meet the basic needs of all students by creating “an ecosystem that supports financial stability by ensuring equitable access to nutritious and sufficient food; safe, secure and adequate housing (to sleep, study, cook and shower); healthcare to promote sustained mental and physical well-being; affordable transportation; resources for personal hygiene care; and emergency needs for students with dependents”. The Budget Act of 2019 established Basic Needs Centers on campuses to address this aim. Eighty percent of undergraduate emergency basic needs grant recipients identified as Black, indigenous and/or people of color(BIPOC); 61% were Pell recipients and 73% were first-generation. In collaboration with the Student Affairs Information & Research Office (SAIRO) and other offices at UCLA, we will examine existing sources of data for monitoring essential needs and resource utilization. The SAIRO survey data offers demographic and descriptive data on students, as well as mental and physical health outcomes. We will harmonize this data with administrative records kept by essential needs programs/services. Linking survey data to administrative records can help identify demographic groups of students who are using basic needs resources, as well as those who are disproportionately affected by unmet essential needs yet are not using basic needs resources. We will also examine how wellbeing outcomes influence use of basic needs services, as well as how use of basic needs services influence wellbeing outcomes.