The FAFSA process for documenting & proving student independance due at to parental abuse is so horribly engineered.
I'm continually disappointed by the Department of Education.

Asking students to get written evidence of their situation is horribly difficult -
Part of the issue at the root of parental abuse is often that the student is isolated from those around them who could potentially realize what's going on

Asking them to complete a single interview with each school's financial administrator is also a poor choice - many students, including myself, are just beginning to learn the vocabulary to explain what they experienced, and (reasonably) having a lasting fear of not being believed

Many independent students' choice of college education is based solely on what financial aid can be given to them.
One short interview has the power to determine their aid, and ultimately, the future of their education.

Also, there's no way to understand what schools typically provide the most aid for this sector of financially independent students.

This leaves students, who already have little to no support,
to apply to an absurd amount of schools to control for the amount that won't provide enough aid to make their acceptance a realistic option.

Additionally:
When a student files their FAFSA as homeless, or at risk of being homeless, due to parental abuse, no EFC (expected financial contribution) is calculated & given, with the expectation of each school calculating that amount after an interview with the student.

Many, many external scholarship providers require FAFSA input and DO NOT allow for no calculated EFC,
including my credit union @NWFCU,
which is another major blow to the student's ability to fund their education.

In short, the whole FAFSA process was clearly engineered with little consideration for or insight into what difficulties might be present for students who are independant due to an abusive household.

just to keep you all updated this process is still atrocious I having having to go through it over and over again exacerbates the issue

Realistically, how often is it that children have both the terminology and framework to label and understand abuse that occurs within their own household? On top of that, how likely are they to have opened up to an independent third party with complete honesty?

If you have an ounce of interest in the topic I urge you to read this student's account of the process: https://www.reddit.com/r/raisedbynarcissists/comments/2we1dz/how_i_managed_to_get_a_dependency_override_the/

Another fun fact: Supplementary statements confirming a students' story that makes them eligible for a dependency override are what can make or break a FAFSA override appeal - and yet, many police departments don't keep 911 call/dispatch records for over a year!

financial aid officers "highly encourage" police, medical, or clerical statements documenting abuse to confirm students' stories

but i'd estimate that this type of evidence isn't even available to 90% of kids in this position - unless they had an extra adult looking out for them and saving these records when they were a child?

Another fun part of this is that accessing FOIA police records can be around $50 - yet another expenditure and barrier for students in my position

On a happier note, and for anyone who might be experiencing a similar situation, I've just gotten off the phone with @uAspire and after over 2 years of wrestling with FAFSA, I've gotten to talk to someone who's both kind & more than willing to help AND familiar with this process

(thanks Adam, u r a lifesaver) - it's crazy how cathartic it is to simply talk to someone who gets the challenges of this system and the weight it puts on a student who's already trying to deal with the consequences of being temporarily homeless

If you found my account through this thread or have had similar experiences please consider adding or sharing resources to this repository

https://twitter.com/dimorphique/status/1265847551342731269?s=21 https://twitter.com/dimorphique/status/1265847551342731269