Proposed Changes in Child Care Access Means Parents in School
Improve CCAMPIS Language in the Higher Education Act Reauthorization
(March 3, 2004)
The federal Higher Education Act (HEA) is up for reauthorization this year and as part of this so is the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program. Both the language of the CCAMPIS program and the authorization for maximum potential funding are addressed in Title IV, Part A, Subpart 7, Section 419N. The National Coalition for Campus Children's Centers (NCCCC) was instrumental in bringing this program to life, working with legislators to craft the original bill and then leading the campaign to fund it. And now we seek your help in improving and extending this successful program.
The reauthorization gives those who care deeply about campus child care programs an opportunity to improve the language governing CCAMPIS, to ask for sufficient funding to support programs throughout the country and to improve the administration of the program itself.
Recommendations for HEA Reauthorization language changes:
- Raise the minimum grant to $30,000 (or more). The present minimum is just $10,000. For many institutions of higher education, this is not worth the effort to complete a full federal application. Grants offices on large campuses often pass over small grants in favor of those that are more cost effective.
- Change the definition of low income to include "a student who is income eligible to receive a Federal Pell Grant." The present language defines low-income student as a student "eligible to receive a Federal Pell Grant." Rather than do the paperwork, most colleges choose to serve only those students receiving Pell. But numerous low-income students do not receive Pell and some do not apply. And even the lowest income graduate students are ineligible. Adding the word "income," before "eligible," in the CCAMPIS language will provide child care to a greater number of deserving low-income students and encourage more institutions of higher education to apply for CCAMPIS.
- Authorize $75 Million for the CCAMPIS Program. Even with minimal publicity and a cumbersome, all to brief application process, every CCAMPIS dollar that has been appropriated has been awarded. $75 million represents less than 7.3 tenths of 1% of the $10.3 billion Pell Grant appropriation for FY 2002-2003. At a modest grant of $70,000 per center, $75 million would be sufficient to fund about one quarter of the over 4,000 colleges and universities eligible to apply.
To insure that CCAMPIS grants truly reach universities and the low-income students who benefit, the Department of Education must:
- Publicize CCAMPIS grants more widely. Include outreach to the child care and early education community. The Federal Register is less likely to be read by campus child care directors than publications of the child care/early childhood education field. Publicize early to organizations such as the National Coalition for Campus Children's Centers, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the Child Care Information Exchange, the National Organization of Child Development Lab Schools, ACCESS and the American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education.
- Publicize CCAMPIS grants in a more timely fashion. The turn-around time for these grants is too short. This is because grants offices must alert child care programs, and then review the grants after they are written, making the time to produce the application very short.
- Revise the grant application to make it easier to read. The grant application is cumbersome and redundant. In 1999, the original grant application was thrown together quickly. The CCAMPIS program has promised to revise the application and make it more straightforward. This has not happened.
- Make available the cumulative data on statistics and success rates captured from existing 18- and 36-month reports. To date 431 institutions of higher education have received CCAMPIS grants. Each grantee is required to submit reports containing detailed statistics about levels of service and successes at 18 and 36 months. Hundreds of these reports have been submitted to the Department, but so far, none of this valuable data has been shared.
To read and print out CCAMPIS legislation go to www.campuschildren.org, and click on Public Policy.
Thank you for supporting quality early care and education on college campuses,
Todd Boressoff, Public Policy Chair
National Coalition for Campus Children's Centers
BMCC Early Childhood Center
199 Chambers Street
New York, NY 10007
212-220-8251 Fax: 212-748-7462
Tboressoff@bmcc.cuny.edu
www.campuschildren.org
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