Child care assistance continues at Somerset Community College | Community

Somerset Community College (SCC) is pleased to announce that the federal CCAMPIS (Child Care Access Means Parents in School) grant has been renewed for an additional four years with $1,331,428 from the Department of Education.

First awarded in 2018, SCC has been rewarded with a CCAMPIS grant renewal through 2026. Since the inception of the CCAMPIS grant program, SCC has served 51 student-parents, 47% have since graduated and have transferred to a four-year school. or entered the labor force. Of those graduating students, 16% continued their college studies at 4-year universities. The other 37% have persisted each year. The average GPA over the course of the 4-year grant cycle thus far is 3.12 with the national average GPA at a 4-year college being 3.15.

Student-parents are one of the fastest growing populations on college campuses across the country. One in five college students is starting a family, and this number is slightly higher at community colleges where it is one in four. Childcare is just one of the obstacles student parents face when attending school. Many student-parents combine childcare with less reliable partners, relatives, or caretakers who often fall apart during the semester. This leaves many students missing class, unable to focus on their homework, and risking academic failure because their child care support network fails.

The CCAMPIS grant from the Department of Education supports low-income student-parents in their post-secondary education through on-campus or off-campus child care services. This also includes comprehensive services to help the student-parent succeed in school and be a stronger parent. Studies show that when given the comprehensive support they need while taking college classes, parent students will graduate faster and often with higher GPAs than their non-parent student peers.

“CCAMPIS makes it possible for me to attend my classes. Without childcare, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to pursue my dream of becoming a nurse. The DNA program requires a lot of time, work and study. CCAMPIS has brought this dream that much closer to coming true,” said Josette Pitman, Nursing Program student and SCC Student Ambassador.

Tonya Brown, CCAMPIS Project Director, said: “CCAMPIS is a wonderful grant that gives SCC the privilege of being a great help to its student and parent population, as well as giving us the opportunity to be a help to our day care centers. rural community child. It’s a win-win in every way!”

Student-parents who are enrolled in at least 6 credit hours, are Pell eligible, and have a GPA of at least 1.5 may apply on the SCC website. Eligible student-parents will receive award notifications from CCAMPIS on the amount of child care subsidy they will receive within an academic term. Those subsidies are paid to the partner child care center that the student has chosen to enroll her child(ren).

Through this grant, SCC currently partners with 17 child care centers in Pulaski, Laurel, Rockcastle, Jackson, and Wayne counties; however, we continue to seek expanding partnerships to serve our student-parents and community child care centers.

While the CCAMPIS grant is intended to serve our student-parents, it also gives us the opportunity to help our rural child care centers. The project allows us the potential to help our partner centers maintain quality care through KY ALL STARS and NAEYC accreditations.

For more information about the CCAMPIS grant, please contact Tonya Brown, CCAMPIS Program Coordinator at tonya.brown@kctcs.edu.