The Family Housing Children's Center at the University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø was recently awarded a CCAMPIS grant in the amount of $250,000 by the U.S. Department of Education.
The grant, named Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools, will be budgeted at $62,500 annually for four years to help the center launch SUCCEED, a program aimed at supporting higher education for low-income parents by providing affordable and high-quality early childhood programs for their children.
"We are extremely happy to have won this award because it will help expand our preschool education program to children of low-income undergraduate students," said Luli Bevis, director of CU's Children's Center.
According to Bevis, students early in their college careers are most likely to drop out when faced with the economic hardships and time commitments presented by raising children in a costly city like Â鶹¹ÙÍø. The Children's Center will use the grant primarily to provide financial assistance for first- and second-year undergraduates who might otherwise be unable to enroll as full-time students.
A specific goal will be to reduce by 50 percent the rate charged to 14 eligible low-income undergraduate students beginning this academic year through the 2004-05 school year. The center plans to dedicate 14 spaces per year to this population, representing up to 12 percent of the total number of children enrolled at the center.
Apart from providing immediate financial assistance to low-income parents, the center also will offer diverse enrichment programs aimed at enhancing parents' participation in their children's early education. For example, back packs with books and manipulatives will be available for children to take home on a rotating basis.
A newly established Parent Education Program will embrace numerous aspects of parental participation at the Center and in the Â鶹¹ÙÍø community at large. A series of workshops, fairs and lectures will be implemented over the next four years touching on issues such as child development, wellness and nutrition, and community-based parenting resources. Parents can attend the programs while their children are in preschool.
"SUCCEED has the potential to impact a significant population of CU undergraduates facing the simultaneous challenges of parenting and full-time schoolwork," said Bevis. "If their childcare needs can be met with both economic assistance and a pragmatic plan for home/school interaction, the students serviced by the program can remain in school and finish their degrees smoothly."
For 25 years, the Children's Center has served as the sole campus provider of comprehensive education for preschool-aged children of students, staff and faculty at CU. While other services are available on campus, the Children's Center maintains the only CU-affiliated facility providing a full program of childcare and education.