Kids are expensive, but worth it. So are their parents.
Southwestern College’s Child Development Center is as much for parents of young children as it is for the kids themselves.
That is why Patie Bartow, Southwestern College’s child development center director, and her team are celebrating a grant from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) that provides free child care. Child Care Access Means Parents In School (CCAMPIS) provides three hours of free child care to SWC students that meet the criteria.
“We’re really excited about this grant,” said Bartow.
To qualify for CCAMPIS parents must provide transcripts, proof of enrollment in at least three units, birth certificate to prove parental rights and proof of Pell Grant eligibility. Parents are required to attend three workshops provided by the CDC in relation to parenting, perform five hours of volunteer service and maintain a GPA of 2.5 or higher.
“It’s been beneficial because they require you to bring your child every single day, Monday through Friday,” said Katrina Lee, nursing major. “So on the days I don’t have class, I have that three hours to study or do school work.”
Lee’s two children attend the center through CCAMPIS.
“(My children) absolutely love the program and I have to say the entire staff is wonderful, they’re all very friendly, they’re all very attentive,” she said.
CCAMPIS does a coloration study to provide information to the U.S. DOE.
“What they’re trying to see is, if you provide quality care for a parent who is going to school, will they stay in school?” said Bartow. “If we provide and support you with the funds for your child to go to school, you’ll actually do better in school.”
CCAMPIS provides a study area for its students as well as conference rooms so parents can work with consultants and teachers one-on-one to really understand their child’s development. The SWC center has an open-door policy so students on break can come see their children.
As the CDC is primarily a lab school, child development majors work there and do observations. Each classroom has a viewing room for students and parents to observe the children for behavioral study purposes.
Bartow said the center uses an emergent curriculum to benefit children.
“Here they come to play,” said Rosario Knoll, a project clerk. “They think they’re playing, but they’re learning and that’s very important at this age and I saw through my two sons. They’re learning very fast, because here while they were playing they were preparing their brain. So when they need to really learn the academics, it’s fast.”
Volunteer service ranges from watering the plants to reading to the children. Spots fill fast as free childcare with a quality curriculum is hard to come by. Early applications are encouraged.
The center accepts other financial aid options for free and reduced child care cost including Child Development Associate, YMCA and Preschool For All. Each program has its own qualifications and restrictions. A SWC student discount is almost 50 percent off regular tuition, which is still $274 to $685 depending on how many days of childcare are needed.