Lowey announces $211,000 for campus-based childcare at Westchester Community College

U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey announced June 11 that Westchester Community College (WCC) student-parents will receive more than $200,000 in federal funding for campus-based childcare.

Lowey toured the college’s Virginia Marx Children”™s Center after announcing that the college’s childcare program would receive a $211,361 federal grant to help low-income students access childcare on campus.

Under the grant, about 35 student-parents at WCC will receive subsidies for childcare worth as much as $5,754 annually. The exact award will be calculated on a sliding scale based on income.

In the announcement, Lowey said parents with access to childcare on campus are nearly three times more likely to graduate or pursue additional degrees within three years of enrollment, citing data from the Institute for Women”™s Policy Research.

“Hard-working parents should not be forced to choose between their education and childcare,” Lowey said. “For our economy to succeed, it is imperative that every American have access to an education and the skills to find good-paying jobs.”

The funding is available through the U.S. Department of Education’s Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) Program. The program helps low-income parents to pursue a college education by providing access to campus-based childcare programs.

Lowey noted that, as ranking member on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, she was able to secure a $35 million, or 233 percent, increase in the CCAMPIS Program through the most recent federal spending bill.