INCREASE THE CHILDCARE ACCESS PROGRAM IN TITLE 3&4 OF THE REAUTHORIZATION OF HIGHER ED ACT (03-04)

WHEREAS, the ChildCare Access Means Parents IN School (CCAMPIS) program was established under the 1998 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act to provide funding for activities that support child care for low-income student parents in postsecondary educational institutions; and

WHEREAS, more than 400 grants have been made in just the first two years of CCAMPIS; and

WHEREAS, CCAMPIS guidelines, using Pell eligibility standards, currently screen out many low-income parents; and

WHEREAS, in many states, the Personal Responsibility Act (welfare reform) no longer provides child care subsidies for recipients attending college; and

WHEREAS, many families with parents in low-paid jobs are still living in poverty; and

WHEREAS, parents with a college degree are most likely to earn enough to permanently lift their families out of poverty:

RESOLVED, that in the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, the AFT support and promote the increase of CCAMPIS funding to authorize and appropriate at least $75 million; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT promote and support a broader definition of eligibility to include all low-income student parents, including part-time students; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT promote and support child care subsidies as well as campus-based child care to meet the child care needs of income-eligible parents.