RRCC Receives $319K Grant for Children's Center

From RRCC:The Children’s Center at Red Rocks Community College has recently been awarded the Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools (CCAMPIS) grant. The CCAMPIS Program, authorized by the Higher Education Act and administered by the U.S. Department of Education, supports the participation of low-income parents in postsecondary education through the provision of campus-based child care services.

The CCAMPIS Program offers financial assistance to income-eligible student parents through financial support for on-campus child care services. To receive the CCAMPIS child care subsidy, a parent must maintain a minimum course load of 9-credit hours per semester and maintain good academic standing. Accepted students receive a discount on their child care costs ranging from 60%-75% based on the number of credits in which they are actively enrolled. Students in the program also benefit from access to additional student success resources including a dedicated student success navigator who provides them with the individualized academic and personal support they need to be successful.

“The Children’s Center at Red Rocks has been in existence for the past 19 years and has been funded under the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) Program for the last 4 years,” President Dr. Michele Haney commented. “Continued funding from the U.S. Department of Education will not only provide subsidized child care for some of the lowest-income students at Red Rocks, it will also create a network of support to help students enrolled in the program achieve academic success and increase their likelihood of persistence and degree completion.”

With the award of the CCAMPIS grant, Children’s Center staff are hard at work identifying and reaching out to low-income families so that they can benefit from the grant funds and enroll their children. The Children’s Center actively works with the college’s student services offices and with campus partner Child Care Innovations to facilitate referral to the center of qualifying families.

“Over the course of the last four years through the CCAMPIS grant, we have been able to support students in a way we couldn’t otherwise do,” said Susan Padgett, Director of RRCC’s Children’s Center. “It is really exciting for us to be able to continue providing high quality care for children while their parents are creating a better future for their families with the help of the CCAMPIS grant.”

Padgett added, “This is an example of our commitment to supporting learning throughout the lifespan. Additional services are available through our School Age Child Care and Child Care Innovations departments.”

Image Courtesy of RRCC