On-Campus Daycare Problem

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Pages: 5

The problem we are facing today is that many students are dropping out of college due to a lack of adequate childcare. Many students who attend Valencia are parents and a daycare program would benefit those in need of childcare greatly. As Barbara Gault the executive director of Women’s Policy Research points out, too often, when people have children they think it has to be the end of their college education. Gault’s statement represents the thoughts of a majority of student-parents. Having kids is a lot of work and mixing a job and social life along with that responsibility pushes the thought of completing college out of many young parents’ minds. Luckily, as my group and I researched solutions to this problem that burdens many student-parents, …show more content…
Hearing that many student-parents drop out due to the lack of adequate childcare, the idea of an on-campus daycare comes to mind. Through weeks of research we have come across many interesting and possibly very accommodating information regarding on-campus childcare programs. Opening a daycare involve many parts. Things like space/location, licensing and registration, toys, food/snacks, staff, and multiple other costs come into play. Fortunately, according to the article by Mui in the Washington Post, the federal government started to provide financial aid in 2003 for on-campus childcare. The bad news is that the amount of financial aid was cut by $10 million but it still stays at a hefty $15 million. That huge bulk of money would definitely assist in the various expenses needing coverage in this resolution. Another resource that could aid in the costly supplies necessary for the daycare would be the Child and Adult Care Food Program by the USDA. This partner program would lend a helping hand in the food and snacks category. The food supply for the daycare would be taken care of and we wouldn’t have to worry about having …show more content…
This information center would be specifically made for student-parents to get information on adequate childcare. Many parents have trouble with the initial step of finding a sufficient source of care for their child. Opening an information center could help provide the sources needed to find local, affordable, and liable daycare programs and babysitters. Again, “college dropout rates of traditional undergraduates who are also full-time parents is a growing problem in the U.S.” (Brent McBride). As implied in the article from the Illinois News Bureau, student parents just need support. If we can give them support in even the littlest ways of information they can most likely stay in college. This center would be a simpler solution because anyone could be a part of it. Any student looking to lend a helping hand can share the info they know about local ways of childcare or refer a reliable babysitter they use or have used in the past. As I said before, student-parents just need support and the struggle of finding that adequate childcare is something we can assist in. There are many cases in where students have to drop out in the middle of the semester because their babysitter bailed on them. The information we will provide here would be reliable so that a half semester situation doesn’t come up. Caring and providing for their child is significantly important for parents. Being a parent comes with many obstacles and