Running Head - Day Care, We Care

Day Care, We Care

Report by:

Lauren Brigaitis

John Fowler

Geedie White

Engl 2311

7/2/19
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Table of Contents

Content​………………………………………...​Page

List of Illustrations…………………………………. 2

Abstract…………………………………………….. 3

Introduction………………………………………… 4

Discussion………………………………………….. 4

Standard Cost of Childcare…………………………… 4-5

Increased Rate of Student Parents………………….. 5

Timeline……………………………………………. 5-6

Budget…………………………………………….. 6-7

Conclusion…………………………………………. 8

Glossary……………………………………………….. 9

Work Cited…………………………………………... 10

Appendix……………………………………………. 11-12
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List of illustrations

Illustration Page

Figure 1.Increase in the Number of Student Parents by Institutions Type, 2004-2012 5

Table 1. Expected Timeline 6

Figure 2. Budget of Day Care/ We Care 7

Table 2. Average Amount of Unmet Needs, and an Increase in Unmet

Needs by Parents and Dependency Status, 2004-2012, in 2012 dollars. 11

Figure 3. Share of Two-and Public Four-Year Institutions with Campus

Child Care Centers, 2002-2015 12
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Abstract

Currently in the United States, obtaining a post secondary education is imperative to achieving a
high level occupation and an increased level of living. Due to the desire for a better lifestyle,
many individuals are attempting to attain a post secondary degree. Included in this group, are
individuals with dependents. However those students with school-aged children are encountering
a major issue. The availability of affordable child care on campus is very limited. The concern
that arises is that this issue contributes to increased absenteeism, lower grade point averages as
well as a high number of those dropping out. As a solution, we are proposing an affordable on
campus daycare called Day Care, We Care. The benefits of this program will increase the
likelihood of attendance, contribute to increased grade point averages, and increase the graduation
rate of student parents. This program will also entice parents without post secondary education to
attempt going back to school due to the resources provided by Day Care, We Care.
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Introduction

The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the importance of affordable on-campus

daycare to provide students with children a chance to succeed in college. The focal point will be
towards single parents attending post secondary education institutions with the lack of affordable
on campus daycare. Upon approval of this proposal, our goal is to begin a campaign to establish
appropriate daycare facilities in all post secondary education institutions.

The problem is due to an ever increasing economy, and with that, increasing poverty.
there are many individuals that have sought to increase their socioeconomic status by achieving a
higher education level. These individuals are attempting to attend a secondary education
institution to further their education so that they can increase their socioeconomic status and raise
their standard of living. However, blocking their achievement is the unavailability of affordable
childcare, which causes an increased level of missed class and a high dropout rate. Although the
issue presented in this report is one that exists for both groups, married and single parent
households, our focal point again will be directed towards single parent students due to their
increased chance of financial instability.

Discussion

Due to the lack of affordable daycare many single parents experience the need to miss
classes, delayed graduation or in worse cases they simply drop out altogether. According to the
Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), nearly 5 million students or 26% of the college
student population is a parent to at least one dependent child. Of these students, only 27% go on
to attain a degree or certification within a 6 year time period. In addition affordable on-campus
child care has actually declined from 53% to 44% in 36 states in community colleges and from
55% to under half in four-year colleges (Noll et al, 2017). It is numbers like these that contribute
to the confirmation that the presence of student parents and that of these student parents and that
only a portion of them graduate college. These numbers also give credence to the need for the
development of more on-campus day-care establishments as noted in the drop in the number of
facilities providing these services. It is believed that by providing affordable on-campus
daycare, students are able to not only meet school obligations, in addition they are able to remain
close to their children which minimizes drive time, tardiness as well as increase study time.

Standard Cost of Child Care

In 2016 the Department of Health and Human Services established a standard cost for
childcare to be no more than 7% of a families income but studies reveal that the percentages paid
are higher than the standard with the national average for childcare ranging from $9000 and
$9,600 each year and in some states like Massachesetts it is even more. (Zillman) In some states,
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childcare is often thought to be more than the cost of tuition as in the state of Massachusetts
where the cost of center-based infant care is $20,4159(Child Care of America). In 2018, a grant
was signed by President Trump that has given an extra $5.8 billion for Child Care and
Development which is still not enough to resolve the overall affordable childcare issue. (Zillman)

Increasing Rate of Student Parents

Of the nearly 5 million students with children, over 40% of these students are single
mothers. Over 60% of the mothers that are enrolled in college are living at or below the federal
poverty line, which forces the majority of these students to work 20 or more hours a week. For
some of these women, due to the daily demands and lack of funds, some find themselves
dropping out. (Wesley, 2018).
Some statistics that reveal the rate of increase for students with dependents to have
climbed by 1.1 million, or 30% from 3.7 million in 2004 to 4.8 million in 2012 (Noll et al, 2017).
This increase is noted in all institutions, community colleges, for-profit institutions, four-year
colleges and others.

Figure 1.

Timeline

Using the research that we have acquired, we can determine the criteria that is needed,
such as facilities, staff, adult to child ratios, safety precautions, and the child age grouping within
the daycare. Once the general criteria is decided, we can go through and look at the options
within the criteria. For example, the facility can be an unoccupied room within a building on the
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campus, a stand alone building, purchasing a new property or a new build if necessary. Having
multiple options of each criterion will be a key factor once the budgeting process begins. Some
of the options, such as building a new facility, will be unattainable with the budget provided,
which means the other options will need to be considered.
The organization of facilities refers to the process of reaching out and getting a concise
number of how many facilities are needed based on the number of institutions that want to
participate in the program. Some of these institutions will then be the basis of the program
testing that will occur in the spring of 2020. This will provide for an entire semester to observe a
piloted program of the Day Care, We Care program in order to make adjustments for the final
program after the program assessment. The program assessment will provide the main
information for the program report and the needed adjustments for the expected launch of Day
Care, We Care in the Fall of 2020.

Updated Schedule
Activity Start Date Finish Date

Research 6/20/19 9/20/19

Criteria and Options 7/1/19 8/15/19

Pre-Analyze 8/15/19 12/20/20

Organization of Facilities 9/1/19 12/1/19

Budget Planning 10/1/19 12/20/19

Program Testing 1/15/20 5/25/20

Program Assessment 6/1/20 8/1/20

Implementation 8/15/2020 12/20/2020

Report 12/20/2020 1/10/2021

Adjustments 1/15/2021 5/25/2021

Table 1.

Budget

According to the Student Affairs Administration in Higher Education (NASPA), in 2017

the number of parent students that were aided by CCAMPIS was around 5,000 (Wesley, 2018).
Comparing this to the information to the federal government website, it states that the CCAMPIS
program was allocated $14,982,678 in grant funding in 2017 (Child Care, 2019). This funding
was distributed to 86 different campuses within the United States. Now taking this information
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into consideration based on the previously stated percentage of students that are parents (26% or
around 5 million), the funding for a program of this magnitude​ ​will need to be much higher.
Not all parent students will make use of this​ ​program however. Some have family, friends,
or the funds for daycare to not require this program. Additionally, the program proposed will be
offered at various hours, including nights and weekends, so that the number of children at a
specific time can be dispersed.
Given all this, in the initial launch of our program, we would like to be able to offer this
service to at least 25,000 students with dependents over the span of 300 post secondary education
institutions. It is our goal to begin by accepting children from ages six months to twelve years of
age. Each campus will be allotted a minimum of eighty three slots broken into subgroups of ten
infants with two workers, and the remaining seventy three slots on a first come first serve basis
with seven teachers. It is our goal to also implement daycare duty sharing among the parents at
least once a week. For this to happen, we are looking at a budget of $75,000,000. The majority of
this would come from the federal government and the other part would come in small portions
from the institutions that are participating in the Day Care, We Care program.
The distribution of the $75,000,000 budget provided is expected to be thirty-three percent,
or $27,000,000, on the facility and the utility expenses for the building to conduct the service
from. Thirty percent, or $22,500,000, will be spent on the labor and taxes associated with staffing
and salary of these employees. Twenty-two percent, or $16,500,000, will be spent on the liability
insurance that is essential for a childcare business. And finally twelve percent, or $9,000,000, will
be expended on the equipment needed to run an everyday child care service. The equipment
portion is lower than average due to the fact that the parent students will need to provide their
own diapers, food, and wipes for their child(ren) who are in the program.

Figure 2.
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Conclusion

In conclusion, the identification of the issue of affordable childcare for college students is one
that is proven to be a concern throughout the United States. It is one that continues to require a
fight to establish where it is non-existent and to continue to prove the resources of where it is
already established. Due to the high percentage of students being parents, and within that, the
majority being single parents, with the inability to afford childcare combined with the decreasing
availability of affordable childcare options and funding is a direct cause for the Day Care, We
Care program. With the timeline and budget presented, we expect the program to be up and
running by the fall of 2020 and to be positively impacting the lives of 25,000 student parents.
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Glossary

4-Year College: ​An undergraduate degree program at a four year scholarly institution that will
typically lead to a bachelor’s degree.

Childcare: ​The care and supervision of children by paid workers. Also known as daycare.

Community College: ​An undergraduate degree program at a two year scholarly institution that
will typically lead to an associate degree.

Dependents: A person who relies on another, especially for financial reasons. Typically referring
to children.

Federal Poverty Line: ​A measure of an individual or families income to indicate whether they
are living in poverty. Currently the federal poverty line for (Federal)
● An individual is $12,140
● For a family of two is $16,460
● For a family of three is $20,780
● For a family of four is $25,100

Grade Point Average: The total number of grade points received divided by the total number of
credits awarded; an indication of a student’s academic achievement and standing at a scholarly
institution.

Labor and Taxes: The amount of money it takes to cover all the wages for the staff including the
taxes that go along with having an income.

Liability Insurance: A general insurance system that protects the program from financial risk in
case of any bodily or property harm at the program and risk from liabilities imposed by lawsuits.

Post Secondary Education: ​Any education after graduating highschool that typically results in
obtaining a degree of some sort, such as; associates degree, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or
doctoral degree.

Poverty: ​Not having enough income to attain all the resources and material for a person’s needs.

Socioeconomic Status: ​The social standing or class of an individual or group. It is often

measured as a combination of education, income and occupation.Examinations of socioeconomic
status often reveal inequities in access to resources, plus issues related to privilege, power and
control (Socioeconomic).

Standard of Living: ​The degree of material, goods, resources, and comforts that an individual
has available based upon their socioeconomic means.

Utility Expenses: The amount of money it takes to cover all the bills in order to run a functioning
facility, this can include water, electricity, gas, sewer, and heat.
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Works cited page

Berman, Jillian. “There's a Growing Need for Child-Care Centers on College Campuses.”
MarketWatch, 9 June 2018,
www.marketwatch.com/story/the-fate-of-thousands-of-college-students-and-their-kids-ha
ngs-in-the-balance-2018-06-04​.

“Child Care Access Means Parents in School Program.” ​US Department of Education,​ US
Department of Education (ED), 23 Apr. 2019,
www2.ed.gov/programs/campisp/index.html.

“Federal Poverty Level (FPL) - HealthCare.gov Glossary.” ​HealthCare.gov,​ US Government ,

www.healthcare.gov/glossary/federal-poverty-level-fpl/.

Noll, Elizabeth, et al. “College Students with Children: National and Regional Profiles.” ​Institute
for Women's Policy Research​, Student Parent Success Initiative, Jan. 2017,
iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/C451-5.pdf.

“Socioeconomic Status.” ​American Psychological Association,​ American Psychological

Association, www.apa.org/topics/socioeconomic-status/.

Sunveno. “Sunveno Official Store.” ​Sunveno Official Store​,

mall.joybuy.com/m/index-3140.html.

Wesley, Alexa. “Scholars with Strollers: The Need to Provide On-Campus Childcare Services.”
NASPA,​ 14 June 2018,
www.naspa.org/rpi/posts/scholars-with-strollers-the-need-to-provide-on-campus-childcar
e-services.

Zillman, Claire. “Childcare Cost More Than College Tuition in 28 U.S. States.” ​Fortune (2018).
h​ttps://fortune.com/2018/10/22/childcare-costs-per-year-us/
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Appendix

Appendix A.​ Unmet Financial Needs

Table 2. Average Amount of Unmet Needs, and an Increase in Unmet Needs by Parents and
Dependency Status, 2004-2012, in 2012 dollars.

Source: IWPR analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education
Statistics, National Postsecondary Student Aid Study 2003-04 (NPSAS:04);2007-08(NPSAS:08);
2011-12 (NPSAS:12). (Noll et al, 2017)
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Appendix B.​ Trends in the Availability of On-Campus Child Care

Figure 3. ​Share of Two-and Public Four-Year Institutions with Campus Child Care Centers,
2002-2015

Appendix B. Trends in the Availability of On-campus Child Care Figure H.1.Share of Two-and
Public Four-Year Institutions with Campus Child Care Centers, 2002-2015Note: Community
colleges are defined as publicly-affiliated institutions granting associate's degrees; four-year
public colleges are defined as publicly-affiliated institutions awarding bachelor's degrees.
Includes U.S. mainland states, U.S. service academies and other U.S. jurisdictions.Source: IWPR
analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics,
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), 2002-15 Institutional Characteristics
Component (2002-2013 Final Revised Release; 2014 Provisional Release; 2015 Preliminary
Release). (Noll et al, 2017)