Forsyth Technical Community College is working to improve how student parents access child care on campus.
The two-year college is part of a new coalition called the . The cohort is led by , a think tank based in Washington, D.C. Iris Palmer, the organization鈥檚 director for community colleges, said there鈥檚 a number of student parents attending community colleges, and many campuses don鈥檛 have enough resources to serve them.
鈥淎nd so we thought, if we really want to tackle this issue straight on, then what鈥檚 really important is to go to where the struggle is most obvious,鈥� Palmer said. 鈥淎nd I think community colleges are that place.鈥�
The Child Care for Student Parents cohort is made up of five community colleges across the United States, spanning from Oregon to Massachusetts. In the coming year, New America will visit each of the campuses to research how they are elevating child care access.
Palmer said they plan to interview both program leaders and student parents, as well as analyze what federal and state policy structures allowed for each campus鈥� childcare options.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be really trying to dig deep into what worked on this campus 鈥� why were they able to maybe have a more systemic solution than some other colleges?鈥� Palmer said. 鈥淭o learn more about what were the structures that helped them, and what were the structures that held them back.鈥�
At Forsyth Technical, one key structure has been funding.
Over the past couple of years, Forsyth Technical has used grants to partner with a local daycare to provide drop-in childcare services for students. Eventually, the Winston-Salem based college was also able to create some limited drop-in services on campus.
This semester, the college launched an initiative called SPARC care, which stands for Student Parent Advocacy Resource Center. At least twice a semester, student parents can sign up for additional child care slots for a week.
Shanta Reddick, the director of , the college鈥檚 student outreach and support service, said the purpose of this extra support is to allow student parents to take time for themselves.
鈥淚f that means you need to get tutoring done, or you just need a moment to breathe because you know it鈥檚 coming down to the wire,鈥� Reddick said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what it鈥檚 there for 鈥� for you to have a moment to breathe.鈥�
Reddick said she is working on growing the SPARC program, using grant funding from the New America partnership.
This includes building a permanent drop-in childcare site on campus, a library resource center filled with books for both student parents and their children, and a work space where student parents can focus on their school and personal projects.
Reddick said providing on campus childcare resources has been proven to help student parents stay in school and earn their degrees in less time. And she hopes those benefits will also trickle down to the next generation.
鈥淚t allows their children to come in and be a part of the process, to see what their parent is accomplishing,鈥� Reddick said. 鈥淚t allows them to have a deeper trajectory of where they want to be. It encourages them to do good in school. That second generation, that鈥檚 a big piece.鈥�
But this structure that promotes childcare on Forsyth鈥檚 campus 鈥� funding 鈥� is the same structure that鈥檚 holding them back.
鈥淚鈥檝e been hunting and looking everywhere for grants. For a program to grow, you need funding,鈥� Reddick said. 鈥淯nfortunately, our legislature has not seen the need to fund resources in ways to help student parents.鈥�
Efficiently accessing childcare funding isn鈥檛 an issue that is unique to North Carolina. Palmer, from New America, said some schools are 鈥渏umping through a lot of hoops鈥� to figure out how to use funding.
鈥淲e鈥檝e heard about campus childcare centers closing, the funding drying up, them not being effective,鈥� Palmer said. We want to dig deeper into why can鈥檛 they do it 鈥� what鈥檚 the disconnect there?鈥�
Palmer said one of the goals of the cohort study is to see how funding resources interact with each other, and how they can be made more effective.
鈥淭here鈥檚 ways money can work in all of that,鈥� Palmer said. 鈥淭hat maybe could make this a little bit better, if we look at it from a systems and policy lens.鈥�
At the end of the project, New America plans to share its research and findings with both the advocacy community and legislative policymakers. They will also host a series of national convenings with organizations and colleges.
Forsyth Technical Community College hopes to finish the Student Parent Advocacy Resource Center by December or January of next year.
