Tammy Duckworth Calls for Funding for College Students Who Are Parents

Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and twelve of her fellow Senators wrote to Chairman Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Ranking Member Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies to request significant new funding for the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) Program. The CCAMPIS Program makes it easier for college students with children of their own to afford and access child care programs and is currently being negotiated in the final Omnibus Appropriations bill. Negotiators made a commitment to devote an additional $2 billion for the next two fiscal years towards “student-centered programs that aid college completion and affordability” as part of the recent government funding agreement. Ergo, the Senators believe CCAMPIS should receive a sizable portion of that funding. "This new investment provides a historic opportunity to address some of the vast demand for on-campus child care from millions of students who are parents,” wrote the Senators. “Student parents experience the tremendous pressure of college costs for both themselves and their families and struggle to pay for child care services on top of tuition, fees, food, rent, books, supplies, transportation, and other costs.”More here.