The Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools (CCAMPIS) Reauthorization Act  would increase funding that supports on-campus child care services

It is projected that over 60 percent of jobs in Georgia will require a degree or certification beyond high school

According to CNBC, a year of child care in Georgia costs more than a year of in-state tuition at the University of Georgia

Senators Reverend Warnock: “You should be able to raise your family and pursue your educational goals”

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and 15 of their Senate colleagues reintroduced the Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools (CCAMPIS) Reauthorization Act. The legislation would reauthorize and increase funding for the only federal program that exclusively supports on-campus child care services and ensure the U.S. Department of Education is meeting the needs of parenting students.

The bill would also help increase access to on-campus child care for the more than 3 million parenting students currently enrolled in postsecondary education programs, despite the latest cuts from the Trump Administration.

“You should be able to raise your family and go back to school,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “Despite this Administrations’ attack on working families, I’m focused on supporting Georgians who are trying to better their lives through education. I’m proud to work with Senator Duckworth to support parents across Georgia and the country.”

“Whether by illegally withholding CCAMPIS funding or repeatedly calling to eliminate the program altogether, it’s deeply cruel that Donald Trump is working to rip yet another lifeline away from student parents across the country,” said Senator Duckworth. “No parent should be forced to drop out of college or take on even more debt just to complete their education. Our legislation would help provide student parents access to the child care they deserve so they can focus on their education and build a stronger future for their families.”

Parenting students already graduate with much higher levels of debt compared to non-parenting students and have more difficulty paying that debt off while making ends meet. Since 2004, the number of parents enrolled in college has grown by 30 percent, while the share of institutions offering on-campus child care services has declined by 14 percent. This leaves parenting students stuck in the middle as they face both exorbitant tuition costs and a lack of options for safe, affordable, on-campus child care.

The number of community colleges and four-year institutions offering on-campus child care decreased over the past decade. For community colleges, access to on-campus child care dropped from 53 percent in 2003 to 42 percent in 2017 and at four-year institutions, access declined from 54 to 48 percent over the same time. In addition, in 2020, Georgia was one of only 10 states that did not allow the pursuit of a four-year college degree to count toward eligibility for subsidized child care.

It is projected that over 60 percent of jobs in Georgia will require a degree or certification beyond high school. Child care remains a big barrier to college completion to student-parents. Reportedly, more than 108,000 students are parents and nearly 50,000 college students are single mothers.

The Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools (CCAMPIS) Reauthorization Act would:

1. Reauthorize the CCAMPIS program through Fiscal Year 2031
2. Authorize the CCAMPIS funding level at $500 million per year
3. Increase the minimum grant award that eligible institutions of higher education can receive to $75,000 per year and set a maximum grant award of $2 million per year
4. Eliminate barriers for parenting students to access child care services supported by a CCAMPIS grant
5. Streamline program requirements and enhance U.S. Department of Education technical assistance to make it easier for eligible institutions to apply for a CCAMPIS grant
6. Help connect parenting students to benefit programs that help with food, housing, and health care services
7. Enhance program transparency and accountability by collecting disaggregated data on the parenting students served by the program

Senator Warnock has long supported access to affordable child care and programs that support working families. Senator Warnock returned to his hometown of Savannah, Georgia, to tour Early Head Start classrooms at the Economic Opportunity Authority (EOA) for Savannah-Chatham County and hear from local early learning leaders about the workforce shortages impacting this critical early education program serving low-income families and their children.

In addition to Senators Warnock and Duckworth, the legislation is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tina Smith (D-MN), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ).

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