Lobbyists ask for increased child care grant
Block grants currently
serve 250 students with
children, leaving 900 on
the waiting list
By Michael Hines
Oregon Daily Emerald
Some people call it a higher
level of welfare.
But it’s really a way to lessen
the financial burden on college
students with children.
The Student Child Care Block
Grant gives many student-par
ents the financial backing to get
an education and become skilled
workers, and students and ad
ministrators around the state are
asking for more.
Dennis Reynolds, EMU Child
Care Coordinator, asks if welfare
provides the money for the pub
lic to get trained to work, “how
about a little more training?”
The grant partially subsidizes
child care for students with chil
dren. This way, students can stay
focused on school, not on the
stress of keeping their children
supervised.
“It’s vital to two generations,”
Reynolds said. “I call it a two-for
one.”
Easing a student’s financial
burden makes the child’s growth
less stressful and the parent’s ed
ucation more potent, he said.
But he said the state could
start kicking in some money.
“The funds are inadequate to
meet anything more than a small
fraction of the need,” Reynolds
said.
According to the Oregon Stu
dent Association, the block
grants currently serve about 250
students, leaving 900 on the
waiting list that can take more
than a year to wade through.
“A lot of people when they
hear that don't even sign up,”
said OSA Legislative Director
Kellie Shoemaker.
Shoemaker said she is current
ly working with a few legislators
and hopes to have legislation
crafted next week for considera
tion.
The legislation will either ask
for $3.9 or $7.5 million for the
next two years, she said. The
higher figure would cover the
number of students on the wait
ing list, and the lower figure,
which is the more likely request,
would cut the waiting list in half.
Legislative Rep. Floyd Prozan
ski, who represents an area of Eu
gene that includes the campus
area, said he is in favor of allocat
ing money for child care.
“We have to make sure that we
have access for students to get an
education,” he said. “We need to
make our public education sys
tem as accessible as possible.”
Prozanski said he is also in fa
vor of keeping child care close to
students' homes, but he said the
funding increases may need to be
incremental over the years.
University students currently
chip in $216,000 for 200 child
care slots exclusively for Univer
sity of Oregon students. But with
the number of student parents at
the University estimated at about
2,000, that leaves many without
needed subsidies, Reynolds said.
And if the Legislature allocates
new money, it could save stu
dents' money, he said. Students
would have the choice to save
money and eliminate the 200
University slots or keep them on
top of the added state slots.
But the programs are not
cheap.
“Quality care costs a lot of
money,” Reynolds said. “You get
what you pay for.”
The ASUO is involved in the
push for child care funding as
well. It will be one issue covered
at the Campaign Kickoff today at
5 p.m. in 207 Chapman Hall.
Mike Hines covers the Eugene police
and the Oregon Legislature for the
Emerald. He can be reached via e
mail at mhines@gladstone.uore
gon.edu.
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