Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announces legislation to fund free child care for college students who are parents

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced legislation Tuesday to help fund free child care to up to 500,000 children under the age of three whose parents are community college students.

Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) made the announcement at Nassau Community College in Garden City, at the Children’s Greenhouse, a child care center established on campus in 1979. The greenhouse serves 140 children of students, faculty and staff. Seventy percent of the children belong to parents who are students.

The Preparing and Resourcing Our Student Parents and Early Childhood Teachers Act calls for a $9 billion investment over five years in grant programs to help community colleges and institutions serving minorities, "provide free, high-quality child care to up to 500,000 children under the age of three with a parent enrolled in the institution," according to Gillibrand's office.

The bill also would provide funding and technical support for child care programs near community colleges and institutions serving minorities, and authorizes new "impact grants" to develop more child care centers around such schools and institutions. 

The bill would allow all "working class" parents who are students to qualify for a subsidy.

"For many New York families, finding quality affordable child care is really hard," Gillibrand said. "The high cost of living on Long Island only intensifies this situation, and the financial crunch that parents are facing when making decisions about looking after their children and getting adequate child care and early childhood education."

In New York, 18% of undergraduates are parents, and almost half that cohort are single mothers, Gillibrand said.

"The financial burden on these student parents is nearly unimaginable," Gillibrand said.

Jermaine Williams, president of NCC, said in 2018 there were 775 enrolled NCC students who identified themselves as single parents. 

Gillibrand cited an August 2019 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office that said one in five undergraduates was raising children, and about half of student parents left school without finishing a degree program.

The report, relying on U.S. Department of Education data, found that about 22% of undergraduates were parents, and 55% of student parents were single parents. 

Nearly 50% of student parents paid an average monthly cost of $490 for child care, according to the report.

Gillibrand's bill also requires universities and colleges to share information about the Dependent Care Allowance, which can provide many student parents with $3,000 in subsidized federal student loans each year.

By Scott Eidler

scott.eidler@newsday.com@ScottEidler

Scott Eidler is a deputy editor for the towns department at Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.