Des Moines Area Community College has been awarded a $139,530 per year grant from the U.S. Department of Education under their Child Care Access means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program. The grant is renewable for four years, meaning DMACC could receive $558,120 over the lifetime of the grant.
The CCAMPIS program, authorized by the Higher Education Act and administered by the U.S. Department of Education, supports the participation of low-income parents in post-secondary education through the provision of campus-based childcare services. DMACC’s Child Development Center is a CCAMPIS funded program. The program was funded for the first time in October 2017.
The goal of the CCAMPIS program is to provide grants to institutions of higher education to assist the institutions in providing campus-based child care services to low-income students.
“We are thrilled to have been selected as a recipient of the CCAMPIS grant and look forward to reaching our goals of providing affordable, quality care for children and families in the Child Development Center,” said DMACC Child Development Center Program Coordinator Sherri Sciarrotta. “We hope to impact student persistence and retention by expanding three full-time child care slots in our infant program for low-income families. We will provide scholarships for childcare tuition for qualified families in the infant, toddler and preschool programs.”
“I am extremely excited about the CCAMPIS award since it will directly benefit our low-income, student-parents striving for a brighter future,” said DMACC Health and Public Services Academic Dean Arthur Brown. “Funding from this grant will permit us to increase capacity within our newest and most requested area in the Child Development Center, the infant care area. One of the grant’s provisions allows DMACC to add another Child Development Specialist. An additional staff member means we can more than double current capacity in the infant area.”
DMACC is one of 85 two-year colleges, four-year colleges or universities nationwide to be awarded this highly competitive program. At DMACC, you may earn a certificate, a diploma and an associate degree in Early Childhood Education.