Classified employees can benefit from child-care grant

The Office of Child Care and Family Resources again encourages permanent classified staff with children up to age 12 to apply for its annual child-care grant.

Rebecca Patterson, a program assistant supervisor for the Graduate School, received a grant for the 2006–07 academic year. The cost of having her two children, an 8-year-old and a 3-year-old, in child care is roughly $1,250 a month.

“Just getting that $500, that particular month, helped finances so much,” Patterson says. “It was about the time of Christmas when there’s more expenses.”

Patterson encourages others to apply for the scholarship and to take into consideration the amount of their income that goes toward child care costs — a figure the scholarship committee takes into consideration when dispersing grant money.

“You might think, ‘Well, I make too much money,’ or ‘I’m not in that much of a need,’” Patterson says. “I think people should just give it a try.”

Employees who demonstrate a need for financial support for regulated child-care (center or individual) should apply by Thursday, Nov. 1. The award is a reimbursement of child-care costs provided during the period July 1, 2007–April 30, 2008.

Four to six grants totaling $2,000 will be awarded this year. According to the founder of the scholarship, Connie Wilson, the amount of the award is based on whether it is full- or part-time care, and the number of grants given depends on the situations of those who are applying. In December, $1,500 in awards were granted to three families.

The Classified Staff Scholarship was initiated in 2003 to assist with the critical needs of classified staff to afford high-quality child care. Wilson worked collaboratively with Child Care and Family Resources Director Lynn Edlefson in the Office of Child Care to initiate the fund. The grant was created in response to ongoing concerns in recruiting and retaining a classified staff workforce. It is often difficult for classified staff, who may be hired in low paying entry-level positions on campus, to keep their job positions and pay for child care.

“A classified employee is an important member of the university community,” says Wilson, who currently serves as a volunteer for child-care efforts on campus.

“They are the glue that keeps the work flowing efficiently and effectively.”

For more information, or to receive an application, visit the OCCFR web site.