Starting this school year, with the first day being Sept. 5, 2023, the Children’s Center on campus will be adding a new program, the Drop-In site, meaning children will be able to come and go with ease. The Children’s Center, located on UWW campus has been on campus for 50 years, in this upcoming school year, and is designed to help students with children getting childcare while in school. The requirements for this new program is that they are eligible for the CCAMPIS Pell Grant, which is the Child Care Access Means Parents in school, through the United States Department of Education. These requirements include having over a 2.0 gpa, and having a child under 12, and will be supported by the UW-Whitewater Children’s Center and campus. This has been in the works for a few years due to having to receive licensing to be able to keep offering the opportunity to families with a more flexible schedule and reduced rates.
The new program was completed in part by the former director, Erica Schepp, who applied to the CCAMPIS grant, and was then taken over by Chelsea Newman, when she became the director for the Children’s Center.
“There was so much collaboration that has taken place to get the Drop-In Site up and running,” says Newman, as the new director.
She begins to explain that she is most excited about being able to give more flexible care while still keeping the families on campus. This staff will remain the same, but with an increase in a new member, Kiley Henn, a graduate of UW Madison, has been working with the administration to coordinate the program, so that it will be a seamless transition. The staff, the remaining, will be mostly undergraduates, and will work in shifts moving from the Children’s Center and to the Drop In Site. These students will be given the proper training to deal with the challenges of childcare.
The community has had an increase in toddlers, that is why this program has been increasing, and these children need a place to learn and grow, “‘with well-trained professional staff on a top notch college campus,” said Jennalee Johnson, Program Enrichment and Staff Support, on the reason this Drop In Site is so important to the community.
Kiley Henn, the new staff member, explained that there is a need across the state for new and more available childcare, “having this reduced cost care that is of a very high quality can break down some of the barriers parenting student face, making their dream of earning a college degree much more feasible to reach.”
With the funding, students and children will be able to accomplish their educational goals through the help of CCAMPIS. The rate per student is $5 per hour for children of students, and $8 per hour for children of faculty, staff or community members. This program does have a minimum of two hours, and the children must be between 2-12 years old.
Along with the new program, the anniversary of the Children’s Center will take place in Sept of 2024, and will be the 50 year anniversary. The center offers opportunities for students to drop off their children in order to receive a degree, and will be able to help with the early childhood education of children from 6 months to 6 years old. For more information on the center, visit: https://www.uww.edu/childrenscenter/about-us. To find more information about the Drop In Site, visit: https://www.uww.edu/childrenscenter/drop-in-site. The Children’s Center is located in the Roseman Building and is open Monday-Friday.