Monday, November 16, 1998
UCLA child care struggles to serve, make ends meet
STAFF: State grants, fees from parents maintain services but at
high cost
By Hannah Miller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
University funding is all about priorities.
One year of child care or one year of tennis courts? Four years
of child care or one year of Pauley Pavilion? Ten years of child
care or one year of the Science and Engineering Library?
UCLA’s contribution to its own child care center covers about 15
percent of its costs. Unlike other employee benefits, child care is
supposed to be self-supporting, based on an agreement made 30 years
ago that has raised prices, limited spaces and dried up financial
assistance for cash-strapped students.
"We patched together a budget to make it work," said Toby
Cronin, one of the first parents involved in UCLA child care in the
1970s. "We had to get heavy into fundraising. But now (Child Care
Services) is faced with some problems – the salaries of the
teachers are no longer competitive."
The core of the child care services’ budget is parent fees,
which currently covers 64 percent of its cost. This diet is
augmented by, in order of contribution, the state of California,
funds from UCLA, private donations – and if all goes well this
year, some federal money.
Overall, the financial picture doesn’t allow much room to
breathe. About 80 percent of the child care budget (which is now
about $2.6 million a year) is spent on salaries and benefits, which
leaves few possibilities for further maintenance and expansion.
"Child care started with 30 to 40 children, and now we have four
locations," said Sam Morabito, the associate vice chancellor who
oversees Child Care Services. "It’s a model program. But we will
never get to the point where we can serve all families."
The biggest donor is the state of California, which subsidizes
the on-campus centers. The state gives an annual grant of about
$384,000, earmarked for the neediest students.
"That sounds like a lot," said Gay McDonald, the director of
Child Care Services. "But the families make a very small
co-payment."
The state grant limitations lie in its eligibility requirements.
The child care center will dole out grants to students, but it is
usually at levels that preclude students from holding even
part-time jobs.
"Right now there are only two options for students," wrote Lynn
Swartz, a former chair of the Student Fee Advisory Committee (SFAC)
who studied child care intensively. "One, students who are very
low-income and manage to make it off the very long waiting list are
provided top-notch child care free of charge. Two, students can
(also) pay the full fee for the service."
The Child Care Center has come under fire in the last two years
from the Student Services Committee and SFAC, who have criticized
the center’s commitment to the group it was originally founded to
serve.
"There are many students who can afford to pay some amount for
child care," Swartz said. "They just can’t afford the full cost of
UCLA child care."
The advisory committee recommended that the center offer partial
grants.
The student committees also took issue with the practice of UCLA
colleges "buying" spots – reserving spots for faculty members based
on their college’s contribution to the child care centers. Although
a great chunk of the UCLA money comes from registration fees, there
are no equivalent spots for students.
After the committee’s recommendations, Child Care Services is
hoping to augment the money available for students this year by
extending a student scholarship program based on money it has
scrimped and saved.
For 20 years, UCLA Child Care Services has been building up a
small endowment, one bake sale and magazine subscription at a
time.
They’ve also done things such as the "Endowed Child Chair." For
$5,000 each, donors receive a tiny Windsor chair, their name on a
plaque in the lobby of the Bellagio center and the knowledge that
their money will bless a young child with a chance to receive child
care.
In addition, the Higher Education Act, which was re-authorized
this past September, offers $45 million more specifically to child
care for low-income student parents.
That chunk of money will be allotted in fiscal 1999 to
institutions that ask for it. Universities that already have
programs are favored for such grants, and UCLA hopes to be a
beneficiary.
Although these government grants would help cover operating
expenses, they don’t make a dent in the need for more
facilities.
"That would cost in the millions," McDonald said. "First, you’ve
got to have land to build it on. And construction companies don’t
care if it’s for children."
At premium Brentwood and Westwood real estate prices, that land
won’t be coming cheap. In addition, many employees commute from the
San Fernando Valley or Orange County, placing the need farther and
farther out.
"The size of the service seems to be fixed and growth is nowhere
in sight," wrote the advisory committee’s Swartz. "UCLA does not
see child care as a priority and chooses to put its resources
elsewhere."CHARLES KUO/Daily Bruin
LaTonya Miles, a graduate student in English, and her husband
Robert use private child care, not UCLA’s for their son Jabari
because of cost.
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