The "Child Care Access Means Parents In Schools Reauthorization Act" aims to significantly expand and improve child care services for student parents pursuing postsecondary education. It reauthorizes and amends the existing Child Care Access Means Parents In School (CCAMPIS) program, enabling the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible institutions. These grants, ranging from $75,000 to $2,000,000 annually over five years, are intended to facilitate the academic success of student parents by ensuring access to affordable and quality child care. Eligible institutions, defined as those with at least 150 Pell Grant-eligible students, must use these funds primarily to establish or support campus-based child care programs, offer subsidized care using a sliding fee scale, or provide subsidized before and after school services. The bill explicitly prohibits using funds for new construction, though renovation for health and safety is allowed, and prevents institutions from imposing additional eligibility requirements on student parents beyond those specified. An "eligible student parent" includes those who are Pell Grant eligible or meet the financial criteria but are otherwise ineligible due to application issues or graduate enrollment. A key new provision requires institutions to assist student parents in enrolling in various federal, state, tribal, or local means-tested benefits programs , such as SNAP, Medicaid, and housing assistance. Furthermore, grant applications must include a plan for child care programs to meet high-quality standards, such as Head Start performance standards, top-tier State quality ratings, or national accreditation, within three years of receiving assistance. The Secretary is mandated to provide technical assistance to institutions for both applying for and maintaining these grants. The legislation prioritizes grant applications from institutions that leverage local or institutional resources, utilize a sliding fee scale to serve a high number of student parents, and offer additional support to single parents . Conversely, it limits priority for projects solely relying on off-campus providers or designed for multiple child care providers, ensuring a focus on integrated campus support. To ensure accountability and transparency, the bill establishes comprehensive annual reporting requirements for institutions. These reports must detail the demographics of student parents served, including disaggregated data on sex, single parent status, race, age of dependents, disability, veteran status, and first-generation status, as well as student retention, graduation, transfer, and withdrawal rates. The Secretary will then publicly report this aggregated data annually, consulting with stakeholders on data collection methods, and the bill authorizes a substantial appropriation of $500,000,000 for each fiscal year from 2026 through 2031 to support these critical child care initiatives.
The "Child Care Access Means Parents In Schools Reauthorization Act" aims to significantly expand and improve child care services for student parents pursuing postsecondary education. It reauthorizes and amends the existing Child Care Access Means Parents In School (CCAMPIS) program, enabling the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible institutions. These grants, ranging from $75,000 to $2,000,000 annually over five years, are intended to facilitate the academic success of student parents by ensuring access to affordable and quality child care. Eligible institutions, defined as those with at least 150 Pell Grant-eligible students, must use these funds primarily to establish or support campus-based child care programs, offer subsidized care using a sliding fee scale, or provide subsidized before and after school services. The bill explicitly prohibits using funds for new construction, though renovation for health and safety is allowed, and prevents institutions from imposing additional eligibility requirements on student parents beyond those specified. An "eligible student parent" includes those who are Pell Grant eligible or meet the financial criteria but are otherwise ineligible due to application issues or graduate enrollment. A key new provision requires institutions to assist student parents in enrolling in various federal, state, tribal, or local means-tested benefits programs , such as SNAP, Medicaid, and housing assistance. Furthermore, grant applications must include a plan for child care programs to meet high-quality standards, such as Head Start performance standards, top-tier State quality ratings, or national accreditation, within three years of receiving assistance. The Secretary is mandated to provide technical assistance to institutions for both applying for and maintaining these grants. The legislation prioritizes grant applications from institutions that leverage local or institutional resources, utilize a sliding fee scale to serve a high number of student parents, and offer additional support to single parents . Conversely, it limits priority for projects solely relying on off-campus providers or designed for multiple child care providers, ensuring a focus on integrated campus support. To ensure accountability and transparency, the bill establishes comprehensive annual reporting requirements for institutions. These reports must detail the demographics of student parents served, including disaggregated data on sex, single parent status, race, age of dependents, disability, veteran status, and first-generation status, as well as student retention, graduation, transfer, and withdrawal rates. The Secretary will then publicly report this aggregated data annually, consulting with stakeholders on data collection methods, and the bill authorizes a substantial appropriation of $500,000,000 for each fiscal year from 2026 through 2031 to support these critical child care initiatives.