Early Childhood Center Expands Services and Hours, Thanks to Family Empowerment Grant

The Early Childhood Center at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) has been selected to participate in the CUNY Family Empowerment Community College Pilot Program, and will receive a total of $451,941 over three years, from Fall 2019 up to Fall 2022.

The grant will enable the Center to expand its hours, add classes and teaching staff, provide free tuition for more children at the Center, and offer support and wraparound services for student parents.

The expanded hours will make a difference on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, when the Center’s closing time will move from 5 to 9 p.m. The Center was already open till 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, so now it is open till 9 p.m. seven days a week.

To fill the expanded hours with programming, the Center will add early childhood classrooms, each with a dedicated head teacher and assistant teacher, according to Cecilia Scott-Croff, the Center’s executive director. Other new staff will include student interns, volunteers and work study students.

In addition, the Early Childhood Center will hire a full-time family empowerment program coordinator to support student parents who attend classes while their child attends the Center over the weekend and evenings.

“This person will start by working with the Early Childhood Center and the BMCC ASAP program to identify which ASAP students are parents using our Early Childhood Center — and who might be in need of additional support and wraparound services in order to attend classes and complete their degree,” Scott-Croff says. “We will be able to provide those student parents with referrals for academic supports such as tutoring. Depending on their needs, we could also refer them to the BMCC counseling center or Single Stop, where they could find support for food insecurity or housing issues.”

Besides providing support for student parents in ASAP, Scott-Croff says, “We’re engaging in outreach to reach student parents in programs such as the BMCC CUNY Language Immersion Program (CLIP) and CUNY Start, as well as reaching out to student parents who attend the BMCC Center for Continuing Education and Workforce Development.”

Scott-Croff points out that this is the first time BMCC has received this grant, which resulted from an initiative, the Family Empowerment Community College Pilot Program, just launched by Governor Cuomo’s office. Other CUNY schools receiving the grant are LaGuardia Community College, Hostos Community College and Bronx Community College.

“This is a significant opportunity for the BMCC Early Childhood Center to serve the whole family; the child who takes part in enriched activities and learning experiences, and the student parent who is determined to earn his or her degree. With these additional services and and personalized support, they will be better able to do that.”