Central Connecticut State University launches free child care for students

Hartford Courant - 9/14/2022

When Maria Kesel heard that Central Connecticut State University would offer free child care to student parents, the mother of two was skeptical.

From the time Kesel arrived at CCSU a year ago, balancing school and family was a struggle.

When holidays, early dismissals or weather cancellations sent her 10-year-old Ana and 7-year-old Lia home from their elementary school, Kesel said she would often be left with no choice but to miss class.

“Sometimes I don’t know how I do it,” Kesel said about juggling academics, a part-time job and motherhood. “For a while, I would say, why did I do this to myself?”

In what administrators have described as a “game changer” for students like Kesel, CCSU launched a new Drop-In Child Care Center to provide children with free education and supervision while their parents attend class.

“It’s been just like a weight off my shoulders,” Kesel said about her daughters’ involvement in the program. “I’m super grateful that they have a space like this and that they’ve thought of student parents. I know it’s not the norm per se to be a student parent, so the fact that the school has put in a priority for students like myself, I can’t be more grateful.”

Offering free education, enrichment and homework help to children ages 3 to 12, nine hours a day, seven days a week, the licensed, grant-funded facility is the first of its kind across the Connecticut State College and University system.

“This program is something that women on campus have been advocating for for years,” Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Kimberly Kostelis said. “It’s a game changer for [student parents] that they can see the possibilities that they can come back to school and that it’s not a burden.”

CCSU’s free childcare facility started as a vision by university President Zulma Toro when she assumed her role at the university in 2017.

“We have a very unique student population at Central. A high percentage of our students are parents,” Toro said. “I want them to feel that we are part of their family, that we are here [not only] to look after them, but look after their kids as well.”

Toro said that the free childcare program will help ease the burdens of student parents and keep them in class.

According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 52% of student parents leave college without finishing their degree compared to 29% of non-parents.

“It’s a deal breaker when students don’t have these support services. I think that [this] will enable them to concentrate on what they are doing in the classroom, to concentrate on really making progress toward completing their degrees,” Toro said. “This [could] be the difference between completing their degree or not.”

In addition to supporting parents, CCSU Drop-in Child Care Center Director Kelly McCarthy said that the center supports CSCU students studying elementary or early childhood education by providing them with experience and employment at the center along with certified teachers.

Currently, the center employs 12 student assistants, according to McCarthy.

“They get to take what they’re doing in the classroom and then practice it here, right on campus,” McCarthy said. “They’re going to be able to put this on their resume. It just helps to strengthen the teachers that Central will be sending out into the workforce.”

One aspect that sets the CCSU child care center apart from other facilities is its curriculum, which works on literacy, numeracy and school readiness.

“It is absolutely not [a] daycare. And not that there’s anything wrong with daycare, it’s just that what we do here is intentional,” McCarthy said. “We have a curriculum and we are making sure that the plans that we make are developmentally appropriate for each age group that we have.”

McCarthy described her work at the center as one of the “most fulfilling things” that she has done in her career.

“It’s so hard to be a student parent going to school studying and having children. And if we can just remove that barrier [of child care], it will help them to reach their academic goals. So it is just thrilling to be able to say, ‘Yes, we can help you,’ McCarthy said.

Two weeks after opening, McCarthy said that the center has enrolled 25 students — but she expects that number to grow over the semester as more parents learn about the program.

“This is just an incredible opportunity for student parents,” McCarthy said. “Sometimes you don’t plan how your life is going to go and sometimes your family starts and sometimes you have other ideas. Now, you don’t have to think that you can’t still pursue those goals that you had. We’re making it possible and we’re thrilled to do it.”

Alison Cross can be reached at across@courant.com.