The Student Services Finance Committee heard a budget proposal for UW-Madison’s student child care service on Monday.
The Child Care Tuition Assistance Program provides UW students with child care services, and also assists eligible students with financial expenses through various grants programs.
SSFC will decide on the group’s budget Thursday.
Lynn Edlefson, Head of CCTAP’s Child Care and Family Resources Office, emphasized the importance of the program’s Family Grants, which provide money to students who are often at or below the national poverty line.
“The Family Grants are the cornerstone of this program,” Edlefson said. “We become the support system for student parents.”
Edlefson also said through its services, CCTAP indirectly allows student parents to develop their career goals and skills.
“For every dollar spent on this program, there’s a return of roughly $13 on the job market,” Edlefson said.
The proposal’s primary change from last year was a total increase of over $40,000 to its supplies, expenses, and salaries. Much of the request would go towards retaining staff members who work in exceptionally busy service centers.
While CCTAP is a university-affiliated program, its staff members are not university employees, which makes any salary increases difficult to approve with segregated fees.
SSFC Chair Sarah Neibart said the committee could not approve the increased salary request as proposed.
“If CCTAP decides they really want this increase, it would have to be through a separate process,” Neibart said. “It can’t just be in the budget right now.”
