1
00:00:06,818 –> 00:00:11,260
Hello and good afternoon. I’m Andrea
Gonzalez with Trellis Strategies,

2
00:00:11,720 –> 00:00:13,560
and we appreciate you joining us today.

3
00:00:13,680 –> 00:00:18,302
We are very grateful to have the expertise
and wisdom of our speakers joining us from

4
00:00:18,302 –> 00:00:21,082
Trellis Strategies, our research team,

5
00:00:21,463 –> 00:00:25,384
our consulting team, and the Kentucky
Student Success Collaborative.

6
00:00:26,064 –> 00:00:28,795
Today they’re going to be sharing how
parenting students have been supported

7
00:00:28,795 –> 00:00:30,265
across the state of Kentucky.

8
00:00:30,741 –> 00:00:34,604
And hopefully there will be some
information that people joining from other

9
00:00:34,604 –> 00:00:38,086
states can take away and implement in
their own communities.

10
00:00:38,266 –> 00:00:41,803
I’m gonna go ahead and hand it over to
Carrie Welton to get us started.

11
00:00:43,045 –> 00:00:44,557
Great. Thanks so much, Andrea.

12
00:00:44,557 –> 00:00:46,439
And May, if you could.

13
00:00:48,845 –> 00:00:50,365
Thank you all for joining us today.

14
00:00:50,365 –> 00:00:54,168
So I just want to set up a little bit of
the flow for this session.

15
00:00:54,428 –> 00:00:57,730
We are actually going to hold
introductions for each speaker

16
00:00:57,730 –> 00:01:01,432
to introduce themselves at the beginning
of their respective section.

17
00:01:01,852 –> 00:01:05,343
First up, you’re going to hear from Lily
Massa McKinley at the Kentucky Student

18
00:01:05,343 –> 00:01:08,816
Success Collaborative, who will give some
background on the Success Collaborative’s

19
00:01:08,816 –> 00:01:13,148
work and the project. And then my
colleague May is going to walk us through

20
00:01:13,148 –> 00:01:15,920
some of the research findings from the
landscape analysis.

21
00:01:16,300 –> 00:01:18,081
We will then transition into

22
00:01:18,919 –> 00:01:22,411
me talking about childcare and
intersections with post-secondary

23
00:01:22,411 –> 00:01:25,613
um education and recommendations from our
report.

24
00:01:26,013 –> 00:01:29,405
And then Tracy Teeter from the Kentucky
Student Success Collaborative is going

25
00:01:29,405 –> 00:01:33,098
to talk a little bit more about the
implications for Kentucky and how that

26
00:01:33,098 –> 00:01:34,669
work is evolving in the state.

27
00:01:34,669 –> 00:01:38,191
And if we have time, I’m gonna ask all of
my panelists to come on camera

28
00:01:38,191 –> 00:01:41,693
at the end of the session where we have a
couple of questions to talk about

29
00:01:41,693 –> 00:01:44,344
the report findings and the implications
for Kentucky.

30
00:01:44,765 –> 00:01:45,765
Thank you.

31
00:01:51,649 –> 00:01:54,431
Hi everyone, my name is Lily Massa
McKinley,

32
00:01:54,551 –> 00:01:58,134
and I’m the Assistant Vice President for
Student Success with the CPE,

33
00:01:58,134 –> 00:02:00,356
the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary
Education.

34
00:02:00,697 –> 00:02:04,159
And I have the privilege of leading the
Kentucky Student Success Collaborative.

35
00:02:04,390 –> 00:02:07,643
I’m excited to be here today just to
provide a little overview of our work

36
00:02:08,223 –> 00:02:12,026
for parenting students and just overall
how the collaborative is working

37
00:02:12,026 –> 00:02:15,139
to improve student outcomes. Next slide.

38
00:02:16,439 –> 00:02:20,751
We’re working toward our state attainment
goal of 60% of the adult population

39
00:02:20,751 –> 00:02:23,873
holding a post-secondary credential of
value by 2030.

40
00:02:24,934 –> 00:02:27,495
Next slide. And to accomplish this,

41
00:02:27,495 –> 00:02:33,729
we’ve really mapped out a student success
framework that um is primarily following

42
00:02:33,729 –> 00:02:38,842
the student journey. And when you look at
our adult learner work broadly,

43
00:02:38,862 –> 00:02:44,705
it fits within two primary categories with
connecting the path.

44
00:02:45,177 –> 00:02:50,069
Where our strategy lead Tracy Teeter leads
quite a bit of work helping first-time

45
00:02:50,069 –> 00:02:54,481
adults enroll as well as those with some
college no degree re-enroll.

46
00:02:55,081 –> 00:02:56,952
And then within Chart the Path,

47
00:02:56,952 –> 00:03:00,103
a focus on the non-academic supports that
students need,

48
00:03:00,283 –> 00:03:04,445
such as child care solutions. The Kentucky
Student Success Collaborative

49
00:03:04,445 –> 00:03:08,246
was established in 2021 with a grant from
the James Graham Brown Foundation.

50
00:03:08,606 –> 00:03:09,747
And really, we were

51
00:03:10,269 –> 00:03:13,801
Established to focus on three main
objectives within Kentucky.

52
00:03:14,121 –> 00:03:18,543
One of those was to build a culture of
collaboration across our partner,

53
00:03:18,604 –> 00:03:20,404
our higher education institutions,

54
00:03:20,404 –> 00:03:22,335
as well as other state agencies,

55
00:03:22,335 –> 00:03:23,726
community-based organizations,

56
00:03:23,726 –> 00:03:28,499
employers, et cetera. Another was to help
build our state’s capacity for leading

57
00:03:28,499 –> 00:03:32,431
change and seeing the measurable gains
from those efforts.

58
00:03:34,845 –> 00:03:40,678
One of the first things that we do when we
are embarking upon a new strategy area

59
00:03:41,319 –> 00:03:45,081
is we need to really thoroughly understand
the current state picture.

60
00:03:46,001 –> 00:03:51,484
Where are we right now? When we started
our basic needs strategy in 2022,

61
00:03:51,884 –> 00:03:56,897
there was a resounding emphasis on
supporting parenting students from

62
00:03:56,897 –> 00:04:01,349
our broad diverse stakeholders that were a
part of co-creating that strategy.

63
00:04:02,510 –> 00:04:04,041
And the work was not

64
00:04:04,215 –> 00:04:07,195
Quite clear what did we need to do?

65
00:04:07,195 –> 00:04:12,519
uh But the first step was to begin
understanding what are we currently doing?

66
00:04:13,079 –> 00:04:17,041
What is the current landscape of our
parenting students?

67
00:04:17,541 –> 00:04:21,822
And of course, we also wanted to hear from
our parenting students themselves

68
00:04:22,043 –> 00:04:24,664
to better understand their experiences,

69
00:04:24,945 –> 00:04:26,595
the challenges they may be facing,

70
00:04:26,595 –> 00:04:29,146
and what they would think would be
possible solutions.

71
00:04:29,727 –> 00:04:30,727
Next slide.

72
00:04:33,463 –> 00:04:36,664
Through our current grant project with the
ECMC Foundation,

73
00:04:36,664 –> 00:04:40,345
we’ve had several elements that have been
helping us advance our childcare work.

74
00:04:40,945 –> 00:04:45,496
One of those was to work with our uh
wonderful longitudinal data partners

75
00:04:45,496 –> 00:04:51,228
in Kentucky, uh KYSTATS, to develop our
parenting student data dashboard.

76
00:04:51,908 –> 00:04:55,699
Now, the data dashboard is a really
wonderful resource because,

77
00:04:55,699 –> 00:05:01,251
as many of you know, uh reliable data
around the population of parenting

78
00:05:01,251 –> 00:05:02,491
students on our campuses.

79
00:05:02,795 –> 00:05:06,318
Has really changed significantly since
some of the changes in the FAFSA.

80
00:05:07,018 –> 00:05:11,332
But our KY stats is able to use data
sources including the Department

81
00:05:11,332 –> 00:05:16,906
of Revenue, Vital Statistics, as well as
uh child care and SNAP benefit data,

82
00:05:17,306 –> 00:05:21,890
in order to look at our entire population
of enrolled students and identify which

83
00:05:21,950 –> 00:05:24,912
ones have children or dependents under the
age of 18.

84
00:05:26,213 –> 00:05:28,855
As you can see from this particular
screenshot,

85
00:05:29,557 –> 00:05:35,003
we have about a third of our students at
our two-year institutions that have

86
00:05:35,003 –> 00:05:36,654
dependents under the age of 18.

87
00:05:37,135 –> 00:05:41,479
And the majority of those have kiddos
under age six,

88
00:05:41,779 –> 00:05:45,182
which is where the real need for child
care is most intense.

89
00:05:45,823 –> 00:05:49,126
We also have a significant population of
parenting students at our four-year

90
00:05:49,126 –> 00:05:52,629
institutions, but it is um smaller at 7%.

91
00:05:52,690 –> 00:05:54,131
Next slide.

92
00:05:56,483 –> 00:06:00,565
On our data dashboard, you can also filter
by institution,

93
00:06:00,845 –> 00:06:07,788
which allows each institution to see their
kind of overall kind of it’s an average.

94
00:06:08,068 –> 00:06:14,711
We had to um combine several cohorts of
data in order to reduce the redaction.

95
00:06:15,291 –> 00:06:17,682
But at, for example, one of our partner
campuses,

96
00:06:17,682 –> 00:06:19,713
Southeast Community and Technical College,

97
00:06:20,413 –> 00:06:23,594
40% on average of their students were
parents.

98
00:06:24,615 –> 00:06:25,615
Next slide.

99
00:06:26,911 –> 00:06:29,943
And finally, one of the most important
things that we need to see is

100
00:06:29,943 –> 00:06:34,896
how do our parenting students have access
to the resources that may be needed that

101
00:06:34,896 –> 00:06:36,958
will allow them to continue their
education?

102
00:06:38,059 –> 00:06:42,782
The square on this chart represents the
parenting students with dependents under

103
00:06:42,782 –> 00:06:47,925
the age of six, and they have the hardest
time retaining from the first year

104
00:06:47,925 –> 00:06:51,408
to the second year at just under 40%
retention rate.

105
00:06:53,249 –> 00:06:56,191
It is good to see that that fall to spring
retention.

106
00:06:56,523 –> 00:06:58,504
The gap is not nearly as drastic.

107
00:06:58,604 –> 00:07:03,247
And it also is pretty irregardless of the
age of the kiddos,

108
00:07:03,247 –> 00:07:08,211
uh and actually a slightly higher
retention rate among parenting students

109
00:07:08,211 –> 00:07:10,032
with kids in the age of 7 to 12.

110
00:07:10,633 –> 00:07:14,815
So all sorts of really interesting things
that we can explore on our dashboard that

111
00:07:14,815 –> 00:07:17,397
have really helped inform the work that
we’re doing right now.

112
00:07:18,778 –> 00:07:20,719
In addition, if you want to go to the next
slide,

113
00:07:21,540 –> 00:07:25,953
in addition to our dashboard as helping us
understand the current state picture.

114
00:07:26,411 –> 00:07:32,765
We partnered with the Trellis Strategies
and Carrie Welton to um really help

115
00:07:32,765 –> 00:07:37,358
us get a good landscape analysis of
childcare availability,

116
00:07:37,479 –> 00:07:43,443
of affordability concerns, of just overall
parenting student barriers

117
00:07:43,443 –> 00:07:46,024
to post-secondary enrollment and
retention.

118
00:07:47,045 –> 00:07:50,147
So that um is really the focus of this
webinar.

119
00:07:50,147 –> 00:07:54,810
And Carrie and her team are going to share
more about the findings from the landscape

120
00:07:54,810 –> 00:07:55,810
analysis.

121
00:07:56,415 –> 00:08:00,398
Additionally, we always center student
voice in our work.

122
00:08:00,438 –> 00:08:05,581
And we know that some of the best ideas
come from students that have a specific

123
00:08:05,581 –> 00:08:09,784
pain point. And so we’ve partnered with
three faculty researchers from

124
00:08:09,784 –> 00:08:11,916
the University of Kentucky, the University
of Louisville,

125
00:08:11,916 –> 00:08:13,567
and Eastern Kentucky University,

126
00:08:13,827 –> 00:08:18,541
who have been working on a year-long uh
qualitative research project to better

127
00:08:18,541 –> 00:08:22,003
understand the experiencing, the
experience of parenting students

128
00:08:22,003 –> 00:08:24,695
and the solutions that they have to
address some of these barriers.

129
00:08:26,283 –> 00:08:27,283
Next slide.

130
00:08:29,267 –> 00:08:31,728
In addition to understanding our current
state picture,

131
00:08:31,728 –> 00:08:35,129
it’s also really important to engage our
campus partners in the work.

132
00:08:35,649 –> 00:08:36,919
If you move to the next slide,

133
00:08:36,919 –> 00:08:42,981
this is just a very high-level uh image or
diagram of the work and the way that

134
00:08:42,981 –> 00:08:44,431
the collaborative goes about our work.

135
00:08:44,891 –> 00:08:49,823
We very much employ both an ecosystem
approach to collaboration as well

136
00:08:49,823 –> 00:08:52,514
as an improvement science approach to
leading change.

137
00:08:53,234 –> 00:08:56,295
And we’ve been able to partner with five
campuses in Kentucky,

138
00:08:56,515 –> 00:08:57,615
focusing on one

139
00:08:58,317 –> 00:09:02,570
shared goal or aim statement that we want
to improve the retention rate of parenting

140
00:09:02,570 –> 00:09:06,032
students by 10 percentage points by 2030.

141
00:09:06,973 –> 00:09:11,346
And Tracy is going to share a lot more
about the actual work that those folks

142
00:09:11,346 –> 00:09:16,259
are doing. But just the concept of
improvement science is the partners

143
00:09:16,440 –> 00:09:19,071
did their own identifying their current
state picture.

144
00:09:19,071 –> 00:09:25,626
And then they moved into identifying some
really key drivers or levers for moving

145
00:09:25,626 –> 00:09:26,947
the needle on retention.

146
00:09:27,445 –> 00:09:30,620
And now they’re testing different
solutions on their campuses.

147
00:09:30,961 –> 00:09:35,187
And we’re tracking our metrics together
toward that same semester to semester

148
00:09:35,187 –> 00:09:37,341
retention. Next slide.

149
00:09:39,669 –> 00:09:44,042
What is most exciting about this is that
no one is doing this work in isolation.

150
00:09:44,243 –> 00:09:45,724
We’re doing this work together.

151
00:09:46,024 –> 00:09:49,036
We are almost like sharing the tests of
change,

152
00:09:49,036 –> 00:09:53,250
who’s going to try what. And then we’re
coming back and sharing with one another

153
00:09:53,250 –> 00:09:55,171
how it’s going, what is working,

154
00:09:55,291 –> 00:09:58,874
what we might need to adapt or do
differently in the future.

155
00:09:59,295 –> 00:10:00,295
Next slide.

156
00:10:01,953 –> 00:10:05,794
So one thing that I would just recommend
as I think about this approach and really

157
00:10:05,794 –> 00:10:09,785
the work that Tracy has been leading
around our childcare is that

158
00:10:09,785 –> 00:10:13,647
it is not just the isolated campus
improvements that are really going to make

159
00:10:13,647 –> 00:10:15,687
a difference in the lives of our parenting
students,

160
00:10:16,027 –> 00:10:21,149
but it’s how do we work together to share
the growth and to share the improvement

161
00:10:21,149 –> 00:10:23,870
and the change on our campuses for
everyone to benefit.

162
00:10:25,290 –> 00:10:27,851
Thank you so much. And I’m going to turn
it back over to Carrie.

163
00:10:33,879 –> 00:10:37,762
Great, thanks, Lily. And I can pick it up
directly here.

164
00:10:37,762 –> 00:10:43,227
um I’m May Plum. I’m a research associate
at Trellis Strategies.

165
00:10:43,567 –> 00:10:49,142
And I worked on some of the data wrangling
for this landscape analysis.

166
00:10:49,142 –> 00:10:55,418
I’m going to be just giving you all a kind
of overview that provides some of the core

167
00:10:55,418 –> 00:10:59,541
underpinnings that will help inform the
recommendations that Carrie will talk

168
00:10:59,541 –> 00:11:00,541
about later on.

169
00:11:00,822 –> 00:11:04,644
So this landscape analysis brings together
various sources of federal,

170
00:11:04,644 –> 00:11:10,106
state, and private data to help build out
a picture of childcare demand,

171
00:11:10,106 –> 00:11:14,927
availability, affordability, and funding
to of ground our conversation,

172
00:11:14,927 –> 00:11:19,089
let’s say. So first I want to talk,

173
00:11:19,089 –> 00:11:25,042
um kind of make the case for childcare as
core infrastructure for post-secondary

174
00:11:25,042 –> 00:11:26,042
attainment.

175
00:11:26,440 –> 00:11:30,341
Um, Lily gave some really wonderful
statistics looking at the prevalence

176
00:11:30,681 –> 00:11:33,362
of parenting students in Kentucky.

177
00:11:33,362 –> 00:11:37,194
and I want to kind of highlight how
powerful that is.

178
00:11:37,194 –> 00:11:42,185
Uh, completing a post-secondary credential
can be a really important tool

179
00:11:42,185 –> 00:11:45,026
for breaking intergenerational poverty
cycles.

180
00:11:45,366 –> 00:11:50,507
We know that people who attain a
post-secondary credential on average have

181
00:11:50,507 –> 00:11:52,768
higher earnings and lower unemployment.

182
00:11:53,352 –> 00:11:57,615
that credential also often gets them
greater access to employer-sponsored

183
00:11:57,615 –> 00:12:00,477
health insurance and retirement accounts
and other benefits.

184
00:12:00,818 –> 00:12:04,700
And we also see better health and
educational outcomes for their children,

185
00:12:05,001 –> 00:12:09,824
including for children whose parents
attained that post-secondary credential

186
00:12:09,824 –> 00:12:16,288
um while parenting. And alongside the
students that Lily highlighted,

187
00:12:16,471 –> 00:12:18,880
who are current student parents,

188
00:12:18,880 –> 00:12:19,911
um

189
00:12:20,419 –> 00:12:25,234
I also want to highlight uh our
calculation that there’s about 24 million

190
00:12:25,234 –> 00:12:30,354
US parents based on ACS data who have no
post-secondary credential

191
00:12:30,354 –> 00:12:32,791
and are not currently enrolled in college.

192
00:12:33,031 –> 00:12:39,357
This includes around 375,000 Kentucky
parents and encompasses

193
00:12:39,357 –> 00:12:44,091
um parents who have just a high school
degree or an equivalent.

194
00:12:44,431 –> 00:12:48,284
As well as those who have some college but
no credential and are currently

195
00:12:48,284 –> 00:12:53,647
unenrolled. And we see this population as
really an opportunity to make

196
00:12:53,647 –> 00:12:58,250
post-secondary education more accessible
to a broader group of people so that

197
00:12:58,510 –> 00:13:04,985
if they desire it, the these twenty-four
million parents can uh pursue additional

198
00:13:04,985 –> 00:13:08,577
education and advance their careers and
their economic mobility.

199
00:13:11,421 –> 00:13:14,283
When looking at current parenting
students,

200
00:13:14,503 –> 00:13:20,388
our survey and interview research at
Trellis Strategies has regularly shown

201
00:13:20,668 –> 00:13:25,512
these kind of three kind of key areas um
of impact.

202
00:13:25,852 –> 00:13:28,884
At the top here is financial
responsibility.

203
00:13:28,884 –> 00:13:33,678
Parenting students have far greater
financial commitments to their families

204
00:13:33,699 –> 00:13:36,941
and their children and other members of
their families usually.

205
00:13:37,589 –> 00:13:40,892
We see that they tend to have lower
financial security,

206
00:13:40,892 –> 00:13:44,294
lower food and housing insecurity than
their non-parenting peers,

207
00:13:44,434 –> 00:13:46,816
and they often have higher levels of debt.

208
00:13:46,816 –> 00:13:51,920
um On the whole, this leads to them
working more hours uh while they

209
00:13:51,920 –> 00:13:54,622
are enrolled. And we see a number of
outcomes from that.

210
00:13:54,802 –> 00:13:59,805
It interacts, these longer work hours
interact with their caregiving obligations

211
00:14:00,106 –> 00:14:04,519
to result in overall higher time poverty
among parenting students.

212
00:14:04,785 –> 00:14:09,480
Which can interfere with their ability to
dedicate time to school.

213
00:14:09,480 –> 00:14:15,546
And we also see their ident their identity
as a caregiver,

214
00:14:15,546 –> 00:14:20,271
as a parent, kind of interacting in
complicated ways with their identity

215
00:14:20,271 –> 00:14:25,547
as a student and with their identity as a
worker or as someone who spends

216
00:14:25,547 –> 00:14:26,648
a lot of their time working.

217
00:14:27,292 –> 00:14:31,654
And that all together leads to less time,

218
00:14:31,654 –> 00:14:36,767
less energy, and less money that they can
put towards the pursuit of postsecondary

219
00:14:36,767 –> 00:14:42,040
education, um, even where that might be a
really strong motivated goal of theirs.

220
00:14:44,504 –> 00:14:51,259
And we see from interviews that Carrie
helped with with um childcare stakeholders

221
00:14:51,259 –> 00:14:58,033
across Kentucky that they view within this
picture that childcare is a piece of core

222
00:14:58,233 –> 00:15:01,855
educational infrastructure. It’s not a
peripheral support for these students,

223
00:15:02,075 –> 00:15:06,437
it’s a fundamental um component of what
they need in order to succeed in school.

224
00:15:07,078 –> 00:15:10,740
And despite this, there’s a persistent
misalignment.

225
00:15:11,070 –> 00:15:15,283
That happens between traditional
center-based models of childcare

226
00:15:15,703 –> 00:15:21,047
and the realities of adult learners’ lives
and the times that they need care

227
00:15:21,308 –> 00:15:25,330
and the various commitments that they’re
trying to juggle while pursuing education.

228
00:15:26,551 –> 00:15:32,536
We also heard from stakeholders on college
campuses that parents

229
00:15:32,776 –> 00:15:38,420
and post-secondary education practitioners
face these parallel information gaps.

230
00:15:38,782 –> 00:15:43,575
Where many students are unaware of their
subsidy eligibility,

231
00:15:43,895 –> 00:15:48,778
but at the same time, institutions often
struggle to identify and connect with

232
00:15:48,778 –> 00:15:50,439
parents in their campus community,

233
00:15:50,719 –> 00:15:56,362
resulting overall in a kind of lack of
connection to these resources that already

234
00:15:56,362 –> 00:16:03,116
exist for parenting students. We also see
that childcare is tightly intertwined with

235
00:16:03,116 –> 00:16:06,988
other systemic barriers such as
transportation and housing.

236
00:16:07,264 –> 00:16:09,725
Broadband access, workforce constraints,

237
00:16:10,065 –> 00:16:13,907
which all have an impact on postsecondary
education as well.

238
00:16:15,048 –> 00:16:20,800
And overall, the kind of picture from
these stakeholders is that uh institutions

239
00:16:20,800 –> 00:16:24,782
are facing major capacity constraints to
help support their parenting student

240
00:16:24,782 –> 00:16:31,195
population. However, colleges are viewed
as trusted messengers and anchors in their

241
00:16:31,195 –> 00:16:33,776
communities. So there’s a real opportunity
here.

242
00:16:34,218 –> 00:16:40,702
For post-secondary institutions to be the
resource connectors um and to participate

243
00:16:40,702 –> 00:16:45,736
in a larger ecosystem that is building
towards economic mobility for these

244
00:16:45,736 –> 00:16:46,736
students.

245
00:16:48,532 –> 00:16:53,304
I want to highlight a couple of specific
examples from Trellis’ Student Financial

246
00:16:53,304 –> 00:16:57,166
Wellness Survey that relate to the
importance of child care for student

247
00:16:57,166 –> 00:17:00,607
success. uh In our 2024 survey,

248
00:17:00,607 –> 00:17:05,829
around a quarter of parents said that they
had missed at least one day of class

249
00:17:05,829 –> 00:17:08,480
in the past semester due to lack of child
care.

250
00:17:08,480 –> 00:17:14,083
um That includes around 4% who said they
missed more than five days.

251
00:17:14,343 –> 00:17:16,544
This really kind of shows how

252
00:17:17,140 –> 00:17:23,795
irregularity or unreliability in childcare
access can translate into

253
00:17:23,795 –> 00:17:26,287
academic effects through attendance
challenges.

254
00:17:28,429 –> 00:17:34,795
And additionally, when asked, kind of pose
the hypothetical of what if they lost

255
00:17:34,815 –> 00:17:37,117
access to their current child care
arrangements,

256
00:17:37,357 –> 00:17:41,510
we see that about a third of the student
parents said that they would need to take

257
00:17:41,510 –> 00:17:43,522
fewer classes or drop classes.

258
00:17:43,932 –> 00:17:48,345
And around 27% said they would be less
likely to enroll in future semesters.

259
00:17:48,365 –> 00:17:53,067
and this really harkens back to um the
statistics that Lily showed

260
00:17:53,067 –> 00:17:58,621
us demonstrating that student parents have
lower retention rates on average than

261
00:17:58,621 –> 00:18:03,935
their non-parenting peers. And it’s that
retention in in their post-secondary

262
00:18:03,935 –> 00:18:09,158
education that is one of the biggest
challenges overall um for supporting this

263
00:18:09,158 –> 00:18:10,629
population. They’re very motivated,

264
00:18:10,629 –> 00:18:11,629
but it’s very hard.

265
00:18:11,764 –> 00:18:15,032
To remain in school if other life things
get in the way.

266
00:18:20,538 –> 00:18:25,592
Now I’m gonna move on quickly to giving
kind of an underpinning again for Carrie

267
00:18:25,592 –> 00:18:30,136
section, defining and measuring child care
availability.

268
00:18:30,586 –> 00:18:37,251
our landscape analysis basically kind of
divides child care availability into four

269
00:18:37,312 –> 00:18:41,325
kind of core factors. This is of course a
simplification of the overall system.

270
00:18:41,891 –> 00:18:45,142
But you can look at the supply of child
care.

271
00:18:45,142 –> 00:18:49,023
That’s looking, of course, at the kind of
basic capacity of licensed childcare

272
00:18:49,023 –> 00:18:52,834
facilities. But you can also consider
things like the quality of care

273
00:18:52,834 –> 00:18:55,275
and the type of care that is available.

274
00:18:55,895 –> 00:19:00,216
You can compare that to the demand for
childcare in a region.

275
00:19:00,456 –> 00:19:04,907
That can be a simple count of the number
of children who might be needing

276
00:19:04,907 –> 00:19:09,618
childcare, but it also should look at
ideally at the hours

277
00:19:09,922 –> 00:19:16,624
they need that care. Affordability can be
thought of as the kind of overall portion

278
00:19:16,864 –> 00:19:20,865
of a family’s budget that might be taken
up by child care costs.

279
00:19:21,165 –> 00:19:25,616
But you can then also look at that in
terms of subsidy availability and access

280
00:19:25,616 –> 00:19:31,798
to those subsidies. And then an important
feature that impacts uh affordability

281
00:19:31,798 –> 00:19:34,149
and supply is workforce availability.

282
00:19:34,471 –> 00:19:37,002
That can be simply looking at wages,

283
00:19:37,262 –> 00:19:41,744
of course, but it’s also an important
component of looking at benefits

284
00:19:42,164 –> 00:19:46,406
and looking at opportunities for oh
training and workforce advancement

285
00:19:46,406 –> 00:19:50,988
for childcare workers. And then these two,

286
00:19:51,308 –> 00:19:56,370
these four ideas are kind of underpinned
by uh two kind of baseline ideas that I’ll

287
00:19:56,370 –> 00:19:58,011
touch on at the end. m

288
00:19:58,185 –> 00:20:01,808
look at we can look at some funding
streams that are available to support

289
00:20:01,808 –> 00:20:07,162
childcare access and how childcare
availability is aligned or misaligned with

290
00:20:07,162 –> 00:20:08,162
student needs.

291
00:20:11,105 –> 00:20:15,318
So, to first take a quick look at supply
and demand.

292
00:20:15,918 –> 00:20:21,842
Um, this is drawing on an analysis from
the Buffett Early Childhood Institute that

293
00:20:21,842 –> 00:20:26,886
compared license capacity and potential
need across the US and across each state.

294
00:20:27,547 –> 00:20:33,972
Um, and overall shows that there’s about a
28% gap between the supply and demand

295
00:20:33,972 –> 00:20:38,154
on average. And the really important thing
that I want to highlight here is the

296
00:20:38,154 –> 00:20:40,575
heightened gap in rural regions.

297
00:20:41,235 –> 00:20:43,766
This is one of the areas where we see the
most struggle,

298
00:20:43,766 –> 00:20:48,917
particularly in Kentucky. But I also want
to note a couple of challenges with

299
00:20:48,917 –> 00:20:50,838
looking at supply and demand analyses.

300
00:20:50,838 –> 00:20:54,399
So the Buffett Early Childhood Institute
uses as proxies.

301
00:20:54,399 –> 00:20:55,829
They look for supply and demand,

302
00:20:55,829 –> 00:20:57,440
they look at license capacity.

303
00:20:57,600 –> 00:21:03,322
So that’s like the legal maximum capacity
for licensed childcare facilities based

304
00:21:03,342 –> 00:21:04,452
on square footage.

305
00:21:04,930 –> 00:21:09,913
And they look at potential need by
measuring the number of children age five

306
00:21:09,913 –> 00:21:15,076
and under, where all of their available
parents are currently in the labor force.

307
00:21:15,076 –> 00:21:20,669
And these are often the best data that are
available when you’re looking to compare

308
00:21:20,669 –> 00:21:24,080
across states. however, there are some
major limitations here.

309
00:21:24,080 –> 00:21:26,161
These are both probably overcounts,

310
00:21:26,421 –> 00:21:29,363
right? Certainly the capacity.

311
00:21:29,931 –> 00:21:35,164
Very few childcare centers have the
workforce capacity to make full

312
00:21:35,164 –> 00:21:36,635
use of their legal maximum space,

313
00:21:36,635 –> 00:21:40,617
and they might not all want to if they
desire to have more space per child.

314
00:21:41,798 –> 00:21:46,360
And there’s generally limitations when
you’re trying to look at capacity based

315
00:21:46,360 –> 00:21:48,841
on age of child, which is a very important
factor.

316
00:21:49,122 –> 00:21:54,635
There’s limited ways to measure and
quality of care in a robust way when

317
00:21:54,635 –> 00:21:56,306
looking across a large data set.

318
00:21:56,764 –> 00:22:01,498
It’s hard to measure true demand of which
uh which children might need childcare

319
00:22:01,498 –> 00:22:05,200
and where what type of childcare their
families would like them to have.

320
00:22:05,841 –> 00:22:09,123
And there’s a lack of consistency in data
collection across the states.

321
00:22:09,123 –> 00:22:10,984
And I call out these limitations,

322
00:22:11,005 –> 00:22:13,647
not to discredit the gap that we see,

323
00:22:13,647 –> 00:22:15,989
which I think we we know is real,

324
00:22:16,189 –> 00:22:22,733
but to say that there’s a lot of space
here to advocate for more consistent data

325
00:22:22,733 –> 00:22:23,680
collection.

326
00:22:23,680 –> 00:22:28,842
and a lot of opportunity to do more
in-depth analysis that’s focused on more

327
00:22:28,842 –> 00:22:31,509
hyper-specific locales as well.

328
00:22:34,283 –> 00:22:40,558
Another uh big component of the supply
side of things

329
00:22:40,619 –> 00:22:43,140
is workforce availability. And,

330
00:22:43,140 –> 00:22:45,142
consistently in our landscape analysis,

331
00:22:45,142 –> 00:22:50,276
we saw that average pay for early
childhood educators falls below living

332
00:22:50,276 –> 00:22:53,229
wage across all states. In Kentucky,

333
00:22:53,229 –> 00:22:57,773
in 2024, the median hourly wage for
childcare worker was $14 per hour.

334
00:22:58,872 –> 00:23:01,756
And in 2022, across the country,

335
00:23:02,206 –> 00:23:06,722
around thirteen percent of early childhood
educators uh lived in poverty.

336
00:23:09,334 –> 00:23:15,826
I want to quickly compare that um the
wages for childcare workers

337
00:23:15,826 –> 00:23:21,217
on average across other types of service
and education occupations.

338
00:23:21,518 –> 00:23:24,677
This is drawing data from the US Bureau of
Labor Statistics.

339
00:23:24,919 –> 00:23:29,020
You can see that child care workers on the
left hand side and preschool teachers

340
00:23:29,280 –> 00:23:33,961
around the middle are much lower paid than
some

341
00:23:33,961 –> 00:23:39,776
other applications that may have similar
or lower uh education requirements,

342
00:23:39,776 –> 00:23:46,622
demonstrating the challenge of uh
encouraging workers to come into this

343
00:23:46,622 –> 00:23:47,622
space.

344
00:23:50,635 –> 00:23:54,998
Finally, of course, one of the biggest
factors of childcare availability

345
00:23:54,998 –> 00:23:56,879
is to look at its affordability.

346
00:23:57,159 –> 00:24:02,572
Across the country, we see that childcare
comprises the largest budget expense

347
00:24:02,572 –> 00:24:04,944
for many parents. It often rivals rent.

348
00:24:05,164 –> 00:24:10,057
The Department of Health and Human
Services has kind of set a de facto

349
00:24:10,057 –> 00:24:12,839
standard in some of its subsidy
definitions where

350
00:24:13,253 –> 00:24:18,035
They indicate that childcare should cost
no more than 7% of a family’s income.

351
00:24:18,595 –> 00:24:23,637
But the reality on the ground is that for
a single mother in Kentucky,

352
00:24:23,637 –> 00:24:28,219
for example, who’s making median income
for that demographic group,

353
00:24:28,500 –> 00:24:33,101
childcare could take up um nearly 40% of
her budget.

354
00:24:33,543 –> 00:24:38,675
And I want to note this intersects as well
with workplace.

355
00:24:38,905 –> 00:24:41,096
With child care worker availability,

356
00:24:41,496 –> 00:24:47,798
as childcare workers being often very low
paid may have trouble finding child care

357
00:24:47,798 –> 00:24:51,343
for their own children. And, I also want
to highlight there’s an additional

358
00:24:51,343 –> 00:24:54,644
affordability challenge if parents are
also trying to go to school.

359
00:24:54,664 –> 00:25:01,096
One analysis was looking at uh minimum
wage workers who might be trying to pursue

360
00:25:01,096 –> 00:25:03,879
education and identified that

361
00:25:04,407 –> 00:25:08,861
a minimum wage worker on average would
have to work fifty-four hours a week just

362
00:25:08,861 –> 00:25:12,013
to pay for childcare and tuition,

363
00:25:12,014 –> 00:25:13,875
not considering any other expenses.

364
00:25:18,405 –> 00:25:22,028
So to wrap up my section,

365
00:25:22,028 –> 00:25:25,981
I’m going to talk a little bit about the
available funding streams for childcare

366
00:25:25,981 –> 00:25:30,025
subsidy that can help address some of
these oh affordability challenges.

367
00:25:31,106 –> 00:25:35,000
The biggest one many people may know about
is the Child Care Development Fund,

368
00:25:35,000 –> 00:25:37,682
CCDF. This is the primary funding stream.

369
00:25:37,682 –> 00:25:40,975
It’s dedicated to helping low-income
families afford childcare.

370
00:25:41,316 –> 00:25:45,329
There is also states that can allocate

371
00:25:45,563 –> 00:25:49,796
funds from temporary assistance for needy
families directly into childcare

372
00:25:49,796 –> 00:25:52,908
or transfer those funds into Head Start or
CCDF.

373
00:25:53,348 –> 00:25:59,771
However, the federal government has
estimated that CCDF and TANF have only

374
00:25:59,771 –> 00:26:04,373
served about 15% of eligible children with
childcare.

375
00:26:04,874 –> 00:26:08,316
There’s also, of course, Head Start um for
young children,

376
00:26:08,732 –> 00:26:13,355
But the National Head Start Association
has estimated that early Head Start serves

377
00:26:13,355 –> 00:26:15,957
only about 10% of eligible children again.

378
00:26:16,377 –> 00:26:20,661
So the picture here is that despite some
substantial investment at the federal

379
00:26:20,661 –> 00:26:22,822
and state level in these subsidies,

380
00:26:23,182 –> 00:26:27,205
there’s a disconnect where it’s not always
getting to those eligible children.

381
00:26:28,632 –> 00:26:32,318
I also want to highlight two particular
funding streams that are relevant

382
00:26:32,318 –> 00:26:36,221
for student parents. The one is child care
access means.

383
00:26:36,683 –> 00:26:38,844
Parents in school, CCAMPIS grants.

384
00:26:38,844 –> 00:26:42,457
This is the only federal program that
supports childcare specifically

385
00:26:42,457 –> 00:26:46,650
for parenting students, and it’s a very
powerful lever for post-secondary

386
00:26:46,650 –> 00:26:50,433
institutions. A new set of grants was just
recently awarded,

387
00:26:50,613 –> 00:26:54,095
but it is, of course, subject to federal
granting decisions,

388
00:26:54,796 –> 00:26:58,718
and those funds are limited. Additionally,

389
00:26:58,718 –> 00:27:04,623
um states can have some leeway to leverage
um different funds.

390
00:27:04,897 –> 00:27:08,458
States can use CCDF and TANF eligibility.

391
00:27:08,458 –> 00:27:12,869
They can define that eligibility to
include many college students.

392
00:27:12,869 –> 00:27:15,050
This is a real opportunity for expansion.

393
00:27:15,260 –> 00:27:19,571
Additionally, post-secondary institutions
can leverage WIOA,

394
00:27:19,571 –> 00:27:25,763
Perkins, and SNAP E&T funds alongside
emergency grants to provide um childcare

395
00:27:25,763 –> 00:27:30,655
subsidy and other forms of benefits across
their parenting student population.

396
00:27:34,039 –> 00:27:38,122
So, as an overview before I pass it over
to Carrie,

397
00:27:38,563 –> 00:27:43,316
we’ve seen here that demand for childcare
far outpaces the capacity of licensed

398
00:27:43,316 –> 00:27:46,508
providers with some particular challenges
in rural regions.

399
00:27:47,128 –> 00:27:51,070
We’ve also seen that early childhood care
is one of the lowest paid professions

400
00:27:51,171 –> 00:27:53,452
contributing to workforce shortages.

401
00:27:53,892 –> 00:27:56,554
And overall, we know that childcare
remains

402
00:27:56,776 –> 00:27:59,587
Fundamentally unaffordable for most
working families,

403
00:27:59,587 –> 00:28:01,768
including for childcare providers
themselves.

404
00:28:02,188 –> 00:28:06,319
And despite public investing, many
eligible families are not receiving

405
00:28:06,319 –> 00:28:12,231
subsidies to help offset um this
inaffordability.

406
00:28:13,012 –> 00:28:16,882
And I want to close by calling out a
calculation from the Buffett Early

407
00:28:16,882 –> 00:28:19,343
Childhood Institute, who estimated that.

408
00:28:19,577 –> 00:28:25,682
The lack of childcare availability has a
real economic impact in the US of over

409
00:28:25,823 –> 00:28:32,769
216 billion over 10 years, um which is a
call to look for how we can better

410
00:28:32,769 –> 00:28:37,915
support access to these subsidies and
other forms of improving childcare access

411
00:28:38,095 –> 00:28:40,137
for parenting students in particular.

412
00:28:40,947 –> 00:28:46,579
And so with that, I will pass it over to
Carrie to talk a little bit more about

413
00:28:46,579 –> 00:28:49,439
how this applies to parenting students and
some implications.

414
00:28:51,060 –> 00:28:54,821
Thank you very much, May, and thank you to
May and Lily both for those excellent

415
00:28:54,821 –> 00:28:56,822
overviews. Next slide, please.

416
00:28:58,062 –> 00:29:00,963
Before we look at how childcare intersects
with parenting students,

417
00:29:00,963 –> 00:29:03,263
I want to introduce you to who we’re
talking about.

418
00:29:03,683 –> 00:29:06,614
And while there’s no such thing as a
typical parenting student,

419
00:29:06,614 –> 00:29:09,125
we know that they’re mothers, they are
fathers.

420
00:29:10,525 –> 00:29:11,954
Some of them attend full-time,

421
00:29:11,954 –> 00:29:16,529
some attend part-time, and they attend
both two and four-year institutions.

422
00:29:16,889 –> 00:29:20,601
But the data did show some common
circumstances that allowed us to create

423
00:29:20,601 –> 00:29:25,674
this composite profile to contextualize
the data to really understand who is being

424
00:29:25,674 –> 00:29:30,227
affected. And we know that a parenting
student in Kentucky is more likely

425
00:29:30,227 –> 00:29:32,098
to be a woman in her early 30s.

426
00:29:32,700 –> 00:29:36,293
She’s the first in her family to go to
college and she’s working towards

427
00:29:36,293 –> 00:29:39,716
an associate’s degree, enrolled part-time
at a community college.

428
00:29:40,357 –> 00:29:44,280
She’s also enrolled while simultaneously
working more than 40 hours a week

429
00:29:44,280 –> 00:29:46,321
and raising on average two children,

430
00:29:46,782 –> 00:29:49,004
of which the youngest one is under age
five.

431
00:29:49,484 –> 00:29:51,005
And like many parenting students,

432
00:29:51,005 –> 00:29:52,506
she’s taking out student loans.

433
00:29:53,207 –> 00:29:56,049
So here’s what the data tells us about
students like her.

434
00:29:56,410 –> 00:30:00,283
We know that about half of first-time
enrolled parents leave college before

435
00:30:00,283 –> 00:30:01,314
finishing a credential.

436
00:30:02,238 –> 00:30:06,931
And that parents make up about 35% of
Kentucky adults with some college

437
00:30:06,931 –> 00:30:11,214
but no credential, which represents a
large share of the people Kentucky needs

438
00:30:11,214 –> 00:30:13,185
to reach its 60% attainment goal.

439
00:30:14,286 –> 00:30:17,809
Parents also take longer to finish and
they borrow more along the way.

440
00:30:18,109 –> 00:30:21,191
It’s estimated that her two-year degree
will take her about five years

441
00:30:21,191 –> 00:30:24,233
to complete. But here’s what’s really
important.

442
00:30:24,233 –> 00:30:27,996
We know that parents are more likely to
have a higher GPA than their peers,

443
00:30:28,256 –> 00:30:31,368
and that their post-secondary success
carries over to their children.

444
00:30:32,372 –> 00:30:35,745
We know too often parenting students
aren’t held back by ability,

445
00:30:35,745 –> 00:30:39,048
but because their time and family
responsibilities don’t line up with

446
00:30:39,048 –> 00:30:42,210
how college was built. And whatever their
circumstances,

447
00:30:42,210 –> 00:30:45,793
they share the common challenge of finding
childcare that fits their lifestyle.

448
00:30:46,094 –> 00:30:49,256
So let’s look at those options and how
none of them were built with students

449
00:30:49,256 –> 00:30:51,258
in mind. Next slide, please.

450
00:30:53,842 –> 00:30:56,824
So, what childcare options does this
parenting student have?

451
00:30:57,244 –> 00:31:01,706
This grid shows the main types of care
down the side and the challenges each

452
00:31:01,706 –> 00:31:04,008
one creates for parenting students across
the top.

453
00:31:04,528 –> 00:31:07,450
And you’ll notice in our landscape
analysis in the report,

454
00:31:07,450 –> 00:31:09,230
there’s a whole bunch more of this detail.

455
00:31:09,230 –> 00:31:10,691
So if you’re getting excited by this,

456
00:31:10,691 –> 00:31:14,143
please refer to the report. If you read
across the row,

457
00:31:14,143 –> 00:31:18,436
you’ll see patterns that there’s no option
that really works clearly for a parenting

458
00:31:18,436 –> 00:31:21,107
student schedule. So if you start with
schedule,

459
00:31:21,107 –> 00:31:22,718
we can see that like centers.

460
00:31:23,122 –> 00:31:27,923
Head start, preschool, and before and
after school programs mostly run weekday

461
00:31:27,923 –> 00:31:33,525
daytime hours, while many classes and the
jobs of parenting students um happen

462
00:31:33,525 –> 00:31:35,425
and also on nights and weekends.

463
00:31:36,266 –> 00:31:38,886
You can see that several options are
part-day only.

464
00:31:39,186 –> 00:31:42,807
So even if she finds care, it doesn’t
cover a full class and workday.

465
00:31:43,167 –> 00:31:46,998
Then there are supply issues. We know
centers often have long wait lists,

466
00:31:46,998 –> 00:31:51,260
especially for infants. And the more
flexible options like family-friendly

467
00:31:51,260 –> 00:31:52,790
neighbor or FFN care.

468
00:31:53,244 –> 00:31:55,976
And drop-in care can be unpredictable from
week to week.

469
00:31:56,896 –> 00:31:58,738
If you look at the highlighted orange
column,

470
00:31:58,918 –> 00:32:02,940
almost every type of care is either
unaffordable or may not accept subsidies.

471
00:32:03,321 –> 00:32:06,402
And while Head Start is the exception
because it is free for families,

472
00:32:06,403 –> 00:32:08,804
it comes with limited slot availability,

473
00:32:09,064 –> 00:32:10,685
strict eligibility requirements,

474
00:32:10,685 –> 00:32:14,147
and there are also some administrative
burden in getting access to the program.

475
00:32:14,888 –> 00:32:17,009
And the stakeholders we interviewed in
Kentucky

476
00:32:17,009 –> 00:32:20,610
describe this as a persistent mismatch
between how childcare is set

477
00:32:20,610 –> 00:32:22,670
up and how adult learners actually live.

478
00:32:23,171 –> 00:32:27,992
So parenting students are often left to
piece together care across multiple forms

479
00:32:27,992 –> 00:32:31,112
of care and across multiple sites before
they even get to class.

480
00:32:31,893 –> 00:32:34,893
And that highlighted column really matters
because it raises the question:

481
00:32:35,213 –> 00:32:36,934
how does she attempt to afford care?

482
00:32:37,334 –> 00:32:40,525
In Kentucky, there are two what I think
are the most prominent sources

483
00:32:40,525 –> 00:32:44,266
for parenting students, and you’ll see
that too few parenting students get access

484
00:32:44,266 –> 00:32:45,946
to either. Next slide, please.

485
00:32:49,861 –> 00:32:54,313
May mentioned in her um child care funding
slides a program called the Child Care

486
00:32:54,313 –> 00:32:59,105
and Development Fund. That federal program
funds Kentucky’s CCAP program,

487
00:32:59,105 –> 00:33:00,725
Child Care Assistance Program,

488
00:33:01,126 –> 00:33:03,166
and that program is actually run by the
state.

489
00:33:03,467 –> 00:33:06,828
I’ve been working in Kentucky with a
Kentucky team since 2022,

490
00:33:06,908 –> 00:33:11,450
and I credit Kentucky with um having what
I think are some of the best child care

491
00:33:11,450 –> 00:33:15,512
subsidy policies. So they have looked at
their state flexibility,

492
00:33:15,512 –> 00:33:18,553
which is something we often advise states
on to identify.

493
00:33:18,865 –> 00:33:21,086
Where can they improve access for
parenting students?

494
00:33:21,786 –> 00:33:26,158
And Kentucky allows parenting students who
are enrolled full-time to have full access

495
00:33:26,158 –> 00:33:30,090
to a child care subsidy if they’re
otherwise income and household eligible

496
00:33:30,610 –> 00:33:32,391
without any additional requirement.

497
00:33:32,631 –> 00:33:34,432
And if a student is enrolled part-time,

498
00:33:34,432 –> 00:33:37,553
they can get access to a child care
subsidy if they’re also pairing that with

499
00:33:37,553 –> 00:33:39,274
about 20 hours a week on average.

500
00:33:39,774 –> 00:33:44,206
Kentucky also allows students enrolled
online to have access to child care

501
00:33:44,206 –> 00:33:46,427
subsidies if they have a demonstrated need
for it.

502
00:33:47,223 –> 00:33:51,275
But what we really see is that even with
the generosity of the uh child care

503
00:33:51,275 –> 00:33:55,648
policies in Kentucky, only about 7% of
eligible student parents are getting

504
00:33:55,648 –> 00:33:58,319
access to CCAP in the state of Kentucky.

505
00:33:58,679 –> 00:34:00,250
And across our five-year average,

506
00:34:00,250 –> 00:34:04,042
what we identified was that was only about
582 parenting students.

507
00:34:05,263 –> 00:34:08,435
And then when we look at the other program
that may mention CCAMPIS,

508
00:34:08,975 –> 00:34:11,146
Child Care Access Means Parents In School,

509
00:34:11,525 –> 00:34:16,149
that is a federal program. Institutions
apply to the Department of Education

510
00:34:16,637 –> 00:34:20,129
and are awarded grants and then they
administer those on their campus and they

511
00:34:20,129 –> 00:34:21,929
can be used to fund, you know,

512
00:34:21,929 –> 00:34:26,882
childcare vouchers for um child care in a
student’s community.

513
00:34:27,062 –> 00:34:30,514
They can be used to fund campus childcare
slots if that’s available,

514
00:34:30,514 –> 00:34:33,245
which is also a dwindling resource for
parenting students.

515
00:34:33,725 –> 00:34:37,927
Those are limited to low income generally
or Pell Grant eligible students,

516
00:34:38,567 –> 00:34:41,938
but they’re only available to institutions
who win a competitive grant.

517
00:34:42,460 –> 00:34:44,422
And then the most recent CCAMPIS cycle,

518
00:34:44,422 –> 00:34:46,183
which awardees were just announced,

519
00:34:46,364 –> 00:34:50,255
there were only about 40 grantees that
received an award in 2026,

520
00:34:50,255 –> 00:34:53,067
and there were no Kentucky institutions
among that list.

521
00:34:53,567 –> 00:34:59,010
And what we see nationwide is that around
from the 2016-2017 year,

522
00:34:59,250 –> 00:35:03,172
CCAMPIS was only estimated to reach about
thirty-three hundred students nationwide.

523
00:35:04,133 –> 00:35:05,133
Next slide, please.

524
00:35:08,077 –> 00:35:12,718
So let’s get into what can be done about
childcare access for parenting students.

525
00:35:12,718 –> 00:35:15,839
Our first slide here will look a little
bit at funding and policy.

526
00:35:16,099 –> 00:35:21,301
And I will align with my fellow um
childcare advocates in the field who just

527
00:35:21,441 –> 00:35:24,361
explicitly say we need to invest more
money in childcare,

528
00:35:24,722 –> 00:35:27,973
both at the federal level. That includes
growing funding for the child care

529
00:35:27,973 –> 00:35:32,104
and development fund, as well as greater
investment in the CCAMPIS program.

530
00:35:32,670 –> 00:35:37,201
And we also need to improve state and
private sector investment in childcare.

531
00:35:37,441 –> 00:35:40,322
And we’ll talk a little bit more of that
about that on the next slide.

532
00:35:41,462 –> 00:35:43,403
In terms of policy, which I mentioned,

533
00:35:43,403 –> 00:35:48,624
Kentucky has done well. We can simplify
access in the application for these

534
00:35:48,624 –> 00:35:51,284
programs and improve flexibility.

535
00:35:51,504 –> 00:35:55,485
Kentucky has done a great job of improving
flexibility for post-secondary students

536
00:35:55,485 –> 00:36:00,647
in the CCAP slash CCDF program and
including treating education equal

537
00:36:00,647 –> 00:36:01,381
to work.

538
00:36:01,381 –> 00:36:04,173
So counting study time, study groups,

539
00:36:04,173 –> 00:36:07,656
and labs towards eligibility hours for
child care subsidies is incredibly

540
00:36:07,656 –> 00:36:10,288
important, which better matches how
students enroll,

541
00:36:10,288 –> 00:36:15,441
parenting students. And then really
thinking about ensuring that friend,

542
00:36:15,441 –> 00:36:17,743
family, and neighbor care, who many
parenting students,

543
00:36:17,743 –> 00:36:19,564
including myself who was a parenting
student,

544
00:36:19,765 –> 00:36:22,406
really gravitated towards for the
flexibility and

545
00:36:22,406 –> 00:36:26,851
the community nature of it is making sure
that childcare subsidies are extended

546
00:36:26,851 –> 00:36:28,813
to friends, family, and neighborhood
providers.

547
00:36:28,813 –> 00:36:31,756
And I wanna be clear that means friends,

548
00:36:31,756 –> 00:36:35,760
family and neighbor providers who have met
safety and other licensing requirements.

549
00:36:36,641 –> 00:36:37,641
Next slide please.

550
00:36:40,838 –> 00:36:44,030
And what we have seen is that states have
made some really promising investments

551
00:36:44,030 –> 00:36:48,292
in childcare, and some particularly in
childcare for postsecondary students,

552
00:36:48,292 –> 00:36:53,575
including Kentucky. So some states have
really interesting employer partnerships

553
00:36:53,575 –> 00:36:55,686
where the state is investing a portion,

554
00:36:56,218 –> 00:37:01,029
the um the individual receiving care is
investing a portion,

555
00:37:01,498 –> 00:37:04,471
and Michigan has a program called
Tri-Share,

556
00:37:04,732 –> 00:37:08,156
which is really great, where a third of
the cost is paid for by the state.

557
00:37:08,604 –> 00:37:11,515
With employees and employers paying the
rest.

558
00:37:11,996 –> 00:37:16,096
And having dedicated funds and taxes
devoted towards childcare is,

559
00:37:16,096 –> 00:37:21,150
I would say, a best practice. We saw New
Mexico expand universal child care across

560
00:37:21,150 –> 00:37:24,021
the state, and that is a zero cost to
families.

561
00:37:24,021 –> 00:37:27,363
And they’re the first state to guarantee a
no-cost universal child care program.

562
00:37:27,563 –> 00:37:31,075
Many of us are waiting with bated breath
to see all of the research that comes

563
00:37:31,075 –> 00:37:33,046
out of the impact that that has had for

564
00:37:33,200 –> 00:37:37,303
the economy for individuals, for parenting
students in particular.

565
00:37:37,303 –> 00:37:42,056
And, improving investment in the childcare
workforce to raise their pay,

566
00:37:42,356 –> 00:37:46,246
benefits, and training. This slide here
uses the example of Maine,

567
00:37:46,246 –> 00:37:51,520
where they have a $540 per month
supplement on top of the salary for child

568
00:37:51,520 –> 00:37:55,702
care educators statewide. But Kentucky
also has a really great program where they

569
00:37:55,702 –> 00:37:56,702
allow

570
00:37:56,801 –> 00:38:01,904
child care workers who also have children
for their children to attend those child

571
00:38:01,904 –> 00:38:03,545
care centers where they work free of
charge,

572
00:38:03,545 –> 00:38:05,906
which is an implicit subsidy of their
cost.

573
00:38:06,787 –> 00:38:10,369
And then we have a couple of states that
invested in post-secondary child care

574
00:38:10,369 –> 00:38:13,051
grants specifically. That includes
Minnesota,

575
00:38:13,051 –> 00:38:15,443
Oregon, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

576
00:38:15,443 –> 00:38:21,567
And in Oregon, students are eligible for
about $10,000 per academic year if they

577
00:38:21,567 –> 00:38:24,179
have a child under age 12 for their child
care costs.

578
00:38:24,179 –> 00:38:27,070
And when we think about what colleges and
universities can do,

579
00:38:27,070 –> 00:38:28,751
there really is sort of the range.

580
00:38:29,232 –> 00:38:33,654
I view higher education institutions and
leaders as being really important

581
00:38:33,654 –> 00:38:39,147
advocates in federal and state and local
policy conversations about policies

582
00:38:39,147 –> 00:38:41,278
and changes that impact parenting
students.

583
00:38:41,878 –> 00:38:44,379
And collecting better data is fundamental,

584
00:38:44,439 –> 00:38:48,021
um, having an understanding of who what
parenting students are on campus,

585
00:38:48,423 –> 00:38:52,554
what their needs are to really inform what
campus supports are available and other

586
00:38:52,554 –> 00:38:57,546
funding decisions. Ensuring that parents
are involved directly in conversations

587
00:38:57,546 –> 00:39:00,747
about, you know, what is affecting them
through surveys,

588
00:39:00,747 –> 00:39:03,618
focus groups, ending award displacement,

589
00:39:03,618 –> 00:39:06,879
which is a policy that if somebody gets a
grant or scholarship,

590
00:39:06,879 –> 00:39:09,800
it reduces their overall aid by reducing
that.

591
00:39:10,040 –> 00:39:13,241
That’s an institutional policy choice and
something that we don’t recommend.

592
00:39:14,005 –> 00:39:17,727
And ensuring parents can include dependent
care in aid calculation.

593
00:39:17,727 –> 00:39:22,479
So parenting students can include their
cost of care in their total cost

594
00:39:22,479 –> 00:39:26,250
of attendance. Many institutions have
policies where this is almost treated like

595
00:39:26,250 –> 00:39:30,942
a professional judgment determination
where a student has to like submit a form

596
00:39:30,942 –> 00:39:33,924
to request that this be done. They often
don’t know about it,

597
00:39:33,924 –> 00:39:35,474
don’t even know that it’s an option.

598
00:39:35,635 –> 00:39:37,845
They have to include backup documentation,

599
00:39:37,845 –> 00:39:41,197
and we recommend that institutions make
the availability of that

600
00:39:41,513 –> 00:39:45,125
policy as transparent as possible for
parenting students and the least

601
00:39:45,125 –> 00:39:47,556
burdensome as possible so they can get
access to that.

602
00:39:48,416 –> 00:39:51,958
May already mention this, but thinking
about other funding sources,

603
00:39:52,238 –> 00:39:54,739
Workforce Interbased and Opportunity Act
funds,

604
00:39:54,739 –> 00:39:56,830
Perkin Act, SNAP Employment and Training,

605
00:39:56,830 –> 00:40:00,842
Emergency Grants can all go either
directly to fund the cost of childcare

606
00:40:00,842 –> 00:40:05,124
or to offset those costs. And then really
thinking about cross-sector partnerships

607
00:40:05,124 –> 00:40:07,245
such as working with childcare providers,

608
00:40:07,633 –> 00:40:11,397
resource and referral agencies who work in
that ecosystem of childcare and what’s

609
00:40:11,397 –> 00:40:14,920
available, working with employers and
communities to fill gaps,

610
00:40:14,920 –> 00:40:18,363
and then pairing all of that care with
wraparound supports on campus.

611
00:40:18,363 –> 00:40:20,886
So basic needs hub, benefits navigation,

612
00:40:20,886 –> 00:40:22,927
peer communities, and mental health
supports.

613
00:40:23,929 –> 00:40:24,929
Next slide.

614
00:40:27,079 –> 00:40:30,902
And we really know that the highest impact
interventions affect all three of these:

615
00:40:30,902 –> 00:40:33,614
affordability, availability, and
accessibility,

616
00:40:34,034 –> 00:40:37,657
ensuring that parenting students have
access to the child care subsidy program

617
00:40:37,657 –> 00:40:40,118
and other funding sources that support
cost.

618
00:40:40,579 –> 00:40:43,611
Availability includes ensuring the right
kind of care exists,

619
00:40:43,611 –> 00:40:45,132
including non-traditional hours,

620
00:40:45,132 –> 00:40:47,364
drop-in care, and other flexible options.

621
00:40:47,884 –> 00:40:50,866
And then ensuring it’s accessible and that
parenting students have access

622
00:40:50,866 –> 00:40:52,618
to supports, that they’re aware of them,

623
00:40:52,618 –> 00:40:54,329
that they have navigation support.

624
00:40:54,749 –> 00:40:58,384
And there are flexible academic policies
and even including priority registration.

625
00:40:58,384 –> 00:41:00,017
Next slide, please.

626
00:41:02,097 –> 00:41:05,648
And so when we really think about in the
context of like the average parenting

627
00:41:05,648 –> 00:41:08,210
student, what is at stake for this family?

628
00:41:08,210 –> 00:41:12,142
And we know that parenting students are
managing complicated lives,

629
00:41:12,142 –> 00:41:13,823
are taking care of young children.

630
00:41:14,143 –> 00:41:18,248
And when people with the least margin of
error choose education anyways,

631
00:41:18,248 –> 00:41:20,899
it’s because they know that the
alternative is worse.

632
00:41:21,359 –> 00:41:23,781
So we know that if this parenting student
stops out,

633
00:41:23,781 –> 00:41:26,142
she has lower potential of lifetime
earnings,

634
00:41:26,542 –> 00:41:29,684
higher risk of unemployment than somebody
with a college credential.

635
00:41:30,118 –> 00:41:33,989
And she is left with a borrowing balance
without having a credential to back it up.

636
00:41:34,770 –> 00:41:39,742
But if she completes, she’s more likely to
have higher lifetime earnings than someone

637
00:41:39,742 –> 00:41:41,412
with some college or no credential.

638
00:41:41,752 –> 00:41:46,734
She’s more like has a lower unemployment
rate and has a higher potential of going

639
00:41:46,734 –> 00:41:48,155
on to complete a bachelor’s degree,

640
00:41:48,155 –> 00:41:50,596
which improves her overall lifetime
earnings.

641
00:41:51,196 –> 00:41:52,196
Next slide.

642
00:41:54,342 –> 00:41:56,801
Okay, with that I’m gonna hand it over to
my colleague Tracy.

643
00:41:57,022 –> 00:41:58,022
Thank you all.

644
00:42:00,744 –> 00:42:05,646
Thank you, Carrie. So I’m going to round
this out by just talking a little

645
00:42:05,646 –> 00:42:08,207
bit about the implications for Kentucky.

646
00:42:08,647 –> 00:42:12,559
And, you know, what do we do now with this
information?

647
00:42:12,559 –> 00:42:15,870
Lily shared a little bit about the
framework of the Kentucky Student Success

648
00:42:15,870 –> 00:42:20,402
Collaborative. And then we have this
wonderful report from our national

649
00:42:20,402 –> 00:42:22,573
partners at Trellis. So what do we do?

650
00:42:22,913 –> 00:42:28,116
Well, it means that we connect this
research to decisions about how we serve

651
00:42:28,116 –> 00:42:29,126
parenting students.

652
00:42:29,988 –> 00:42:34,472
The few slides will kind of bring together
what we hope to do,

653
00:42:34,472 –> 00:42:38,546
what we’re doing now, and what we hope to
do as we step into the future to support

654
00:42:38,546 –> 00:42:44,550
our Kentucky parents. And we’ll start that
with our parent-student data.

655
00:42:44,550 –> 00:42:49,255
Lily walked you through some screenshots
of our new parenting student dashboard,

656
00:42:49,255 –> 00:42:55,089
and it gives us a foundation to really
understand who our parenting students

657
00:42:55,109 –> 00:42:56,109
are in the state.

658
00:42:56,756 –> 00:43:02,190
we know we’re not alone in Kentucky in
that collection of data around parenting

659
00:43:02,190 –> 00:43:06,223
students has been a challenge in the last
couple of years due to changes with

660
00:43:06,223 –> 00:43:10,577
the FASFA. And so having this student
dashboard really helps us and gives

661
00:43:10,577 –> 00:43:14,600
us a foundation for being able to measure
supports and impact.

662
00:43:14,901 –> 00:43:19,244
So as you saw earlier, it allows us to
explore questions about where parenting

663
00:43:19,244 –> 00:43:21,586
students enroll and then how relationships

664
00:43:21,990 –> 00:43:24,762
and retention varies with the ages of
children in the home.

665
00:43:25,062 –> 00:43:29,785
So this helps our campuses determine where
to look most closely and really where

666
00:43:29,846 –> 00:43:35,830
to to target supports and additional
supports as needed

667
00:43:36,170 –> 00:43:42,354
to support again semester to semester
retention and ultimately attainment.

668
00:43:43,355 –> 00:43:44,355
Next slide please.

669
00:43:47,814 –> 00:43:52,817
So student voice research, in order to
understand and put a very real face

670
00:43:52,817 –> 00:43:56,388
to this data, our student voice provides
essential context.

671
00:43:56,888 –> 00:43:59,349
And our researchers, as Lily mentioned,

672
00:43:59,369 –> 00:44:01,840
at three of our universities, University
of Kentucky,

673
00:44:01,840 –> 00:44:03,882
University of Louisville, and EKU,

674
00:44:04,031 –> 00:44:08,553
are conducting interviews with parenting
students across the state to better

675
00:44:08,553 –> 00:44:10,094
understand their experiences.

676
00:44:10,514 –> 00:44:16,318
A data point cannot explain the full set
of decisions a parent makes to remain

677
00:44:16,318 –> 00:44:19,860
enrolled. So it helps us understand their
experience.

678
00:44:19,860 –> 00:44:22,421
It helps us identify again those gaps.

679
00:44:22,421 –> 00:44:27,835
Where can we learn from uh them about
existing resources that work and maybe

680
00:44:27,835 –> 00:44:31,547
those that don’t? And then how does it
help us shape solutions?

681
00:44:31,547 –> 00:44:35,229
One of the the interviews that that were
conducted,

682
00:44:35,863 –> 00:44:41,427
uh a student parent talked about how there
was a particular class needed to finish

683
00:44:41,427 –> 00:44:45,940
their degree program. That particular
class for two semesters now had been

684
00:44:45,940 –> 00:44:51,944
at 4.45 in the afternoon. That student
parent’s particular childcare situation

685
00:44:51,944 –> 00:44:56,367
ended at 5 p.m. And so that parent could
not access that course.

686
00:44:56,507 –> 00:45:01,670
So it’s that kind of information coming
directly from student parents themselves

687
00:45:01,730 –> 00:45:04,181
that really helps us pinpoint solutions.

688
00:45:04,459 –> 00:45:09,130
We know that those closest to that
challenge are also closest to helping

689
00:45:09,130 –> 00:45:12,181
us solve for those those challenges.

690
00:45:12,741 –> 00:45:16,703
Next slide, please. So test of change.

691
00:45:16,803 –> 00:45:21,004
Test of change, we are currently working
with five campus partners,

692
00:45:21,004 –> 00:45:26,296
as Lily mentioned, to really look at what
are essential questions that we want

693
00:45:26,296 –> 00:45:31,107
to ask and essential tests of change that
we want to try to test out.

694
00:45:31,341 –> 00:45:34,853
To see what best supports parenting
students on those campuses.

695
00:45:35,893 –> 00:45:41,586
Those local tests of change then can
inform best practices that we can scale

696
00:45:41,586 –> 00:45:46,139
across the state. Those are sort of
centered in these three buckets,

697
00:45:46,139 –> 00:45:49,200
if you will, around child care
affordability,

698
00:45:49,520 –> 00:45:53,742
child care availability, and then
belonging among parenting students.

699
00:45:54,416 –> 00:45:56,447
when we think about child care
affordability,

700
00:45:56,507 –> 00:46:02,281
we have tests of change happening now
around both emergency vouchers and child

701
00:46:02,281 –> 00:46:06,263
care subsidies happening and going
directly to child care centers to support

702
00:46:06,263 –> 00:46:08,715
those parenting student costs for daycare.

703
00:46:09,635 –> 00:46:14,258
We also have tests of change with our
campuses around child care availability.

704
00:46:14,658 –> 00:46:18,300
Um, and in le at least one instance we
have a campus really focused

705
00:46:18,420 –> 00:46:21,772
on a partnership with with a daycare to
provide.

706
00:46:21,962 –> 00:46:26,284
drop-in care. One of the things that we
hear time and time again throughout this

707
00:46:26,284 –> 00:46:29,516
research, which will formally be reported
in December,

708
00:46:29,516 –> 00:46:35,679
so we’ll stay tuned for that. But what we
hear often is that it’s not just full-time

709
00:46:35,679 –> 00:46:37,430
childcare slots that are important.

710
00:46:37,570 –> 00:46:41,742
It’s the drop-in child care for when
school or daycare might be closed

711
00:46:41,742 –> 00:46:43,693
for weather, but the campus might not be.

712
00:46:43,693 –> 00:46:45,314
uh Those kinds of things

713
00:46:46,026 –> 00:46:47,968
are also uh critically important.

714
00:46:47,968 –> 00:46:51,111
So we have at least one test of change
happening in that area.

715
00:46:51,111 –> 00:46:53,939
Also, belonging comes up time and time
again.

716
00:46:53,939 –> 00:47:00,419
Do our parenting students feel that they
belong there on campus and have um a space

717
00:47:00,419 –> 00:47:04,863
where they can feel um at home in their
identity as a parenting student.

718
00:47:05,103 –> 00:47:06,784
Being a parent and being a student,

719
00:47:06,784 –> 00:47:10,748
it’s it’s very often difficult to separate
those into two identities.

720
00:47:10,748 –> 00:47:11,829
It really is one.

721
00:47:12,243 –> 00:47:17,554
And so several of our campus partners are
focused on belonging and build you know,

722
00:47:17,554 –> 00:47:23,569
building parenting spaces on campuses uh
that are family friendly and a place where

723
00:47:23,569 –> 00:47:25,640
parents can connect with one another.

724
00:47:26,680 –> 00:47:27,681
Next slide, please.

725
00:47:30,849 –> 00:47:33,390
I won’t go through this is this might be a
little bit hard to see.

726
00:47:33,390 –> 00:47:34,901
I won’t go through all of this,

727
00:47:34,901 –> 00:47:41,374
but these tests of change at at the campus
level really then help us with

728
00:47:41,374 –> 00:47:46,827
our primary and secondary drivers that
lead to our ultimate aim of engaging

729
00:47:46,827 –> 00:47:52,119
in this work to to improve semester to
semester retention of parenting students.

730
00:47:52,119 –> 00:47:53,081
And so

731
00:47:53,081 –> 00:47:57,123
we know that access to childcare and we
know that belonging among parenting

732
00:47:57,123 –> 00:48:00,214
students are two primary drivers to
support that.

733
00:48:00,735 –> 00:48:03,626
Um, And, then all of these tests of change
really,

734
00:48:03,626 –> 00:48:05,947
really lean into that. And, again,

735
00:48:05,947 –> 00:48:10,740
what we hope to come out with is just a
list and a menu of best practices that

736
00:48:10,740 –> 00:48:12,681
we can scale across the state.

737
00:48:13,021 –> 00:48:15,212
I also think it’s important to note here,

738
00:48:15,212 –> 00:48:17,793
and and Lily touched on this as well,

739
00:48:18,377 –> 00:48:20,778
it’s it’s important to know those things
that work really,

740
00:48:20,778 –> 00:48:24,310
really well, but it’s equally as important
to know those things that maybe we need

741
00:48:24,310 –> 00:48:26,371
to adapt or that maybe didn’t work.

742
00:48:26,571 –> 00:48:31,874
That’s not a failure. That is simply a way
for us to know where not to spend

743
00:48:31,874 –> 00:48:34,736
our energy. And so these tests of change
are really,

744
00:48:34,736 –> 00:48:38,078
really critical at the campus level for
that for that reason.

745
00:48:39,358 –> 00:48:40,509
Um, next slide, please.

746
00:48:42,899 –> 00:48:49,795
Finally, the collaborative is incredibly
interested in building a culture

747
00:48:49,795 –> 00:48:51,846
of collaboration across the state.

748
00:48:52,067 –> 00:48:53,868
And when we think about adult learners,

749
00:48:54,028 –> 00:48:55,970
we have to think about our campus
partners,

750
00:48:55,970 –> 00:48:59,973
but we also have to think about those
community-based partners and those other

751
00:48:59,973 –> 00:49:03,476
state agencies that support adults in a
variety of different ways.

752
00:49:04,277 –> 00:49:09,911
The Kentucky Adult Attainment Work Group
is designed to build a culture

753
00:49:09,911 –> 00:49:12,003
of collaboration to support success.

754
00:49:12,359 –> 00:49:15,660
Supports for parenting students is one of
four work groups.

755
00:49:15,920 –> 00:49:17,901
And in that work group, we are really,

756
00:49:17,901 –> 00:49:20,621
really focused on bringing campus partners
together,

757
00:49:20,701 –> 00:49:23,002
community-based organizations together,

758
00:49:23,002 –> 00:49:27,723
child care providers and other state
agencies to really tackle this issue

759
00:49:27,723 –> 00:49:31,344
together. Um, we know it’s it’s sounds
cliche,

760
00:49:31,344 –> 00:49:33,705
but we know that rising tides lift all
boats,

761
00:49:33,705 –> 00:49:37,166
and that’s what we really want to do
through this culture of collaboration.

762
00:49:37,426 –> 00:49:39,486
So there we connect those partners,

763
00:49:39,627 –> 00:49:40,847
we share learnings,

764
00:49:40,847 –> 00:49:43,488
we share resources, and then again,

765
00:49:43,488 –> 00:49:47,371
also lessons learned from our campus tests
of change.

766
00:49:47,871 –> 00:49:51,413
We hope through this to be able to advance
shared action.

767
00:49:51,553 –> 00:49:55,955
So again, to bubble up what policy
recommendations come out of this work,

768
00:49:55,955 –> 00:49:58,396
both both little P and Big P policy,

769
00:49:58,736 –> 00:50:01,538
to really again support our parenting
students.

770
00:50:01,818 –> 00:50:06,587
We know that they have often a very clear
sense of purpose on why they they

771
00:50:06,587 –> 00:50:08,598
are in the post-secondary classroom.

772
00:50:09,026 –> 00:50:11,108
They want a better life for their
families,

773
00:50:11,108 –> 00:50:16,506
their children. Um, and we want to make
sure that we are ensuring their success

774
00:50:16,506 –> 00:50:20,723
both for themselves but also for our
future generation of college goers.

775
00:50:22,205 –> 00:50:23,287
Um, next slide, please.

776
00:50:25,997 –> 00:50:29,539
So with that, um, I think we all want to
thank you,

777
00:50:29,539 –> 00:50:34,511
but we also want to save some space for
questions from folks on the call.

778
00:50:34,511 –> 00:50:37,043
If anybody has any questions, we’re happy
to to dig in.

779
00:50:39,729 –> 00:50:41,841
If you could just flip to the next slide
too really quickly,

780
00:50:41,841 –> 00:50:45,313
May, it’s just the QR code to our research
hub in case anybody is interested.

781
00:50:45,553 –> 00:50:49,446
that is all of our research, which you
would see the landscape analysis will

782
00:50:49,446 –> 00:50:53,653
be at the top. But I’d like to in these
last couple of minutes invite Lily

783
00:50:53,653 –> 00:50:54,234
and Tracy

784
00:50:54,234 –> 00:50:57,969
and May to just join me. And I just had a
couple of questions.

785
00:50:57,969 –> 00:51:00,989
And we can certainly, if there are
questions from the audience,

786
00:51:00,989 –> 00:51:02,710
we’re happy to take on those questions.

787
00:51:03,254 –> 00:51:06,435
I will just say that and and May and I had
this conversation in preparation

788
00:51:06,435 –> 00:51:12,217
for the webinar that being able to dig
into the broader anti-poverty data

789
00:51:12,597 –> 00:51:18,049
and looking at what I think about is like
the opportunity population of not just

790
00:51:18,049 –> 00:51:21,670
currently enrolled students, but
particularly the some college

791
00:51:21,670 –> 00:51:26,421
no credential population and what it would
mean for them and for their children

792
00:51:26,421 –> 00:51:28,082
if we were able to bring them back.

793
00:51:28,468 –> 00:51:32,861
That 375,000, you know, some college no
credential parenting students in Kentucky

794
00:51:32,861 –> 00:51:35,578
was something that just like absolutely
floored me.

795
00:51:35,643 –> 00:51:39,606
We also looked at, you know, how many
parents in Kentucky have a high school

796
00:51:39,606 –> 00:51:41,668
credential and haven’t even attempted
college.

797
00:51:41,928 –> 00:51:46,011
And I just think about the scope of
opportunity and how lives could be changed

798
00:51:46,011 –> 00:51:47,902
if we figured out how to do this well.

799
00:51:47,902 –> 00:51:50,096
Cause it’s not just about the currently
enrolled students,

800
00:51:50,096 –> 00:51:53,507
it’s about the ones who had to stop out or
haven’t been able to attempt it because

801
00:51:53,507 –> 00:51:55,238
they can’t crack this like child care.

802
00:51:55,804 –> 00:51:58,276
um issue. But I’m curious, uh Lily,

803
00:51:58,276 –> 00:51:59,917
Tracy, May, what did you guys think?

804
00:52:01,238 –> 00:52:06,922
Yeah, I think that’s a really good way of
thinking about the access and the outreach

805
00:52:06,922 –> 00:52:12,006
part of the work too. And you can’t do
that in isolation of understanding

806
00:52:12,354 –> 00:52:15,268
the full scope of an adult learner’s life,

807
00:52:15,629 –> 00:52:20,022
which especially among our community
college current enrolled students,

808
00:52:20,022 –> 00:52:22,394
40%. So it

809
00:52:23,240 –> 00:52:26,132
We’re doing a lot of outreach work as well
with folks,

810
00:52:26,132 –> 00:52:28,953
you know, pathways from GED to
post-secondary,

811
00:52:29,213 –> 00:52:31,915
prison education programs, um,

812
00:52:32,275 –> 00:52:35,597
adult, you know, some college no degree
outreach to return.

813
00:52:35,937 –> 00:52:39,709
And so just making sure that those
outreach counselors,

814
00:52:39,709 –> 00:52:43,992
those admissions counselors, and everyone
who’s at the college that has an adult

815
00:52:43,992 –> 00:52:50,946
learner program is very conscientious of
the parenting student

816
00:52:50,946 –> 00:52:51,938
role.

817
00:52:51,938 –> 00:52:56,982
And what resources can they have at their
fingertips to make sure that they

818
00:52:56,982 –> 00:53:02,907
are actually providing an entry point and
real um access to post-secondary education

819
00:53:03,127 –> 00:53:06,560
where the student has a a strong
likelihood of being able to complete?

820
00:53:11,434 –> 00:53:13,585
I think for me it it two things.

821
00:53:13,585 –> 00:53:20,000
So I think one um is really looking at
this statistic around thirty-nine

822
00:53:20,000 –> 00:53:26,925
percent of um a student’s income with a
full-time infant care um really is going

823
00:53:26,925 –> 00:53:31,608
towards that infant care. And so um I mean
I think I knew that,

824
00:53:31,608 –> 00:53:34,209
but to see that statistic, that’s pretty
high.

825
00:53:34,410 –> 00:53:38,723
And and it really gives me such a deep
appreciation of our Kentucky parenting

826
00:53:38,723 –> 00:53:40,654
students that are despite that,

827
00:53:41,114 –> 00:53:44,577
are investing in their post-secondary um
pathway.

828
00:53:44,957 –> 00:53:47,399
And then I think um broadening it a little
bit,

829
00:53:47,539 –> 00:53:53,985
one of the things with working with our um
campus partners is really the impact that

830
00:53:54,745 –> 00:54:01,110
that the data has on this work and how um
we have had some challenges with

831
00:54:01,110 –> 00:54:04,493
it in the last couple of years again in
Kentucky but also nationally.

832
00:54:04,814 –> 00:54:10,248
And so I really am excited for um the
future with our new um

833
00:54:10,378 –> 00:54:12,111
data dashboard around this work.

834
00:54:12,111 –> 00:54:17,068
I really think it will help us be able to
track the best impacts to support

835
00:54:17,409 –> 00:54:21,094
um semester s to semester retention and
ultimately of course attainment.

836
00:54:24,274 –> 00:54:26,436
May, anything that really bubbled up for
you?

837
00:54:26,516 –> 00:54:28,578
Yeah, I mean I would add on to that.

838
00:54:28,738 –> 00:54:32,091
Um, I mean, I want to congratulate
Kentucky on the data dashboard because

839
00:54:32,091 –> 00:54:34,322
it really is a fantastic resource.

840
00:54:34,903 –> 00:54:40,928
Um the thing that really stood out for me
in working on this report specifically

841
00:54:40,928 –> 00:54:44,090
was the chance to kind of dive into the
data,

842
00:54:44,391 –> 00:54:47,493
looking at just everything that childcare
touches,

843
00:54:47,914 –> 00:54:52,217
right? You know, in everything that
childcare touches within post-secondary

844
00:54:52,217 –> 00:54:53,217
education.

845
00:54:53,352 –> 00:54:58,114
And outside of it and the ways that these
childcare gaps have larger economic

846
00:54:58,114 –> 00:54:59,995
impacts that ripple through society.

847
00:54:59,995 –> 00:55:04,346
It’s really clear once you start looking
closely at this that it’s

848
00:55:04,527 –> 00:55:08,968
all interconnected and that um pulling
together in childcare is

849
00:55:09,229 –> 00:55:14,891
one of the highest impact items we can
have for um building up economic mobility.

850
00:55:15,331 –> 00:55:18,993
Um and the other thing I would just say is
to kind of piggyback off of what Lily

851
00:55:18,993 –> 00:55:20,213
and Tracy are saying,

852
00:55:21,994 –> 00:55:25,517
the impact for these students and for the
individual students on the ground

853
00:55:25,517 –> 00:55:29,280
is really impressive. I’ve been very lucky
to get to do research interviews with

854
00:55:29,280 –> 00:55:32,143
student parents in a number of different
projects.

855
00:55:33,104 –> 00:55:39,999
And something that always um astounds me
and fills me with

856
00:55:39,999 –> 00:55:45,644
hope and inspiration is hearing about the
ways that students make space

857
00:55:45,644 –> 00:55:49,878
for themselves in post-secondary education
and what that says to me.

858
00:55:50,336 –> 00:55:57,180
is that there is so much opportunity that
all that the these are students who want

859
00:55:57,180 –> 00:55:58,981
to learn, who want to get these degrees,

860
00:55:58,981 –> 00:56:01,112
who are willing to work really hard for
it.

861
00:56:01,733 –> 00:56:05,595
And if we can provide them with um that
little bit of support,

862
00:56:05,595 –> 00:56:07,096
that that can go a really long way.

863
00:56:07,796 –> 00:56:09,818
Yeah. I think those are really great
points.

864
00:56:09,818 –> 00:56:13,050
And I also I see my friend Robin has a
question in the chat,

865
00:56:13,050 –> 00:56:15,071
which I don’t think that we’re gonna have
time to get to,

866
00:56:15,071 –> 00:56:16,562
but I really appreciate your question,

867
00:56:16,562 –> 00:56:17,390
Robin.

868
00:56:17,390 –> 00:56:20,931
And um I’ll shoot you an email and we can
talk a little bit more about that

869
00:56:20,931 –> 00:56:23,292
so I can get you some information on that.

870
00:56:23,572 –> 00:56:28,253
I just really want to thank um Lily and
Tracy in May for partnering on this

871
00:56:28,253 –> 00:56:30,353
research, on this report, on this webinar.

872
00:56:30,534 –> 00:56:32,062
Kentucky has been fantastic partners.

873
00:56:32,062 –> 00:56:34,585
It’s been my honor to work with you all
since 2022.

874
00:56:34,585 –> 00:56:36,335
Look forward to continuing more of it.

875
00:56:36,795 –> 00:56:39,006
And thank you all for joining us and
attending us.

876
00:56:39,006 –> 00:56:41,296
As Andrea mentioned, for those of you that
registered,

877
00:56:41,296 –> 00:56:45,498
we’ll be sending out a recording of the
webinar and the slides after this.

878
00:56:45,558 –> 00:56:46,928
And stay tuned for more.

879
00:56:47,184 –> 00:56:48,489
Thank you so much for coming, everyone.

880
00:56:48,489 –> 00:56:49,489
Have a great afternoon.