My name is Rachel Wilcox and I am a senior at BYU-I studying Political Science. I am also the mother of a 22-month-old baby boy. I have been collaborating with BYU-I for the past few months on child care solutions for BYU-I students who are parents. I am looking to acquire student and faculty support through this petition. Below are my purpose and proposals to the university: 

When I was four months postpartum, I returned to my classes on BYU-I's campus to continue my studies. My husband and I do not qualify for child care assistance through the Idaho Child Care Program (ICCP), so we paid for our child care costs in full as I attended my classes. To afford this, we took out multiple student loans to pay for babysitters and daycare costs.

As I attended my classes, I quickly realized that I was not the only student parent at BYU-I. Multiple classmates of mine were also mothers and fathers. Upon speaking to these parents, I realized that there is a great need among BYU-I students for affordable child care solutions and education on available child care resources. I believe that providing this to students will increase both enrollment and retention rates at BYU-I. Students will view BYU-I as a family-friendly university and student parents will never feel pressure to drop out of school due to high child care costs.

President Johnson recently spoke at BYU Women's Conference about receiving a college education and the "joyful juggle" of her educational and professional pursuits as a mother. President Oaks commended her in an Instagram comment as “a wonderful role model of a lifelong commitment to prioritize [her] role as a mother and to continue to seek learning.” What a wonderful message for all parents who are continuing their education and “joyful juggles” as students at BYU-I! We can help students to follow President Johnson’s counsel to not delay family expansion, while simultaneously pursuing a college education, by offering additional child care support from BYU-I.

Proposals:

1. Child Care Resources on BYU-I’s Website: Include a section on BYU-I’s website for student parents to find child care resources. It would include a list of daycares in the Rexburg area with contact information attached, education on state-funded child care resources with links to apply, and details on how to apply for child care assistance from BYU-I.
2. BYU-I Child Care Grant or Voucher Program: This solution would provide students with an opportunity to apply for financial assistance towards their child care costs from BYU-I. This step could be taken after students show that they have already applied for ICCP, yet are unable to afford their assigned copays, are ineligible for ICCP assistance, or prefer to have in-home child care due to medical concerns with their child. Grants or vouchers could be approved based on income eligibility, the amount of credits that the student is enrolled in, and consideration of personal circumstances.
3. Child Labs Expansion: According to the BYU-I Child Labs web page, the Child Labs have “an extensive waiting list,” “factors such as age and balance between genders in each lab are considered” in deciding which children may participate, children are “not guaranteed enrollment in consecutive semesters,” and the lowest age range accepted is 18-36 months. Applications are open to the community and priority acceptance is not granted to the children of BYU-I students. The Child Labs are used for research and student teaching purposes, so they do not function as a daycare program. If the Child Labs were expanded to assist BYU-I students with child care, solutions could include:
   ● Priority acceptance of the children of BYU-I students
   ● Lowering the age of children accepted from 18-months-old to one-year-old
   ● Alignment of children’s schedules with their parents’ university class schedules
   ● Student parents could receive free or discounted Child Labs tuition
   ● To be accepted into the program, parents would have to agree to their children participating in classes and research for university purposes
4. Implementing a BYU-I Daycare Program: A university daycare could be fully or partially subsidized by BYU-I. This option would allow BYU-I students to enroll their children on campus either part-time at 25 hours per week or full-time at 40 hours per week. Many university daycares also offer hourly services. In the Rexburg area, 25 hours per week of daycare costs around $670 per month. With a partially subsidized daycare program, a student could pay less than this amount per month for the same amount of hours. With a fully subsidized daycare program, BYU-I students would receive daycare services for free. If the daycare is reserved for the children of BYU-I faculty and students, then it could be funded privately by the university. If the daycare is also open to the community, then it could become an approved daycare for ICCP recipients and apply for state and federal grants that assist with the costs of construction, food, formula, supplies, and other eligible government assistance. A university daycare that is open to the community could also give priority acceptance to the children of BYU-I faculty and students and offer them lower daycare tuition rates, daycare tuition scholarships, or waived ICCP copays.

Please leave comments showing your support, explaining the difficulties that you have had in securing child care to attend your classes at BYU-I, or how child care financial assistance or education on resources could have led to you staying in school. It is also helpful if you mention if you are a BYU-I student, a BYU-I faculty member, or a Rexburg, ID resident who believes that this may be beneficial in supporting local community daycares. Thank you.