Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

PCC garners nearly $3 million in grants for childcare, career technical education

Photos and story by James Hill

This fall, Portland Community College¡¯s equitable student success plan got a timely shot in the arm.

The college has been tapped to receive almost $3 million in critical grants that help to foster student success. PCC was awarded a four-year, $1 million Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) grant, as well as a three-year, $622,000 Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE)/Career & Technical Education (CTE) Teacher Pathway grant. Both were given to the college by the U.S. Department of Education.

The CCAMPIS grant will continue PCC’s successful childcare subsidy program, which covers the cost of daycare for up to 50 student parents per year, enabling them to stay in school as they work toward completing their studies. In addition to the subsidies, the funding will provide advising, financial aid assistance and outreach support. The program is available to student parents at all four campuses – Sylvania (12000 SW 49th Ave.), Rock Creek (17705 NW Springville Rd.), Cascade (705 N. Killingsworth St.) and Southeast (2305 SE 82nd Ave).

In addition, PCC is one of only five recipients in the country to receive the OCTAE grant, which will fund the college¡¯s Oregon High School CTE Teacher Pathway Project. The project seeks to increase recruitment and retention of skilled high school CTE teachers throughout Oregon in healthcare, construction, advanced manufacturing, and information technology. The college will work with state partners, school districts and educational service districts to establish clear pathways for high school CTE teache rs to receive training and support.

¡°The kind of support offered by the CCAMPIS grant addresses a key economic barrier that prevents many students from achieving academic success,¡± said PCC President Mark Mitsui. ¡°Meanwhile, OCTAE pathways will assist with continuous improvements in the quantity and quality of high school career-technical education for our in-demand industries and occupations.¡±

But that¡¯s not all. PCC was awarded a two-year, $629,000 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Title II Adult Education & Family Literacy grant from the Oregon Department of Education. Funds will enable PCC to continue to offer Adult Basic Skills, Adult Basic Education, and English for Speakers of Second Languages (ESOL) services to learners from low levels of literacy to students transitioning to postsecondary education and training.

The project¡¯s manager, Luis Rodriguez Garcia, expects to serve about 2,000 students and there¡¯s an option for potentially 2-3 more years of funding. Key to the success of the grant is the hiring of Adult Basic Skills navigators to support students. Navigators will assist and guide students toward completion of their GED, transition to postsecondary education (credit classes), and/or obtaining employment. Navigators will also connect students to the many services offered by PCC¡¯s workforce development partners in the one-stop system.

¡°This grant is all about supporting our equity and inclusion efforts at PCC,¡± Rodriguez Garcia said. ¡°It will help us support some of our most vulnerable student populations. For example, those who are immigrants and learning a new language, and those who have low basic skills in reading, writing and math. Our goal is to support students so they can obtain the skills they need to be able to fully participate in our community.¡±

Lastly, PCC earned an Oregon Health Authority¡¯s Scholarships to Support Culturally Competent Alcohol & Drug Counseling grant of $131,700. It will increase the number of African American substance abuse counselors in the community through scholarships, tutoring, professional development activities and culturally-specific course materials.