What is
CARE?
As a supplemental component of
EOPS, CARE provides educational support services designed for the academically
underprepared, low income, single parent population. Grants and allowances for
educationally-related expenses (such as child care, transportation, text books
and supplies) may be awarded as a means of strengthening the retention,
persistence, graduation and transfer rates of these individuals. Students participating in CARE may choose
vocational certificate, or license, associate degree or transfer program
options. Nearly half of all CARE
students seek to transfer to four-year institutions; almost 40 percent choose
associate degree objectives; and one-tenth desire vocational certificates or
licenses.
CARE
also extends an important safety net to students who meet EOPS/CARE eligibility
criteria but are ineligible for TANF/CalWORKs cash aid and ancillary services,
because they:
a)
have exceeded the TANF 60-month lifetime limit (adults time-limited, but
children in family continue to receive cash aid)
b)
are sanctioned by CalWORKs, or
c)
are ineligible for CalWORKs cash aid due to prior drug felony conviction.
The
CARE safety net offers these students vital resources not offered by other
programs for child care, textbooks, school supplies, transportation and other
services while they are enrolled in college educational and vocational
programs.
History
In 1982, the State established
the Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education (CARE) program in the
California Community Colleges as “a unique educational program geared toward
the welfare recipient who desires job-relevant education to break the
dependency cycle.” CARE was initiated as
the first state-funded and system wide program of its kind in the nation. Presently, 110 programs in all 72 districts
of the California Community Colleges system offer CARE services annually
through EOPS to students who are welfare dependent single heads of household
seeking a viable alternative to continued public assistance for personal and
family support.