The demand for childcare at the Associated Students Inc. Early Childhood Education Center is far ahead of the supply, leaving many parents waiting for a spot for their children.

The center began offering childcare services for SF State students in 1972, and it provides childcare to children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years.

The facility is owned and operated by ASI and licensed by the State of California Department of Human Services. Roughly 50 percent of funding comes from parent fees, with around 25 percent from ASI and
25 percent from federal, state and local grants.

Currently, the center, located on campus near Mary Park Hall, has nearly the same number of children on its waiting list as are enrolled in its program. There are 120 names on the waiting list and 142 children registered, according to Reina A. Garcia, the center’s administrative assistant.

Despite the extensive number of children on the waiting list, many parents said they are optimistic.

"I feel good about being on the wait list," said Silvie Cohen, a parent and grad student whose first child is already enrolled at the center. "I feel confident that my daughter will get a space and I will be so happy to have both of my children at the center."

The names on the waiting list date back to Nov. 8, 2002, said Garcia. This does not include names that have been bumped off the list when a child exceeds the age limit of five years old. However, waiting time varies according to availability and priority.

"We always have a wait list," said Garcia.

In 1990, when Sarah Johnson became the new director of the program, there was no waiting list. When Johnson arrived, she wanted to increase teaching standards at the center and was encouraged by the ASI board to accredit the program.

However, within her first year, there was a waiting list of a couple dozen, according to Johnson. Two years later, the number grew to well over 100. By 1996, the number of children on the waiting list was as high as 200.

The order of the waiting list priority is mandated by the California State University Policy on Campus Children's Centers, created in 1990. The intent is that no qualified student parent be denied access to any CSU campus or have his/her academic progress impaired because of lack of adequate and affordable campus child care services.

Consequently, the center serves low-income undergraduate student parents first, then all other undergraduate student parents, then graduate student parents, then faculty and staff parents, then alumni parents and lastly, community parents.

Johnson said they rarely utilize the last two categories because they have so many student parents waiting in line. Johnson also said some waiting list parents are frustrated. These parents call frequently to inquire about how many people are ahead of them and how they can increase their chances of getting into the program.

"It's hard not knowing ahead of time if you will have childcare," said 26-year-old liberal studies major Veronica Castillo. "Had we not gotten childcare, my husband and I would have had to drop out of school."

Waiting list parents frequently ask how they are expected to schedule their classes when they do not know if they will have childcare, said Garcia.

The high demand at the center is due to the fact that the program is accredited through the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

The most recent re-accreditation report in March 2004 stated, "The commission commends the program for providing curriculum that encourages children to be actively involved in the learning process."

The NAEYC established a national accreditation program in 1985. To earn accreditation, programs must go much further than adhering to state health and safety licensing requirements. The director, teachers and staff complete extensive surveys and the program is reviewed by an evaluator from the NAEYC.

Numerous categories are addressed by the NAEYC, such as teacher qualifications and development, curriculum, teacher-to-child ratios, physical environment, as well as health and safety.
Additionally, low-income student childcare fees are less than half the average cost of childcare in San Francisco, according to the annual Regional Market Rate Survey. A low-income household is defined as earning no more than 75 percent of the state median income, according to the California Department of Education.

The ECEC low-income family fees range from $839 a semester for 15 hours of infant care per week to $2,820 a semester for 50 hours per week. In addition to its affordability problems, infant-toddler childcare is extremely difficult to find in San Francisco, said Johnson.

Childcare fees are based on family annual income, using a sliding scale chart. Fees also vary according to age groups - infants and toddlers, 6 to 36 months, and preschoolers 3 to 5 years old. Most center parents are low-income, so they pay 52 percent less than the full market childcare rate.

The center has been remodeled twice in the last 13 years. In 1992, remodeling provided a more updated, functional facility and allowed for an additional 10 children to participate in the program.

More recently, in 1996, major remodeling and expansion was undergone. Building a new state-of-the-art facility created an environment more suitable for children, more conducive to learning and allowed for the program to double its capacity.

The center has 11 more years on a 20-year loan that was taken out to construct the existing facility, so chances of further expansion are slim. Johnson would like to see the university provide campus childcare for faculty and staff, which would free up 25 percent of the ECEC enrollment currently reserved for non-students.

Last fall, a faculty member whose child currently attends the ECEC approached the Academic Senate in regard to expanding childcare services on campus, but, as of print time, nothing new has become of it.

"Things do open up," said Bernard Wientjes, whose child is enrolled at the ECEC. "You have to wait and keep asking, but you will slowly get what you want."