SMART CITY PROGRAM PUTS COLLEGE WITHIN REACH OF MANY LOW INCOME NEW YORKERS
(Article published in HWW April 2009)
So you’ve thought about going to college… but you have young kids… and you’re on welfare or just plain broke… and the whole thing sounds just too complicated to handle. Don’t give up! Give yourself another chance.
CUNY (City University of New York) and the Financial Independence Administration of HRA (the city’s Human Resources Administration) are collaborating on a program that can make it possible for you. The program is called COPE for College Opportunity to Prepare for Employment.
COPE has offices on CUNY campuses in all five boroughs (see list below) which give support services to people on Family Assistance and Safety Net Assistance who enroll or apply to enroll in CUNY undergraduate degree programs. They also help people who are not on p.a. but who meet income guidelines and have dependent children.
“I learned about it cause my p.a. caseworker told me to come here to the COPE office,” says Mary Louie, who’s graduating from BMCC (Borough of Manhattan Community College) this spring. Her one year old daughter is home in Brooklyn cared for by her grandmother who is reinbursed.
At first Mary wanted to get an early childhood education degree. But she and her COPE advisor decided the required extra courses would take too long – welfare only permits a two-year college degree program in an approved major. So she switched to office management.
Because the purpose of the COPE program is to prepare people for self sufficiency, not all majors are approved. Accounting, business management, early childhood education, computers are approved majors – liberal arts majors are not approved at this time, although that may change.
Under TANF regulation, a p.a. recipient who’s also a student like Mary needs 35 hours of “work activities.” Mary’s classes would occupy 20 of the required hours. COPE enabled her to make up the other 15 hours with a work-study assignment in the COPE office.
(COPE students can also make up the hours with internships, real paying jobs, or WEP. If it’s WEP, COPE helps them find WEP assignments that don’t interfere with their college work.)
When Mary started, her first job was to fill out a Training Enrollment Letter with all the details of her planned program. Then every two weeks – like all COPE students -- she fills out a report on her attendance. So though CUNY runs COPE, this record keeping enables HRA to track students in the program – to be sure they’re doing what they say they are.
In return, COPE promises a range of services including help with scheduling, help with getting child care and carfare supplements, housing information, preparing for HRA appointments, meeting workfare needs, tutoring academic and personal counseling, access to technology and referral to job preparation and placement.
“I love what I do,” she says. “I file, answer phone calls, help staff members. Students come in needing their paperwork filled out and I love helping students with their requirements.“
COPE helps students with job placement. But in Mary’s case, it was an easy chore. COPE has asked her to come back as a regular employee after graduation.
So if you’re thinking about college don’t forget to call COPE for information.
COPE PROGRAM CONTACT INFORMATION
Borough of Manhattan Community College (212) 346-8481
Bronx Community College (718) 289-5861
College of Staten Island (718) 982-2398
Hostos Community College (718) 518- 4363
John Jay College (212) 237-8017
Kingsborough Community College (718) 368- 4660
LaGuardia Community College (718) 482- 5479
Medgar Evers College (718) 270-6480
New York City College of Technology (718) 260-5187
Queensborough Community College (718) 281-5174
Call the COPE Central Office at (646) 344-7340 or 344-7347 for general information about the COPE program or to obtain services for students at the other CUNY colleges (Baruch, Brooklyn, City, Hunter, Lehman, Queens, and York).
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PARENTS AND KIDS – TOGETHER IN SCHOOL
At Kingsborough Community College, FAMILY COLLEGE allows parents with children between 4 and 7 years old to work for their associate degree while their kids attend an elementary school on campus. Like the other COPE affiliated programs, you need to be on public assistance or if not on p.a. meet the income guidelines to be eligible for support services. Most popular majors are nursing and early childhood education.
The campus is located in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, but you don’t need to live in the district to qualify. But think about transportation because you and your child need to be able to get to class.
For information about FAMILY COLLEGE, call (718) 368-5170.
