MISSION VIEJO : Grant Will Fund Child Care at College

Saddleback College will begin providing child care for underprivileged children in the community this year with a $60,000 grant recently awarded to the school by the state Department of Education.

The grant will enable the college to enroll 4-year-olds whose parents cannot afford to send them to preschool at the college’s Children Center.

“The grant will enable Saddleback College, the district and the board to accommodate the pressing needs of families and children who are burdened by disadvantages,” said John Connolly, president of the Saddleback Community College District Board of Trustees.

In addition to providing child care, instructors at the center will work to prepare the children for kindergarten.

“This is exactly the kind of support community colleges should offer their communities,” Connolly said.

The program will begin as soon as the grant money is released by the state, which should happen in a few weeks, said Doug Barr, dean of student development.

“It’s an outreach effort to the broader community and different from anything we’ve ever had before,” Barr said. “There will be children in the program whose parents are not necessarily Saddleback students. We’re serving a part of our community that is growing and perhaps it will add to the diversity of our campus.”

For more information, call Barr at (714) 582-4616.