NEW YORK, May 10---Many CUNY welfare moms are in a bind. The demand for quality, affordable child care exceeds the availability. Their hectic schedules compound the problem. The City University has tried to correct this difficulty by establishing child care centers on its campuses.

The Hunter College Child Care Center is one of the many centers in the City University system. The center was established in 1983 to provide care for the pre-school children of low and middle income Hunter students. The center accommodates up to 50 children at one time and currently has 58 children enrolled. The center provides care during class and study time.

Zully Papa, the center's director, said recently that Workfare requirements have dramatically impacted the center's clientele. To her surprise, the requests for child care slots has increased, despite the sharp decline in enrollment by women on public assistance. "They couldn't handle both. A student cannot handle 35 hours of work and classes, even if it's six credits," Papa declared.

When Yvette Katen (not her real name) was on public assistance, she had both of her children in the center.

In a recent interview, she proclaimed that the care was excellent. She paid for care with a portion of her bimonthly assistance check of $187. When both of her children were in the center, about $40, or 21 percent of her cash benefits went to child care.

"I was pretty lucky. I got in during my second semester. Once I had one child in there, I was able to get my daughter in," Katen recounts.

Not all students who need child care are as lucky. The center currently has about 40 or 50 names on their waiting list for a little more than 30 slots. The parents unable to enrolled their children are given a list of referral agencies, like the Day Care Council, that provide customized lists of private and family child care centers of varying quality and cost.

Students on public assistance who have been called to fulfill their Workfare requirements are also experiencing a child care gap. CUNY child care centers do not provide care during working hours. Even though these students are being drafted into a citywide Workfare army, they are not able to enroll their children in city subsidized day care. An Agency for Child Development policy states that degree-seeking students are not eligible for city day care. Officials in the agency admitted that the policy exists, but would not elaborate on the details.