FAQ

How are the children selected? Is it based on economic status? Is there a qualifying exam?

“ CSP applicants are required to undergo a government administered National Elementary Achievement Test (NEAT) for elementary grade students or National Secondary Achievement Test (NSAT) for high school students.
School administered entrance exams must also be taken by each applicant.
The following criteria must also apply in the selection process:
A) Applicant must belong to a poor family.
B) Only one CSP scholar per family.
C) If sponsored, must be willing to follow the CSP policies and guidelines. ”
If a household would sponsor a child and each household member issues a cheque, would they be issued tax-receipts individually?

“ Yes, if the amount is $250 or more for each sponsor. ”
Should the parents of CSP applicants be CFC members?

“ Not necessarily. Applicants may also come from CFC affiliated groups such as Archdiocese communities and other foundations or organizations in the Philippines or elsewhere in the world, with whom ANCOP-USA enters into an Agreement (e.g. St. Camillus and St Martin in the Philippintes). ”
May a CFC member abroad recommend a less fortunate relative living in the Philippines, for the ANCOP-CSP?

“ No, we will not encourage this type of arrangement, but we will encourage the member to give the assistance directly to his/her relative. ”
Are the sponsored children required to maintain certain grades for them to remain in the program?

“ At this time, maintaining the established passing mark of the school in which the CSP beneficiary is enrolled, would be enough. ”
Does this program operate also in the Visayas-Mindanao region?

“ Yes. In fact, the first 3 college children allocated to Seattle, WA. were from Negros Oriental. ”
Detailed selection criteria.
“
1. CSP applicant must belong to a poor family with a gross monthly family income of not more than Ps 10,000.00 or based on applicable poverty threshold of the province or region.
2. A child must be at least 6 years old.
3. A sponsored child’s family must have at least 2 children, or 1 child if the family consists of only 1 parent - single, widowed or separated
4. Each family shall be limited to only one (1) sponsored child/youth.
5. Parents must signify in writing their willingness to cooperate and comply with the guidelines established for the ANCOP-CSP.
6. For college beneficiaries, they should have an acceptance/assessment from the concerned school(s) that would be within the existing CSP budget. State colleges and universities are preferred.
”
Will ANCOP pay for the board reviews and certifications for college degrees like engineering, nursing, medicine, education, medical technology, law and other degrees that need national certifications? Will CSP allow a student to attend aviation type colleges to include flight school, flying courses, and pilot licensing?

“ Board review and licensure exams are NOT included in the CSP program.
College degrees and courses are limited, as of now, to four-year degree courses, but open to any vocational or technical courses. These will largely depend on the tuition cost of the course. Some provinces are partnering with colleges & universities with reasonably-priced tuition costs, to extend discounts CSP-sponsored beneficiaries enrolled in their schools.
If existing CSP budget per child per year would be sufficient to enable beneficiaries to attend the course and school of their choice, we would allow them.
Normally, State colleges and universities have lower tuition fees and we are able to send sponsored children to engineering, education, accountancy, business administration, information technology, computer science agriculture, industrial technology, marine transportation, nautical science, criminology, HRM and tourism.
Medicine, law and flying school are very expensive courses. If the sponsored children are scholars of the school but can't sustain themselves in school due to inability of parents to provide for transportation and food allowances, we may also consider them for sponsorship. ”
Why is CSP a year round campaign, and not coincident with the start of the school year? Can a child still be sponsored in the middle or later in the school year?

“ We can assume that ANCOP front loaded the expenses in the hope of someone will sponsor the child and then the initial expenses can be reimbursed and go back to some type of revolving fund.
Campaign is year round, like any other sponsorship program, since we can enroll children/youth to the program and give them some of the services and benefits immediately as long as they are already enrolled. Except for college students, elementary and high school level tuition fees are minimal as the children are enrolled in public schools.
The more costly assistance are those for school transportation and food allowances, supplies, project field trip, health and other social services. There are high drop outs in the middle and second half of school year as parents can't sustain such expenses. ”
What happens if the child fails to make the grade or unable to finish the school year for reasons like, medical issue, tragic event, or simply decided to stop?

“ As a current policy of CSP, all sponsored children are required to pass the lowest passing grade of 75%. Internally, sponsored children who fail can be reconsidered for the renewal of his or her sponsorship for any justified reason (medical, tragic/calamity events), or upon endorsement of the CSP implementing team and acceptance of the sponsor. ”
What happens if the child’s sponsor can no longer sustain his/her commitment? Does ANCOP pick up the tab for the rest of year or another sponsor can fulfill the remaining balance of sponsorship for the school year?

“ CSP wants to keep the sponsored children in school for the whole school year, both for elementary and high school and for a 6-month semester for college level. ”
Does ANCOP have any future plans on some kind of return of investment from these college graduates?
“
1. As of now, we are not asking that outright, but thru our value formation component, we hope to instill in the sponsored children the stewardship value of passing on the blessings they receive to others. It is within the Filipino culture to take care or help family members/younger sibling’s education once they are done with theirs, especially if the siblings have no other resource. More than just developing a sense of social responsibility, we want to instill the Christian value of being our brother's keeper in all our sponsored children.
2. A number of our graduate sponsored children are working with CFC ministries as teachers or coordinators. During summer, high school and college sponsored children assist in giving tutorials to grade schools and assist in summer camps and other social activities.
”
Of the $384 and $768 yearly cost of sponsorship, how much actually goes towards the education and support of the child? How much goes towards operating the program?

“ For grade school & high school beneficiaries, about 60% goes to education and 30% to the other components like school supplies, health, nutrition, social development/values formation, parent involvement, etc.. For college beneficiaries, About 90% goes to education – from the funds received by CFC ANCOP Tekton Foundation. ”
I am a member of a region based Filipino-American organization, like the Pangasinan Association of VA Beach. Can I sponsor a child that hails from my region?

“ You may indicate a region of your choice (where you want your sponsored child to come from) and we can verify with ANCOP Manila if Child profiles are available from the region, and if we already have an implementing team there. Aside from Metro Manila, as of now we are in Batangas, Tarlac, Quezon, Camarines Norte, Cebu, Southern Leyte, Iloilo, Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Pampanga, Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan, Zamboanga, Bohol, Butuan, Davao, Lanao del Sur, Sibugay,Surigao del Sur, General Santos. Those provinces have trained, implementing teams in place right now. ”
I am a member of a region based Filipino-American organization, like the Pangasinan Association of VA Beach. If my organization already sponsors children in my region in the Philippines, but we are doing it informally, can my organization partner with ANCOP to make our sponsorship program more structured and organized?

“ Yes you may partner with us. We are for instance, currently working with the Bukas Loob sa Diyos (BLD) community on a CSP partnership. We have to review with your support team in Manila that your region has a process in place to track and follow up the children and they can submit to us disbursement reports. ”
If I become a donor, may I write letters directly to my beneficiary and in turn, can my beneficiary write letters directly to me?

“ Yes, in general you may write directly to the beneficiary and also, you may visit them in the Philippines. However, since ANCOP-CSP is dealing with children, we are obliged to follow government guidelines to safeguard the interest of the children against possible threats like child trafficking, etc. Hence, we do not provide addresses of children. We also want to protect sponsors from possible solicitation beyond the committed sponsorship funds from children and their parents. Therefore, CSP national office will clear all letters and communications from both parties. ”
May I view the profiles of possible beneficiaries and make a selection?

“ Yes. ”
If I am sponsoring a College beneficiary, may I choose the course that the beneficiary will take?

“ No. The sponsored beneficiary will make the choice on what college or vocational course he or she will take.
Our implementing teams are also providing some guidance to our college and Vocational-technical sponsored students in terms of eventual employment after graduation by considering the manpower and skill demands on a local, national and international context. For instance, care giving as a course is no longer encouraged since there is very limited market for this. Nursing was also announced by the Philippine government as having very limited demand in other countries. ”