Latest news with #EarlyChildhoodIowa
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
United Way Muscatine County steps in to provide for local families
When a reorganization of Early Childhood Iowa left Muscatine County without local leadership for coordinating key early childhood and family programs in fall 2024, United Way Muscatine County stepped in to ensure vital services for families remained intact, according to a news release. As Muscatine County became part of a five-county Early Childhood Iowa (ECI) region, the absence of a local director jeopardized access to preschool tuition and transportation scholarships. United Way Muscatine County assumed responsibility for managing these funds and preserving equitable access to preschool for local families, the release says. United Way also took on oversight of the Muscatine County Community Partnerships for Protecting Children (CPPC) funds, which provide funding to strengthen local child abuse prevention efforts. This role positioned the organization to apply for the newly restructured Iowa Child Abuse Prevention Program (ICAPP) grants on behalf of the region—a shift that now favors more collaborative, regionally organized applications. 'Our community has long-standing relationships and a shared vision for child and family success,' said Kim Warren, executive director of AIM at United Way Muscatine County. 'That level of collaboration allowed us to move quickly and effectively when the structure changed. It's a testament to how united our local partners are around supporting children and families.' Thanks to strong community partnerships and an existing network of service providers, United Way Muscatine County successfully secured ICAPP and ECI funding for a range of programs including: ● Family Program Services delivered through the Muscatine Community YMCA, supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Teen Parents, and Mujeres Latinas—along with offering free childcare during program participation. ● Sexual Abuse Prevention Training provided to the community by Muscatine Community YMCA facilitators. ● Coordinated Intake through Public Health, which assesses newborn families for risk factors and connects them quickly to the services they need, including home visitation, parenting programs, and more. ● Preschool Tuition and Transportation Scholarships for families whose income falls below 200% of the federal poverty level, reducing barriers to early education. 'Receiving this funding is absolutely vital to the operation of our essential family support programming,' says Bret Olson, Executive Director of the YMCA. 'Without these crucial funds, it simply wouldn't be possible to provide this invaluable support to our community. We're especially grateful for Kim Warren from AIM, whose leadership was instrumental in ensuring these funds remain right here in our community.' Muscatine County continues to outperform in key early childhood metrics, including home visitation participation, in part due to the strong integration of coordinated intake efforts. These services, combined with wraparound supports like the preschool scholarships, Imagination Library, CPPC mini-grants, and Y Family Program Services, create a robust safety net for families with young children. Thanks to the work of Aligned Impact Muscatine County, an education initiative of United Way Muscatine County, $192,759 will continue to fund services for children and families in Muscatine County through fiscal year 2026. 'While some regions in our state were unable to form the collaborations needed to mobilize applications, Muscatine County's existing collaboration, shared goals, and trust allowed us to respond immediately,' Warren added. 'We are proud to be a trusted leader in maintaining and expanding these essential programs.' United Way Muscatine County is committed to continuing its leadership in managing state-funded early childhood and family support services—ensuring every child and family in the county has the opportunity to thrive. For more information, contact Kim Warren at kim@ or 563-594-6835. About United Way Muscatine County United Way Muscatine County is a nonprofit organization with a mission to mobilize resources to empower the greater Muscatine community to improve the lives of people in need. Through partnerships with local organizations, United Way Muscatine County focuses on increasing household independence through education and housing. The organization mobilizes volunteers, donors, and advocates to make a lasting difference across the whole county. About Aligned Impact Muscatine County: Aligned Impact Muscatine County (AIM) is a cradle-to-career collective impact initiative of United Way Muscatine County that partners with over 35 organizations to align community resources and identify effective practices for implementation to reduce achievement gaps and improve outcomes for all students and families. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Axios
01-04-2025
- Business
- Axios
Advocates: Reynolds' child care bill could hurt other programs
One of Gov. Kim Reynolds' priorities this legislative session is helping alleviate Iowa's child care crisis — but some local groups say her strategies may come at a cost for other early childhood programs. Why it matters: While Iowa is one of the best states for kids to access preschool, some families can't take advantage of it due to preschool programs that only run half-days or don't offer transportation to child care afterward, according to state officials. Reynolds' proposal aims to address that problem by helping fund more full-time day care facilities for 4-year-olds. Driving the news: Reynolds has proposed a new $16 million program that could provide grants for preschool and early childhood centers up to $100,000 annually to provide full-time child care. The money would come from existing funding used for Early Childhood Iowa — a current state program that helps families with kids, prenatal to 5 years old. State of play: ECI gets about $27 million annually from the state. The program helps fund local programs and nonprofits that are already doing specific early childhood work for their areas. If $16 million is allocated elsewhere, ECI won't have enough funds to help all of those programs. And the grants for the governor's program are restricted to helping 4-year-olds, which would exclude many of ECI's benefactors. "The governor is not wrong to want to increase money for child care — to see transportation as being a real barrier to accessing child care today," Rob Barron, a board member for Polk County's ECI board, says. "The solution is not to break something that's already working." Zoom in: EMBARC, a nonprofit that works with refugees from Myanmar, receives $100K annually from ECI, says executive director Abigail Sui. That money is used to fund a program that helps refugee parents navigate the school system in their native language. It helps about 500 clients each year, Sui says. It also helps fund a weekly walk-in program where parents can ask for help with everything from reading mail to doctors' appointments to school registration. But Sui is unsure they could continue without ECI funds. What they're saying: Reynolds has said this bill is important because of the educational benefits kids get from preschool. The city of Des Moines sponsored an all-day preschool program last year and found it dramatically improved kids' readiness for kindergarten, ranging from reading and math to social and emotional skills. "It's about more than convenience. It's about offering our children the educational foundation they need while giving parents peace of mind that their children are cared for throughout the work day," Reynolds said in a statement. Plus: The bill also proposes making permanent a pilot program that provided free child care for child care workers — an initiative that was universally supported.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Governor's bill tackling child care access advances in both chambers
A teacher draws with students. (Photo by) The governor's legislative proposal aimed at improving access to child care across the state advanced through subcommittees in both chambers Wednesday. There were many supporters of Senate Study Bill 1135 who spoke at the meetings Wednesday, praising the measure for addressing what many said was a top concern for Iowa families and businesses seeking to attract workers to the state. Other groups registered as 'undecided' also praised Gov. Kim Reynolds for taking on the issue — though they had concerns about some aspects of the legislation. The bill makes multiple changes to existing state child care infrastructure. It would establish a new $16 million competitive grant pilot program, providing three-year grants of up to $100,000 annually for preschool providers and child care centers to provide full-day care for children. The grants would use a combination of existing Early Childhood Iowa (ECI) funding and federal Child Care and Development Fund Wrap Around Child Care funds. The bill would also shift roughly $3.6 million in funding currently going to the Shared Visions program for at-risk children from birth to age 5 be used for grants going toward programs focused on at-risk 3- and 4-year-old children. Molly Severn, legislative liaison for the governor's office, said Iowa ranks fifth in the nation for 4-year-old access to preschool, but families still face problems accessing these services because they do not provide full-day care. She said the governor's proposal would leverage existing state programs and funds to expand full-day care availability in the state. 'While preschool is widely available, some working families cannot participate if the program only covers a portion of the day, or would require midday transportation to child care,' Severn said at the Senate subcommittee meeting. 'Parents need a solution that meets the demands of their busy lives, one that allows their children to benefit from our successful preschool program and and have access to child care.' Elizabeth Stanek, executive director for Linking Families and Communities and president of the Association for Early Childhood Iowa Area Boards and Advocates, said while the 'continuum of care' grants would benefit Iowa communities, using roughly 42% of existing ECI funds would have an impact on those providers who serve a wider range of children than are served through preschool programs. 'Taking those out for the broader population will definitely have an impact locally on what is provided, such things as infant and early childhood mental health services, 3-year-old preschool,' Stanek said. 'Early childhood doesn't begin at four, it begins at birth.' The measure also proposes allowing community-based providers to receive funds directly through the statewide preschool program instead of contracting with public school districts. Education advocates also brought up concerns about ensuring that child care providers getting funds through the statewide preschool program are held to the same educational standards as public school providers, such as requiring child care workers to have a license. McKenzie Snow, director of the Iowa Department of Education, said allowing these providers to directly work with the Department of Education for funding would not change the program's professional requirements. 'Regardless of which pathway is chosen, there will be consistent standards, including licensing requirements, across all statewide voluntary school program providers,' Snow said. The measure would also make permanent the child care assistance pilot program, providing free child care to child care workers — a proposal unanimously praised at the subcommittee meeting. Sen. Tom Shipley, R-Nodaway, said the bill was still a 'work in progress' and thanked advocates for coming to the subcommittee, saying refinements will be made as the measure progresses through the legislative process. 'I've seen these things come and go before,' Shipley said. 'Anything this size and this important needs to keep being worked on, to address what these people, the everyday people, understand needs to happen. But I think we're on an awfully good path.'
