Iowa child care program changes could help parents get degrees

DAVENPORT - An Iowa program that's aimed at helping low-income Iowans with child-care costs ought to be changed so that it's easier for working parents to get a college education, a group that advocates for social change said in a new report this week.

The Iowa Fiscal Partnership says revamping the rules of the state's Child Care Assistance program would help low-income Iowans get college degrees and, thus, higher-paying jobs.

"Over the long haul, the state's going to get more revenue," said Peter Fisher, co-author of the report.

The fiscal partnership is a joint effort of the Iowa Policy Project and the Child & Family Policy Center.

The child-care assistance program pays child-care costs for people below 145 percent of the poverty line or who receive welfare assistance and meet certain conditions. The children must be under the age of 13.

A family of three can be eligible if gross income is less than $28,327 a year. Those with special needs children also are eligible and can have incomes up to 200 percent of poverty.

In 2013, 42,000 children were served by the program.

The program requires that recipients meet certain conditions, such as work or school commitments. Full-time college students can qualify but only for two years.

Fisher said that's barely enough time to get an associate's degree and not enough to earn a bachelor's.

The report recommends the 24-month limitation be scrapped. It said the change would mean doubling the cost of a student with one child in the program from up to $2,700 to $5,400.

If just one in nine people in the program went on to get a degree and stay in Iowa, the upfront costs would be covered, the report said. A person who earns a bachelor's degree will pay $51,000 more in taxes to the state over 40 years than someone with a high school diploma, the report said.

The study also proposed upping the reimbursement rates for providers and changing other rules to make it easier for working recipients to go to college.

Tiffany Jones, a single parent with two young children, has been helped by the assistance program.

She works full time and goes to college at Upper Iowa University's Quad-Cities campus. She hopes to earn a bachelor's degree this fall.

Some days of the week, that means working a full-time day shift, then going to school until 10 p.m. Counting school hours toward the work requirement, she said, would help.

"It's exhausting trying to work full time and go to school full time," she said.

Working less, she said, would mean less stress.

The authors of the study also say increasing the reimbursement rates would help, too. They say the maximum reimbursement, while higher than in previous years, still falls below the statewide average cost for day care.

The program changes are part of a draft legislative agenda for United Ways of Iowa, said Scott Crane, who chairs the group, which is a coalition of local United Ways. Crane is the president of the United Way of the Quad-Cities Area.

"Moving people out of poverty to self-sufficiency is one of our key interests," he said.

United Ways also are involved in the Skills2Compete, an effort that seeks to boost investment in the state's workforce.