The report by Common Good Iowa and the Annie E. Casey foundation found that Iowa’s childcare tuition rates rivaled in state tution at Iowa’s public universities and community colleges equaling more around 10 percent of an average married couples income for center-based care.
The Grant Wood Area Education Agency Service offers coaching and behavioral intervention strategies to early childhood educators.
State-funded child care expands as do parent work requirements and payments to child care centers
Projecting what the Iowa Legislature will and will not get done in its upcoming final days
Under a bill advanced by Iowa lawmakers Wednesday, more families would qualify for child care assistance, but they would also be required to work more hours to receive such assistance.
Johnson County and Iowa City, using federal pandemic relief funds, and local businesses are joining to increase wages for eligible child care workers by $2 per hour starting in April.
Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds will appear in a new 30-second ad promoting legislation that would create state-funded private school scholarships.
KinderCare, a national child care provider, has bought the Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha day schools. The national child care provider already operates two child care centers in Cedar Rapids.
Among the state and federal policies it aims to push in 2023, the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance and Iowa City Area Business Partnership hope to remove barriers to work by pushing solutions to immigration, child care, affordable housing, community placemaking and talent development.
Eastern Iowa child care advocates say a bill by Iowa U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson to expand eligibility for families to receive child care assistance is a good start, but likely still struggle to find open child care spots, due to low reimbursement rates and wages in the state.
The wage enhancement program funded by pandemic relief dollars is intended to boost wages without raising the cost for Johnson County families.
Frustration is growing among child care workers and advocates across Iowa over the state missing out on nearly guaranteed funding that would have helped families access basic child care services.
State grant funding will create hundreds of child care spots in Eastern Iowa. Among recipients of the grants are TrueNorth and To the Rescue in Cedar Rapids. The Vinton-Shellsburg schools and West Liberty Foods also will receive funding.
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