Democrat Deidre DeJear calls for expanded access to respite care in Iowa

MONTICELLO — Iowa Democratic gubernatorial nominee Deidre DeJear nibbled on wood sorrel — also known as “sour grass” — picked mulberries and raspberries, and chomped on some wild sage as she accompanied a group of campers on their foraging expedition at Camp Courageous.

“I’m going to get all of my antioxidants today,” DeJear said as she picked some raspberries and mulberries alongside 13-year-old camper Cheyenne Powers of Reinbeck.

DeJear stopped at Camp Courageous, a year-round recreational and respite care facility for children with special needs and their families, as part of her Workday Wednesday series. The Des Moines small business owner and activist also ate lunch with campers and toured the facility.

DeJear said she’s been visiting businesses, farms, nonprofits and other organizations across the state since February as part of her campaign.

“These workdays give us an opportunity to stay grounded, not only with people, but the industries that exist throughout our state,” DeJear said. “We’re just talking about their personal story, and I’m learning through them how the state can be better advocates and create stronger pathways for anybody to succeed.”

Health care

DeJear talked about the need to expand access to respite and mental health care in the state, as well as bolster funding for public education rather than providing taxpayer funding to pay for students to attend private schools, as Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is pushing for.

“The state really needs to do some problem-solving so that those pathways remain strong as it relates to accessibility to education, respite care and activities like these,” DeJear said.

Respite care provides temporary care for a sick or disabled person so the regular caregiver gets a break.

DeJear also advocated for raising the state’s health care reimbursement rates.

“Organizations like this could be doing more if we had more people working in the industry,” she said. “How do we do that? Well, part of that is increasing the reimbursement rate because the cost of business has gone up.”

While Camp Courageous does not receive direct government aid, many families who send their children to the camp do through Iowa Health and Community Based Services funding for waiver programs for individuals with brain injuries and intellectual and other disabilities, camp CEO Charlie Becker said.

While the camp does not endorse or support any particular candidate, Becker said DeJear’s visit provides greater exposure “and a good living testimony” to the opportunities, needs and activities available to people with special needs in Iowa.

Becker hoped DeJear’s visit “can expose the camp to a lot of people that could potentially be our future staff.”

“We’re, like everybody else, short on staff,” Becker said.

Before the pandemic, Becker said the camp averaged about 10,000 campers a year. Normally, during the summer, the camp would have 100 campers and 100 staffers for the week.

“Right now, we’re at less than half of that just because of staffing,” he said. “The demand is huge.”

Uphill campaign

If elected in November, DeJear would be Iowa's first Black statewide officeholder. The 36-year-old became the first Black candidate nominated by a major party for Iowa governor with her Democratic nomination last month.

But while the overwhelmingly white state voted for and launched Barack Obama’s long-shot campaign in 2008 to become first Black president in the nation’s history, Iowa’s political swing to the right makes repeating that victory much harder for DeJear, as the Associated Press reported.

Over the last 14 years, Iowa has trended more conservative. July voter registration numbers show big gains for Republicans after the June primary.

Nationwide, more than 1 million voters across 43 states switched to the Republican Party over the last year, according to voter registration data analyzed by the Associated Press. In Iowa, Republicans now hold a 2-to-1 margin among voters who switched parties, a reversal from previous years, the AP reported.

DeJear downplayed the GOP surge in voters, saying, “I’m not worried by those numbers.”

“While Republicans have a small voter registration advantage” over Iowa Democrats, she said her campaign is “still fighting for the middle,” hoping to win over independents and moderate Republicans turned off by Reynolds’ push to further restrict women’s access to abortion and public funding for students to attend private schools.

Reynolds has said that while it’s critical Iowa maintain a strong public school system, parents deserve the choice of what environment is best suited for their children.

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