Capitol Notebook: Iowa again fails to find administrator for crisis pregnancy centers

DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has again struck out in finding an Iowa-based nonprofit to oversee a network of crisis pregnancy centers and maintain a record of the services provided to Iowans.

State officials this week rescinded its request for proposals for a program administrator “to procure, maintain and successfully manage a statewide network” of pregnancy resource centers that counsel against abortion under the state's "More Options for Maternal Support," or MOMS program.

Lawmakers earlier this year provided $2 million in state dollars to nonprofits that provide "pregnancy support services“ and "fatherhood" programming directed at men involved with unintended pregnancies, such as parenting classes or help for fathers to find employment.

Abortion rights advocates oppose funding pregnancy resource centers, saying the centers mislead women about their options and misrepresent themselves as legitimate medical providers.

The centers, which are usually religious-affiliated organizations that encourage childbirth or adoption and discourage abortion, are not fully licensed medical facilities. They typically offer free ultrasounds, counseling, diapers and other baby items, without cost.

The state Health and Human Services Department rescinded its solicitation after receiving "no responsive bidders" to its request for proposals that was released in July.

The agency said it reserves the right to reissue the request for proposals in the future. State officials have not said whether they plan to launch third search for a program administrator.

An earlier search also failed to come up with sufficient applications to manage the program. HHS officials in June rejected a sole bid from the Iowa Pregnancy Care Network, an affiliate of the Texas Pregnancy Care Network, which has run a similar state-funded program plagued by allegation of misusing state funds and having little data on its outcomes.

State officials, in a letter, said the network failed to meet specific requirements laid out in the request for proposals by HHS.

"Until the program administrator contract is awarded, the agency will serve in the program administrator role," an HHS spokesperson told The Des Moines Register.

HHS did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment and a list of questions sent by The Gazette.

New program to help employers hire military veterans

Iowa Workforce Development has announced a new partnership intended to help Iowa employers hire skilled service members seeking jobs as they leave the military.

Iowa Workforce Development recently was approved to become a third-party administrator for the U.S. Defense Department’s SkillBridge program — a nationwide initiative that allows exiting service members to spend the last six months of their tours of duty serving in internships at private businesses.

“Iowa employers are always looking for hardworking, mission-driven employees who know how to get a job done,” Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a statement. “Veterans are a perfect match for our state’s work ethic and hardworking culture.”

Under the program, the Defense Department will pay a service member’s salary and benefits for up to six months while that person receives on-the-job training at an Iowa business. Employers get to train and evaluate a potential employee at no cost and with no obligation.

Some employers across Iowa already participate in the initiative, with a total of 37 Iowa jobs for service members advertised on the program’s website.

Private employers or service member who are interested in the SkillBridge program can email skillbridge@iwd.iowa.gov. For more information, visit IWD’s SkillBridge information page.

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Iowa AG joins brief supporting California woman suing school over daughter’s gender transition

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird on Wednesday joined a 23-state coalition in an amicus brief filed in support of a California mother who filed a lawsuit accusing a school district of allowing her daughter to socially transition to a boy at school without her knowledge or permission.

California’s Chico Unified School District adopted a policy in which the school will not inform a child's parents about a social transition unless the child explicitly authorizes disclosure. The school district argues that the secrecy policy is required by California law.

A school counselor allegedly used the girl’s preferred male name and pronouns while at school without informing her mother. The daughter now believes her “feelings of gender confusion were brought on by the stress of other difficulties in her life” and returned to identifying as a girl, according to the lawsuit.

A judge dismissed the case against the district in July, arguing teachers had not been keeping the identity of their students secret, since the decision to socially transition is “made by the student, not the district.”

“District staff are not directed to force students to adopt transgender identities or keep their identities secret from their parents,” the court wrote in its order. “Instead, district staff are directed to affirm a student’s expressed identity and pronouns and disclose that information only to those the student wishes, with an exception for the student’s health."

Bird and the other attorneys general are asking the court on appeal to reverse the district court’s decision, arguing the school district violated the mother’s “long-standing and fundamental parental rights” to direct the care of her child.