Spring Newsletter 2026

What We Have Been Up To

Hannah Kim Awarded Spring 2026 Research Excellence Award (REX)

We are proud to announce that Graduate Research Assistant Hannah Kim received the Spring 2026 Research Excellence Award (REX) from the Iowa State University Graduate College. This award recognizes graduate students for outstanding research accomplishments through their dissertation or theses, acknowledging scholars for their academic excellence and future contributions to their research field. Hannah will graduate in May after completing her dissertation that was completed with support from a competitive dissertation research grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Her study, "A Statewide Mixed-Methods Study of Head Start Enrollment and Retention among Eligible Children, " documented significant patterns in eligibility and enrollment for Iowa families and highlighted opportunities for ongoing partnership to advance quality outcomes for Iowa children. Congratulations Hannah!

HARC Webinar features I2D2

On April 2^nd Director Heather Rouse presented an invited webinar for the Home Visiting Applied Research Collaborative (HARC) with over 100 participants nationwide engaged in home visiting research. The presentation titled "Partnership Engaged Research to Advance Home Visiting: Iowa's Data System Approach" included a brief history of I2D2's development and showcased examples of how home visiting programs in Iowa are benefiting from integrated data. View the HARC Webinar here, and stay tuned for a follow-up with Director Rouse and Director of Data Management and Analysis Todd Abraham with the HARC Data Sharing Special Interest Group on May 11th.

Evidence-to-Action Forum

Director Heather Rouse helped kick off the second annual Evidence-to-Action Forum with AISP partners hosted by CoLab at the Constellation Fund in October. Dr. Rouse contributed to opening conversations that focused on advancing the public good through the strategic use of data. The event focused on collaboration across government, research, and community partners, with the opening talk showcasing I2D2 helping frame two days of discussion around how data can be used to improve outcomes for families.

April 20th-24th 2026 is National Home Visiting Week!

In honor of the week, check out data bytes related to I2D2's work to support Home Visiting Programs in Iowa. As we continue to expand the IA Data Drive, stay tuned for updates as new data dashboards on Home Visiting programs are released.

Visit our Prenatal Care and Home Visiting page to learn more about our work.

Did you know that 41 birthing Units have closed in Iowa since 2000? Home Visiting leadership at Iowa's Department of Health and Human Services was interested in the impact of birthing unit closures and how their services might support families living in closure areas. Our 2022 Access to Care, Outcomes, and Birthing Unit Closure Repor t explores these trends.

In 2022, the ECI Family Survey Report found that Mental Health Services was the third most needed service for participants in the survey, but access to mental health services varied based on demographics. Families in rural area reported less use of mental health services, while mental health services increased from 2019 to 2022 for higher-income families. Our Family Mental Health Brief explores these service demands.

We Finally Have the Data. The Early Childhood Workforce is Shrinking, and Early Childhood Credentials are Part of the Answer.

Linda Smith of Child Care Trust shared an important finding from state workforce registry data: the child care workforce is shrinking fast, but those who had early childhood-specific credentials or degrees were more likely to stay in the field. Additionally, this article highlights the importance of workforce registries and investing in data infrastructure: these investments can help monitor trends and stability in workforces, and help guide policy-makers to make smart investments.

What is Readiness? Preparing All Children to Succeed in Kindergarten and Beyond

Readiness for kindergarten involves assessing the the skills and development of children from the pre-academic lifespan. States vary based on their own policy how they define readiness, with many states using kindergarten readiness assessments (KRA) to assess the social-emotional capabilities. This brief published by National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) explore the current readiness definitions, and explores the strengthen ad limitations of approaches, with suggestions on using readiness assessments to gauge potential improvements on how policy-makers can support readiness.

Why are State Departments of Early Childhood Education so Trendy Right Now?

A recent article on state Early Childhood Education (ECE) by Zero2Eight identified a new trend: states are establishing stand-alone departments for early care and education, shirting toward governance structures that will put effort toward supporting families and young children. Learn more about the standalone departments and offices established or emerging across the USA and how this shifted structure across states is making early childhood education a priority for policy-makers.

June 4th-5th: Cross-University Collaborative Mentoring Conference

I2D2 Director Rouse and graduate students at I2D2 will attend the 2026 Cross-University Collaborative Mentoring Conference to bring together cross-institute, student-centered research development opportunities.

June 8th-10th: AISP Network Convening

Staff at I2D2 will attend the Actionable Intelligence of Social Policy Network Convening, where data-integration networks come together to discuss current projects, field knowledge, and more to support integrated-data initiatives.

June 22nd-26th: ACF's National Research Conference on Early Childhood

The 2026 National Research Conference on Early Childhood will highlight cutting-edge research on early childhood programs and the young children and families they serve.

July 13th-16th: International Population Data Linkage Network Conference

Director Rouse will attend the IDPLN 2026 conference, where real-world application, community engagement, emerging technology, and other international population data linkage topics are explored.

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