Early Childhood Iowa
Area Board Newsletter
Volume 40
July 2022
Greetings and Happy Spring!
Greetings and Happy 4th!

Legislative Session Ends
The 89th Legislative Session began January 10, 2022 and concluded May 25, 2022 in the AM hours, 45 days late.

On the final day of the legislative session an agreement was reached between the House and Senate for the Education budget (HF 2575). The Early Childhood Iowa line-item appropriation received an increase of $200,000 for the purpose of improving the I2D2 database system.  
 
Unfortunately, the funding increase for the Early Childhood Iowa local boards that was proposed by the Senate fell victim to the final budget negotiations and the database improvements were prioritized. We will continue to advocate for an increase that aligns with  supplemental school aide funding in the 2023 legislative session.

There were a few child care bills, but nothing that helps family afford child care and no bills that addressed quality.

Board Invests in Quality Programs
The 4 R Kids ECI Area Board is charged with administering grants to meet the needs in Adair, Dallas, and Warren County. This spring the 4 R Kids ECI area board has awarded just over $1.2 million in grants for FY2023 programming to serve families with young children in Adair, Dallas,Madison, and Warren County. Its important to note that 88% of the programs funded are evidence or research based. Research proves that when you invest $1 in early childhood services you will receive a $7 return. Another way to think about this is, put $1 million into a slot machine and it spits out $7 million in return. Who wouldn't want that?

Stay healthy and safe!
Debra Schrader
4 R Kids Executive Director
Say Thank You to 4 R Kids Board Members
They donate their time to make a difference in lives of families with children under the age of 6. Give a shout out to the following board members the next time you see them!
Deb Blazek- Adair County
Brittany Shinn - Adair County
Jesse Ramey - Adair County
Bryce Smith - Dallas County
Kevin Howe - Dallas County
Colleen Strohmaier - Dallas County
Rita Martens - Madison County
Paul Millhollin - Madison County
Wendy Sawyer - Madison County
Justin Terry - Warren County
Nancy Hopkins - Warren County
Nikki Gunn - Warren County
Check out some of the great funding opportunities with Future Ready Iowa that are helping create and expand new child care opportunities across Iowa.
Governor Reynolds has announced a new $25 million Child Care Business Incentive Grant Program targeted at helping employers offer or expand child care options as a benefit to their employees. A total of $20 million will be awarded to support local infrastructure investments to build or expand child care capacity. An additional $5 million will be used to support arrangements between employers and child care facilities to expand and reserve child care slots. Projects could include the creation and development of an on-site child care center or a partnership with an existing child care center to create new child care slots paid for by a local employer.
Students in the 6th, 8th, and 11th grades across the state of Iowa answered questions about their attitudes and experiences regarding alcohol and other drug use and violence, and their perceptions of their peer, family, school, and neighborhood/community environments.
Smiles are Reserved for
Human Babies
Human infants are the only species that smile at their parents!
Libraries are the best kept secret and better than sliced bread! They have many resources and most activities are free. Go here for a list of Iowa public libraries.
Eyebrows!
Did you know that a baby's eyebrows
and lashes are fully formed at 28 weeks in pregnancy!
Did You Know?
That a baby's hair begins to grow at
week 25 of pregnancy.
Working
Parents Data
Families with all parents working & children under six:
74% Adair County
71% Dallas County
85% Madison County
74% Warren County
75% State of Iowa
Find more informtion by
county here.
Short Years Partnerhsip has developed a video to showcase the work of those in the family support service world. Go here to see it, get ready you will need a tissue!
Learn Something New Every Day
At around 18 months of age, toddlers go through what many call ‘word spurt’ where they start learning new words very quickly. An average 2-year-old learns about five new words of varying difficulty, every day.
Tax Freedom Day
Tax freedom day is the day that the
taxpayer has finally worked enough long hours to make the money to pay their annual tax burden. It is at this point that they actually get to start keeping what they earn. This year, that day in Iowa is April 18th, meaning Iowans worked more than 100 days before reaching this milestone.
Google Folders
Google folders have been implemented for anyone to drop documents into. They are organized by fiscal year, county and community meeting dates. Feel free to view or drop information into the respective folders.
4 R Kids ECI Board Meetings
September 8, 2022
October 20, 2022
November 17, 2022
All meetings are open to the public, agendas and minutes are located at www.4rkids-eci.org.
1011 Pear Avenue
Prescott, Iowa 50859
Phone: 641-344-2250
www.4rkids-eci.org
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