In late August, the Governor of Iowa announced C3: the new child care tool for decision-makers and families in Iowa known as Child Care Connect (C3). The I2D2 team is proud to be a part of the development and maintenance of this new one-of-a-kind system.

In the past, data about child care was fragmented across multiple, individual systems with different rules and variations in the timing of their updates. These differences made it difficult to understand the potential child care needs of children and families in Iowa. C3 includes near-real-time updates directly from child care providers through various systems, integrates it, and then powers online dashboards and child care search applications that benefit families, child care providers, and state and local leaders across Iowa.

C3 was recently featured in Government Technology, which, showcased how Iowa's Department of Health and Human Services is benefiting from near real-time data to support childcare initiatives and families. Additionally, C3 was presented at the International Data Population Linkage Network Conference and at the Opportunities Exchange Shared Services Technical Conference, highlighting Iowa as a leader in this space. This comes just one year after Iowa's feature from Opportunities Exchange in "Iowa Leads the Way: How Modern Technology Can Improve Access to High-Quality Child Care".

DATA DASHBOARDS

The new C3 data dashboards are designed to empower local leaders, state leaders, and policy-makers to identify child care needs and solutions. Additionally, the dashboards equip state and local authorities, as well as private sector leaders, with tools that provide data-informed insights so communities can gauge the accessibility of child care services for parents wanting to enter or remain in the workforce. Using data about vacancy and supply and demand in Iowa, Iowa is leading the way in better information to know how many child care slots are open and how many kids need care.

CHILD CARE SEARCH

Child Care Search is a family-friendly search website that helps families locate child care vacancies. Families are able to search for child care along a commute while filtering results based on families' needs. Filters include age of children, stops along the commute, impact on drive time, and options to favorite and compare providers. In addition to helping families find child care, providers can more easily connect with families in their community and grow their business.

Thank you, and stay tuned as I2D2 looks forward to the next year and our ongoing collaboration with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.