8.1 Coordination with Partners to Expand Accessibility and Continuity of Care

Lead Agencies must coordinate child care services supported by CCDF with other federal, State/Territory, and local level programs. This includes programs for the benefit of Indian children, infants and toddlers, children with disabilities, children experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care. 8.1.1 Coordination with required and optional partners Describe how the Lead Agency coordinates and the results of this coordination of the provision of child care services with the organizations and agencies to expand accessibility and continuity of care and to assist children enrolled in early childhood programs in receiving full-day services that meet the needs of working families. The Lead Agency must coordinate with the following agencies: a. State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care or similar coordinating body (pursuant to 642B(b)(I)(A)(i) of the Head Start Act). Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: Legislation passed in the 2024 session modified the structure of Early Childhood Iowa (ECI) which houses Iowa’s State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care. The Early Childhood Iowa system is in the process of reorganizing and a potential new structure for the SAC will be presented to the ECI State Board in June 2024. Historically, Lead Agency staff have coordinated with ECI staff to add CCDF relevant topics to the agenda as well as attending SAC meetings. Lead Agency staff will continue to do this once the reorganization is finalized. Additionally, April of 2024 the Lead Agency invited members of the existing SAC to a feedback session around the CCDF state plan and their feedback was used to prioritize action items of the Lead Agency. b. Indian Tribe(s) and/or Tribal organization(s), at the option of the Tribe or Tribal organization. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination, including which Tribe(s) was (were) involved: The Lead Agency meets regularly with the Meskwaki Nation. This results in sharing of opportunities available to the providers that serve the tribe. Most recently the Lead Agency and the Meskwaki Nation are coordinating to support the opening of a new child care center built by the Meskwaki Nation. [ ] Not applicable. Check here if there are no Indian Tribes and/or Tribal organizations in the State/Territory. c. State/Territory agency(ies) responsible for programs for children with disabilities, including early intervention programs authorized under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Lead Agency has a staff position that is responsible for being the liaison between the Agency and Iowa's Part C program called Early ACCESS. The Liaison duties are: Attend bi-weekly Early ACCESS state staff team meetings, bi-monthly Early ACCESS AEA/Regional Grantee meetings and Iowa Council for Early ACCESS meetings as scheduled; Assist the Department of Education (IDOE) in the maintenance and improvement of an interagency early intervention system (implementing IDEA/Part C); Provide targeted technical assistance according to needs of the system as directed by the (IDOE)administration; Provide technical assistance to the Department of Health and Human Services and to private/public constituents as identified in action plans or as directed by the Department of Education and HHS Signatory Agency administrators; Provide information and guidance to the Department of Education and Early ACCESS state staff team about public/private child welfare, child care and Medicaid issues, and HHS resources and change efforts; Coordinate system change efforts for improving early intervention services to children in foster care and children with founded cases of abuse or neglect(CAPTA) including data sharing of referrals with parental consent; Represent the state Early ACCESS office and/or DHS as a Signatory Agency Liaison on identified and agreed-upon initiatives/groups/committees Provide information, training, and guidance to DHS and other constituents about Early ACCESS; Collaborates with Iowa State University's Child Welfare Research and Training Project leaders. d. State/Territory office/director for Head Start State collaboration. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: Staff from the Lead Agency and the Head Start State Collaboration office have historically held collaboration meetings with Head Start recipients that hold the EHS-CCP grants. These meetings supported knowledge of the state’s CCA system as well as problem solving on individual issues. The Head Start State Collaboration Office and the Lead Agency are currently in the process of relaunching these meetings and inviting all Head Start recipients that use the Lead Agency’s CCA program to attend. Additionally Lead Agency staff and Head Start State Collaboration Office staff co-lead the State’s Pyramid Model initiative and regularly work together to align systems and share professional development resources when possible. e. State/Territory agency responsible for public health, including the agency responsible for immunizations. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Lead Agency is also the public health agency. The Lead Agency’s Child Care Policy Bureau which is responsible for coordination of the CCDF program contains three Registered Nurses, that operate the state’s Health Child Care Iowa initiative. The Healthy Child Care Iowa project includes but is not limited to: training Child Care Nurse Consultants (CCNCs) throughout the state that provide technical assistance and training to child care providers, development of statewide health and safety trainings, supporting CCNCs and ensuring consistency of TA & training throughout the state, providing health and safety guidance to the Child Care Policy Bureau staff. Additionally, these lead agency staff are part of regular team meetings of the Child Care Policy Bureau and provide a public health perspective to child care policy in Iowa. f. State/Territory agency responsible for employment services/workforce development. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Lead Agency has worked on multiple projects with staff from Iowa Workforce Development. These projects include child care grants as well as business incentive grants in areas across the state that lacked accessible child care. The child care grants supported additional child care slots throughout the state by either supporting expansions at current child care programs or development of new child care programs. The business incentive grants encouraged employers across the state to support slots at local child care facilities for them employees by providing matching funds. g. State/Territory agency responsible for public education, including pre-Kindergarten. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Lead Agency staff collaborate with Iowa Department of Education staff in multiple capacities. Two Lead Agency staff serve on the Child Development Coordinating Council (CDCC) which advises and assists the Department of Education with implementation of two state-funded at-risk programs for children ages birth to five. This group typically meets every other month but at least 4 times per year. The Early ACCESS Liaison (as described above) meets with DE staff multiple times a month to coordinate early intervention services. In addition, the state administrator and the Early ACCESS Liaison attend the Early ACCESS Council which meets on a quarterly basis to advise and assist the Iowa Department of Education on the implementation of the Early ACCESS program. Additionally Lead Agency staff recently worked with Department of Education staff on a grant project that supports local districts in implementation of curriculum and supports that result in attainment of a CDA credential for high school students. h. State/Territory agency responsible for child care licensing. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Lead Agency is the agency responsible for child care licensing. The Lead Agency’s child care licensing staff are in the same unit at the Child Care Policy Bureau and both are overseen by the Child Care Director. The Child Care Director holds regular collaboration meetings with the supervisor of the child care policy bureau and the supervisors of the child care licensing staff to discuss areas of overlap. An example of a recent collaboration topic is review of current compliance reports in relation to the new CCDF final rule and determining areas of needed change. i. State/Territory agency responsible for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and other relevant nutrition programs. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Regulatory Program Manager coordinates with State and local CACFP staff on an as needed basis when questions or concerns come up about regulatory issues. This results in both CACFP staff and the Lead Agency's regulatory staff being more aware of intersections between the programs. The Lead Agency's Professional Development Program manager works with CACFP staff as needed to provide support using the lead Agency's i-PoWeR workforce registry system. She is also working with CACFP staff to link the i-PoWeR system with the CACFP learning platform. This results in CACFP professional development opportunities being listed in the i-PoWeR workforce registry and widely seen by child care providers. The Lead Agency's Quality Program Manager has a state-level CACFP representative on the QRS oversight team. This team functions as an advisory group to the Iowa QRS and generally meets on a quarterly basis but has met more frequently during the process of redesigning the Iowa QRS into a QRIS. The Quality Program Manager also reaches out to the CACFP staff on an as needed basis to clarify policies or requirements related to the QRS. This results in clear and consistent advice to providers around CACFP requirements in the QRS and export food and nutrition guidance during the redesign of the QRS system. Additionally Lead Agency staff have been working with state CACFP staff on our Shared Services project with the goal of embedding CACFP documentation withing the state-sponsored Child Care Management Systems and within our new operational data store called Child Care Connect (C3). The intent is to increase efficiency for both child care administrators in record keeping and also be able to use the data at a state level to make informed decisions. j. McKinney-Vento State coordinators for homeless education and other agencies providing services for children experiencing homelessness and, to the extent practicable, local McKinney-Vento liaisons. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: Lead Agency staff discussed ideas with McKinney-Vento staff to support those experiencing homelessness. The discussion lead to the ideas of adding information about Child Care Assistance to the Department of Education page on homelessness. k. State/Territory agency responsible for the TANF program. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Lead Agency is also responsible for TANF which allows coordination of resources and goals within the leadership of a single agency. The Lead Agency coordinates TANF and CCA through funding decisions, an integrated information management system and policies and procedures. Funding: As the administrator for CCDF, TANF and state childcare funds, the Lead Agency is able to make budget proposals involving all three sources and takes into account other needs and uses of TANF as well as child care needs. The Lead Agency uses a mix of TANF funds transferred to the CCDF as well as TANF funds appropriated for direct use for child care. l. State/Territory agency responsible for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Lead Agency is the agency responsible for Medicaid and the Iowa’s CHIP program known as Hawk-i. Child Care, Medicaid and Hawk-i leadership meet and they discuss connections and overlap or gaps between the programs. This information is used for policy decision making to improve family and child outcomes. m. State/Territory agency responsible for mental health services. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: Iowa has a Children’s Behavioral Health System State Board (Children’s Board) which is the point of responsibility in the implementation and management of a Children’s Mental Health System (Children’s System) that is committed to improving children’s well-being, building healthy and resilient children, providing for educational growth, and coordinating medical and mental health care for those in need. This board is co-chaired by the Lead Agency and the Iowa Department of Education. Additionally, the lead agency houses our state’s Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation initiative. As part of that initiative there is a Wellness Council organized by lead agency staff and the Child Care Policy Bureau Chief sits on that council. The Wellness Council worked with a pilot project incorporating IECMHC into HeadStart centers and is reviewing lessons learned from that to see how IECMHC could be incorporated into child care programs in the state. n. Child care resource and referral agencies, child care consumer education organizations, and providers of early childhood education training and professional development. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: There are 5 Regional Child Care Resource and Referral areas in the state. The Lead Agency contracts with all 5 agencies, individually, to provide services in each region. As part of the contracts the Regional Directors of each of the 5 agencies meet regularly (generally monthly) with staff from the Lead Agency. These meetings result in improved policies and consistency of CCR&R services throughout the state as well as informing Lead Agency staff of trends of their interactions with child care providers, families and communities. o. Statewide afterschool network or other coordinating entity for out-of-school time care (if applicable). Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: One of the Lead Agency's staff members serves on the Iowa Afterschool Alliance Strategic Leadership Team (SLT). The Alliance seeks to improve access to high quality out of school time programming and recognizes that oversight of school based before and after school programming fall under the lead agencies child care licensing rules. The Strategic Leadership Team meets every other month and outlines ways to support the existing infrastructure as well as how to provide quality programming to youth. The IAA has helped to develop "Afterschool in a Box" to assist interested parties in how to successfully open and operate a new school-aged program. The IAA also supports 21st Century Community Learning Centers and can assist in supporting a shift towards child care licensing for long-term sustainability planning. The IAA's network lead is also a participant on the State Child Care Advisory Committee, assuring cross-partner collaboration. p. Agency responsible for emergency management and response. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: One of the Lead Agency's staff members shares information, as appropriate, with senior staff person in the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department (HSEMD). Since all emergencies/disasters begin and end at the local level, the Lead Agency believes that coordination and collaboration efforts involve all levels of the emergency preparedness and response system in our state. Lead Agency staff and CCR&R have built relationships with HSEMD, as well as, partnering agencies and organizations at both the local and state levels. Based on relationships developed, the director of HSEMD wrote a letter of support for CCR&R's application for an Emergency Preparedness Project through Child Care Aware of America. CCR&R was awarded funding for a 2½ year grant with activities for targeted populations in and outside of the state’s child care system. Based on activities funded under the grant, a presentation, ￿Emergency Preparedness and Child Care," was developed and will be presented by CCR&R staff at regional county emergency management district meetings. A CCR&R regional director serves and brings the child care perspective to the Iowa Disaster Human Resources Council (IDHRC) [Iowa's VOAD]. IDHRC is coordinated and staffed by HSEMD. Emergency preparedness and response resources and activities are frequently shared between CCR&R and the staff person from HSEMD. A tabletop exercise developed and conduct of the Lead Agency's Statewide Child Care Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan included collaboration with HSEMD and county emergency management. A county emergency deputy manager served as the facilitator of the tabletop exercise and a staff person from HSEMD served as the observer/evaluator. Additionally, as part of the alignment with Iowa Department of Public Health, the Lead Agency has a renewed and aligned effort around emergency services and agency response for coordinated efforts with preparedness and response operations, logistics, planning, and administration An Incident Command Center structure is developed under a National Response Framework by the Department of Homeland Security. This response framework engages Iowa￿s Governor￿s Office, HSEMD, State Agencies, and local Emergency Management Agencies. q. The following are examples of optional partners a Lead Agency might coordinate with to provide services. Check which optional partners the Lead Agency coordinates with and describe the coordination and results of the coordination. i. [x] State/Territory/local agencies with Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership grants. Describe: As described above in item d regarding the Head Start State Collaboration Office the Lead Agency regularly invites EHS-CCP recipients to collaboration meetings. ii. [ ] State/Territory institutions for higher education, including community colleges. Describe: iii. [ ] Other federal, State, local, and/or private agencies providing early childhood and school-age/youth-serving developmental services. Describe: iv. [x] State/Territory agency responsible for implementing the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs grant. Describe: The Lead Agency recently had a merger between the Departments of Human Services and Public Health. During the merger staff responsible for MIECHV programs and staff responsible for child care programs were put in the same division. Leadership of both programs meet regularly and discuss collaboration opportunities. v. [ ] Agency responsible for Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment Program. Describe: vi. [x] State/Territory agency responsible for child welfare. Describe: The Child Protection unit is located in the same Division as the child care unit. Leadership of both programs meet regularly and discuss collaboration opportunities. vii. [ ] Child care provider groups or associations. Describe: viii. [ ] Parent groups or organizations. Describe: ix. [ ] Title IV B 21st Century Community Learning Center Coordinators. Describe: x. [ ] Other. Describe: