Iowa launches real-time online child care search / Public News Service

Iowa has launched an interactive website to help parents find childcare options for their children in real time.

Iowa Child Care Connect, nicknamed “C3” in the state, uses crowdsourcing technology to help people find child care where and when they need it, using up-to-the-minute data.

Sheila Hansen, senior policy adviser at the nonprofit Common Good Iowa, said C3 is a huge improvement over what the state had before.

“It was a little cumbersome and not really quick,” Hansen said. “Hopefully this will be a huge improvement and families can just go there and find jobs in their area right away.”

The website also provides information on the subsidies accepted by providers, as well as current job openings and quality ratings. Hansen argued that the state should focus on improving pay and working conditions for child care workers.

She acknowledged that while the technology is an advance, Common Good Iowa and other advocates said the state doesn't need more brick-and-mortar daycare centers. It needs more staff, and that's the real challenge.

“That’s because they simply can’t find people who want to work in childcare because the pay is so low or there are no benefits,” Hansen explains.

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services requires child care providers to meet various training requirements and update their certification every two years.

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The deadline for families in Washington state to apply for food assistance is approaching.

The national program, called SUN Bucks, is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's summer EBT program, launched during the pandemic and made permanent this year. Most families were automatically eligible for the program, which provides a one-time payment of $120 per child in a household. Families who did not receive the benefit and believe they are eligible have until Saturday to apply.

Norah West, deputy director of the Office of Communications and Government Affairs at the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, said many students received meals through school.

“With kids out of school during the summer months, it's a little harder to get these nutritious foods and food prices aren't going down,” West said. “We're happy to be able to offer people at least a little help.”

Children were automatically enrolled in the program if they attend a school in the National School Lunch Program and qualify with a meal application or family income survey, or if they are between the ages of eight and 18 and live in a household eligible for benefits such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Families who meet the National School Lunch Program's income requirements for free or reduced-price meals can apply for SUN Bucks. In Washington state, more than 580,000 children received benefits this summer, totaling nearly $69 million. West noted that the USDA has other summer meal programs as well.

“The federal government also offers two other programs called Sun Meals and Sun Meals to Go in school districts. These are meal programs on-site or in some rural areas,” West explained. “People may have the option to go to a location, pick up food and take it with them.”

This summer, 37 states have chosen to participate in the SUN Bucks program.

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As children in Pennsylvania return to school, health activists are stressing the importance of continuing to insure them.

The 2023 State of Children's Health in Pennsylvania report finds that more than 145,000 children lack health insurance.

Becky Ludwick, vice president of public policy at the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, said the back-to-school season is an ideal time to raise awareness among Pennsylvania parents about free and low-cost public health insurance options. She added that many children lost their Medicaid coverage during school closures, but some switched to the Children's Health Insurance Program.

“More and more children are uninsured or have lost their health insurance in the last year,” Ludwick reported. “We want to use this time to remind parents what they can do to keep their children covered as children prepare to go back to school. That's why we're looking at Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.”

Under the Children's Health Insurance Program's guidelines, a family of three earning $60,000 annually can enroll for an average monthly premium of $58 per child, with additional copayments as needed. No family earns too much to enroll.

Ludwick noted that the American Academy of Pediatrics stresses the importance of pre-school screenings, including routine immunizations. She emphasized that enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP is available year-round and recommended parents contact the programs to ensure their children are fully covered for their health needs.

“We encourage families to work to enroll their child in Medicaid or CHIP as soon as possible,” Ludwick said. “To get that coverage, they need to make sure their annual health screenings and immunizations are covered. That also covers mental health care and dental care.”

Ludwick noted that recent measles outbreaks have highlighted declining vaccination rates, particularly for the MMR vaccine, which puts the population at risk. Vaccination rates among kindergarten children in Pennsylvania have been gradually declining, with the latest data showing a drop below 95% for the first time in six years.

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Oregon wants to use a new metric to make social and emotional health care more accessible for young children.

The Oregon Health Authority has implemented the Child-Level Social Emotional Health Metric, which is designed to improve and promote care for children from birth to age five who are enrolled in the state's Medicaid program. Oregon is the first state in the country to implement such a measure.

Andi Walsh, senior health policy adviser at the Children's Institute of Oregon, said social-emotional health is the foundation of every person's mental health.

“Building the ability to build relationships, to experience and express emotions, to explore,” Walsh explained. “All of these are components of social-emotional health and all of these are the building blocks for positive mental and physical health later in childhood and adulthood.”

Walsh pointed out that the nation's youth are suffering from a mental health crisis and that Oregon is falling behind. In a recent Mental Health America ranking of access to health care for youth, Oregon came in third from last.

Karra Crane was a member of the Oregon Pediatric Improvement Partnership parent advisory group that developed this metric. She has experience with a child who needs social-emotional health treatments. Crane shared her experience in the small town of Roseburg, where waiting lists for services can be years long.

“If you've never experienced it, you can't imagine what it's like,” Crane claimed. “Talking to people who are experiencing it is a really good way to make sure you're not missing anything that you wouldn't be looking for because you're not in that fight, essentially.”

Walsh stressed that the new metric will be particularly impactful because the state will ban suspensions and exclusions from early childhood care and education programs starting in July 2026. She added that the goal of the metric is to provide earlier care for children at risk of developing social-emotional problems that are often seen in daycare and preschool settings.

“This benchmark is really designed to reach these kids much earlier and in a preventative way,” Walsh explained. “We want to provide them with the services that we know will strengthen those skills and hopefully, theoretically, prevent problems like this in the future.”

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