New website helps Iowa families find child care
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday launched a new website that uses state data to help families find child care.
The new website, Iowa Child Care Connect, is comprised of three tools powered by state data: an online child care search tool, a dashboard displaying near real-time child care openings and a supply-and-demand dashboard that gives an overview of state child care needs versus availability.
The tools are powered by data from the state’s child care provider management systems, a news release said.
The new website allows families to search for child care providers along their usual driving routes and to view supply and demand by county and child age. Openings on the child care vacancy dashboard are sorted by types of program, age groups, quality ratings and availability. The supply-and-demand dashboard provides a snapshot of the current child care availability, including data indicating shortages in certain areas or age groups.
The new tools are products of a partnership between the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Iowa State University and the tech firm Resultant. The new website is part of Iowa’s efforts to help mitigate nationwide child care shortages. In Iowa, child care shortages are estimated to cost the state’s economy approximately $935 million.
“This new, innovative solution is just one way we are meeting the critical child care needs of working families in our state,” Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a news release. “Iowa Child Care Connect is a game changer and I am so proud of all the partnership and work that has gone into its creation.”
In 2021, Reynolds created a child care task force, which recommended building a statewide child care management system and providing state funding to expand capacity. Reynolds approved $10 million in grants for expanding child care facilities and building new centers.
