Credentials for Child Care Careers Grant Notice of Grant Opportunity Governor’s Child Care Task Force Report , November 2021
Definitions and Acronyms Career and Technical Education (CTE): means educational programs offering a sequence of courses that prepare individuals for employment in current or emerging occupations.
Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential: means a national credential in early childhood education awarded by the Council for Professional Recognition.
Department: means the Iowa Department of Education.
Child Care: means the care, supervision, and guidance of a child by a person other than the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian for periods of less than 24 hours per day per child on a regular basis.
Child Care Center: meas a facility providing child care preschool services for seven or more children.
FCS: means Family and Consumer Sciences.
Introduction The Iowa Department of Education is seeking applications from Iowa school districts interested in providing a Family and Consumer Science (FCS) course series while partnering with a licensed child care center to provide service/practice hours to participating Career and Technical Education (CTE) students. Interested districts will receive a Department-approved early childhood curriculum aligned to the Child Development Associate (CDATM
Duration and Amount of Contract Initial funds of up to $1,000,000 will be provided using American Rescue Plan funds. Additional funding of up to $2,000,000 is anticipated to be available. Applicants may apply for up to $15,000 per school year for 2024-25 and 2025-26, for a total maximum award of $30,000.
Applicant Eligibility Requirements
Iowa school districts with an Early Childhood Education or FCS career and technical education program (including consortia members).
Eligible parties will be required to submit a letter of commitment with a licensed child care center to provide a local child care workforce opportunity. This partnership may include school district operated child care programs.
Background “Iowa is home to a skilled, highly qualified workforce with an unbeatable work ethic. This workforce is critical to the state’s continued economic growth and prosperity. Yet too many working parents struggle to find quality, affordable child care for their children while they work.”
Governor’s Child Care Task Force Report, November 2021
The availability of quality, affordable child care is key to attracting and retaining a stable workforce. Child care facilities are challenged to fully staff their centers with qualified employees; which directly impacts the number of children they can serve. Additionally, child care expenses can challenge the economic benefits of returning to work. Iowans need incentives to help lower costs and make child care an accessible benefit to businesses, employees, and child care providers. This funding opportunity addresses the need for creative solutions to recruit and retain a highly skilled and qualified child care workforce.
By creating a formalized high school option to engage students in child development and early childhood education coursework, Iowa can expand the early childhood workforce through a competency and experience building framework through career and technical education programs.
The Department has worked with Texas Tech University and the Curriculum Center for Family and Consumer Sciences for CDA Coursework to attain an approved curriculum already aligned to CDA coursework. Through a partnership with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), this 3-semester course is approved to meet both CDA and HHS professional development regulatory requirements for employees of licensed child care centers.
Services to be Delivered and Performance Criteria Awarded applicants shall:
Utilize the State-approved 3-semester curriculum aligned to attaining a Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential
Ensure accordance with Iowa Administrative Rules for Child Care Centers, 441.109(7):
First Semester Course will require HHS required professional development within the first 3 months of child care center employment (online, self-paced):
Account set up in Iowa’s Professional Development and Workforce Registry (i-PoWeR) TRAINING REGISTRY – Home (state.ia.us)
Child Care Preservice/Essentials Series: 12 hours
Mandatory Reporter: 2 hours
Universal Precautions: 1 hour
Ensure students have access and complete certification in 1st Aid and hands-on skills assessment certification for CPR within the first 3 months of child care center employment. Approved trainings and training organizations can be found in i-PoWeR
Establish or utilize one or more existing partnerships with licensed child care centers to ensure students who complete coursework for the program will also be provided the opportunity to complete the required hours of application and practice within a license child care center.
A list of licensed child care centers may be obtained at Child Care Client Portal (state.ia.us)
Provide supports to students who may experience barriers (i.e. transportation, access to coursework) to participation in attaining the Child Development Associate Credential (CDA) within the designated time frame
Submit mid-year and year-end reports (see Reporting Requirements)
Models could include:
Aligning an existing Early Childhood Education or FCS program to attainment of a CDA with a paid service/practice experience at a child care center meeting the CDA practicum requirements
Developing a new FCS program aligned to attainment of a CDA with a paid service/practice experience at an existing child care center in the community
Developing a new Early Childhood Education CTE program aligned to attainment of a CDA with a paid service/practice experience at a new child care center launched at the school district
Payment Methodology In Year One, the Grantee will have $7500 available for reimbursement of expenses on or about July 1, 2024. On January 2, 2025, the remaining $7500 will be available; contingent upon submission and approval of the Year One mid-year report.
In Year Two, the Grantee will have $7500 available for reimbursement of expenses upon submission and approval of the Year One end-of-year report. On January 2, 2026, the remaining $7500 will be available; contingent upon submission and approval of the Year Two mid-year report.
Grantees will submit all claims for reimbursement within IowaGrants on a quarterly basis.
Reporting Requirements The Grantee will submit a mid-year report to the Department for each grant year on or about January of the respective year. The mid-year report will include:
Activities completed during reporting period
Description of expenditures (see C4 Grant Budget )
Number of CTE student participants in pilot
Number of licensed child care centers the district has partnered with
The Grantee will submit an end-of-year report to the Department for each grant year no later than July 31 of the respective year. The end-of-year report will include:
Activities completed during reporting period
Description of expenditures (see C4 Grant Budget )
Number of CTE student participants in pilot
Number of licensed child care centers the district has partnered with
Average number of practice work hours completed within pilot timeframe
Number of participants completing 3-semester program (future data element)
Number of participants attaining credential (future data element)
Application Components (See Scoring Rubric ) Applications will consist of the following components:
District Information : Required response from the applicant confirming eligibility.Implementation Plan : Description of project implementation plan that meets curriculum requirements. Description of Partnerships : Narrative outlining partnerships with licensed child care centers and Letters of Commitment between local licensed child care centers and the school district to partner for employment opportunities for students.
Grantees will be encourage to further develop the partnership through formal written agreement.
Student Supports : Description of the supports to be provided to students specifically when there are barriers to participation or attaining the CDA. C4 Grant Budget : Plan outlining uses of grant funding. Grant funds may only be used to cover expenses associated with operating the selected CDA program. Allowable costs include:
CDA Costs per Student ($550 per student)
Textbooks ($50 per book)
CDA Student Workbooks ($34 per book)
CDA Competency Books ($28 per book)
CDA Assessment Fees ($425 per student)
Student Stipends
Partner Stipends to support community-based child care centers to provide work experience and/or volunteer opportunities for students
Other allowable expenses applicant would like to be considered
Assurances (required, not scored)
Review Process and Selection Criteria Eligible applications will be reviewed in accordance with the Application Components and associated Scoring Rubric . Applications will be scored by content experts in accordance with the grant requirements. Review forms will be used to record points and the contributed comments of grant reviewers. Final scores of the applications will be determined based on completed reviews and ranked accordingly. In the event multiple applications receive the same score, an additional review will be conducted and awarded based on the applicant’s statement of local need.
Timeline Important dates associated with the application process and announcement of awards are provided in the below chart. All related questions may be submitted to Amy Stegeman at amy.stegeman@iowa.gov . Responses to all submitted questions will be posted in a Frequently Asked Questions document as an attachment within the funding opportunity in IowaGrants .
Grant Application Available
February 29, 2024
Grant Question Submission Deadline
March 18, 2024
Agency Response to Questions
March 22, 2024 via IowaGrants and Iowa
Department of Education website
Application Deadline
March 29, 2024; 12:00pm NOON
Awards Announced
April 8, 2024
Project Start Date
July 1, 2024
Appeal of Grant Denial or Termination Information on appeals may be found in 281— Iowa Administrative Code 281— 7.5(290,17A): Appeal of grant denial or termination. Any applicant may appeal the denial of a properly submitted competitive program grant application or the unilateral termination of a competitive program grant to the director of the department.
7.5(1) Appeals are to be:
In writing,
Received within ten working days of the date of the notice of decision, and
Based on a contention that the process was conducted outside of statutory authority; violated state or federal law, policy, or rule; did not provide adequate public notice; was altered without adequate public notice; or involved conflict of interest by staff or committee members.
7.5(2) The hearing and appeal procedures found in 281— Chapter 6 that govern the director’s decisions apply to any appeal of denial or termination.
7.5(3) In the notice of appeal, the grantee will give a short and plain statement of the reasons for the appeal.
7.5(4) The director will issue a decision within a reasonable time, not to exceed 60 days from the date of the hearing.
