Fairfield, Iowa (December 20^th, 2018) The Iowa/Jefferson/Keokuk Early Childhood Iowa Board is collaborating with the Jefferson County Child Care Steering Committee to offer a new incentive program to anyone currently operating a registered child care program in their home Participants in the program can receive up to $2,500 in incentives. There are currently seven registered child care programs in Jefferson County.

Home-based child care businesses enrolled in the incentive program, will need to work with Child Care Resource and Referral and the Jefferson County Child Care Nurse Consultant to begin an application. The new incentive program will provide the following tiered-incentives:

Requirement:                                                                                                      Incentive:

• Registered Provider to Level 1 on the Quality Rating System              $500.00
• Go From a Level 1 To Level 2 on the Quality Rating System                $500.00
• Go From a Level 2 To Level 3 on the Quality Rating System                $500.00
• Go From a Level 3 To Level 4 on the Quality Rating System                $500.00
• Go From a Level 4 To Level 5 on the Quality Rating System                $500.00

                                                                                                       $2,500.00 Total Incentive

“Our goal is to retain current home-based child care businesses in the Fairfield community. Home-based child care businesses will be eligible for incentive payment once they complete the quality requirements,” said Tammy Wetjen-Kesterson, Director for Iowa/Keokuk/Jefferson Early Childhood Iowa.  “Iowa has lost 40% of its child care providers in the last five years.  In 2011, Jefferson County had 36 providers. By 2018, the number of providers has decreased to 14.”

This incentive program is in response to the Jefferson County Child Care Steering Committee’s three-tiered approach to addressing the child care shortage in the Fairfield Community:

• Assist Existing Child Care Business to Expand Services
• Recruit and Retain New Home-Based Child Care Businesses
• Open a New Child Care Facility in Fairfield

There will be an open-house informational session for current home-based child care providers and for those interested in starting a new home-based child care program on January 9, 2019, at 6 p.m. at Washington Elementary School Gym.  Snow date is January 16, 2019.

Joshua Laraby, Executive Director for Fairfield Economic Development Association said, “The committee is making consistent progress on assisting with the creation of more child care spaces, addressing affordability and improving the quality of care. The partnership between Early Childhood Iowa, the Jefferson County Child Care Steering Committee and economic development, we think, has been key.”

Contact’s to learn more:

Mandi Lauderman, Jefferson County Public Health
County Child Care Nurse Consultant
641-472-5929
mandi@jeffcoph.com

Julie Ledger, Child Care Resources & Referral
Child Care Consultant
jledger@caeiowa.org

Media Contact:

Tammy Wetjen-Kesterson, Early Childhood Iowa
Director for Iowa, Keokuk and Jefferson Counties
iowajeffersonkeokukeci@gmail.com