586764 - Credentials for Child Care Careers (C4) Grant
Funding Opportunity Details

Child Care & Career Technical Education Partnerships

Final Application Deadline: Nov 21, 2024 12:00 PM

Description

• Description

  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 (CDA^TM) Credential. The CDA is the most widely recognized credential in early childhood education (ECE) and is a key stepping stone to career advancement in the early education system. Grant awardees will use the approved curriculum paired with hands-on service hours to support students in completing the requirements for a CDA Credential. 

  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 grant funding between $50,000 and $75,000. Application fund requests should be based on program size and the proposed implementation plan to be used across the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years.

  Applicant Eligibility Requirements

  • Iowa school districts with or interested in starting 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: 

  1. Utilize the State-approved 3-semester curriculum aligned to attaining a Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential
  2. Ensure accordance with Iowa Administrative Rules for Child Care Centers, 441.109(7):
     1. First Semester Course will require HHS required professional development within the first 3 months of child care center employment (online, self-paced): 
        1. Account set up in Iowa’s Professional Development and Workforce Registry (i-PoWeR) TRAINING REGISTRY – Home (state.ia.us)
        2. Child Care Preservice/Essentials Series: 12 hours
        3. Mandatory Reporter: 2 hours
        4. Universal Precautions: 1 hour
     2. Ensure students have access and complete certification in 1^st 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
  3. 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. 
     1. A list of licensed child care centers may be obtained at Child Care Client Portal (state.ia.us)
  4. 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
  5. Submit mid-year and year-end reports (see Reporting Requirements)

  Models could include: 

  1. Aligning an 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
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. Other model to be described by the applicant.

  Payment Methodology

  In Year One, the Grantee will have approximately one-third of the awarded grant funds available for reimbursement of expenses on or about December 18, 2024. 

  In Year Two, the Grantee will have another one-third of awarded grant funds available for reimbursement of expenses upon submission and approval of the Year One end-of-year report. On January 2, 2026, the remaining one-third of awarded grant funds 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: 
    1. 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)
    2. Student Stipends (e.g. costs for transportation, course access, portfolio development, amount for professional development hours beyond requirements, hourly wage for practicum hours) 
    3. Partner Stipends to support community-based child care centers to provide work experience and/or volunteer opportunities for students (e.g. amount per student placement, hourly wage for practicum hours provided, coaching/mentoring supports, stipend for provision of professional development)
    4. Professional materials related to curriculum, screening, assessment, early literacy/numeracy, adult-child interactions and child/adult well-being
    5. Other allowable expenses the 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	October 17, 2024
  Grant Question Submission Deadline	October 30, 2024
  Agency Response to Questions	November 8, 2024 via IowaGrants and Iowa Department of Education website
  Application Deadline	November 21, 2024; 12:00pm NOON
  Awards Announced	Week of December 2, 2024
  Project Start Date	December 18, 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:

  1. In writing,
  2. Received within ten working days of the date of the notice of decision, and 
  3. 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. 

   

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