Child Care

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds called solving the child care shortage a priority in last year's Condition of the State address. What's being done to add more slots for families?

Host Ben Kieffer is joined by IPR Statehouse reporter Katarina Sostaric for a conversation with Iowa legislative leaders on day one of a new session.

Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday she plans to give up to $200 million of federal pandemic relief funding to Iowa child care centers that lost money because of the pandemic, and that she'll take more action in the coming months aimed at improving child care access and quality based on the new recommendations from her Child Care Task Force.

House Democrats are further expanding the definition of infrastructure with a plan to provide paid leave and family benefits for the vast majority of Americans.

Childcare in Iowa appears to be reaching a crisis. Nearly a quarter of the state’s residents are estimated to live in a childcare desert while the annual…

Many childcare centers across the state have been forced to shut their doors because of COVID-19. For those who are still open, declining enrollment…

The Iowa House has passed five bills related to increasing access to childcare.Legislators overwhelmingly passed the Republican-sponsored bills on Monday…

More than two dozen experts, parents and lawmakers gathered in West Des Moines on Friday to discuss issues surrounding childcare in the state.Democratic…

Jessica Sheridan’s plan was to have her first daughter at the local hospital, five minutes from her house in Iowa Falls. But when she was seven months…

Iowa’s Department of Human Services says the state’s foster care system has come a long way in helping children in unsafe home situations, but there’s…