2024 — Q2 Update on Childcare Challenges and CollaborationsCity of Dubuque
City Council Meeting
Consent Items # 06.
Copyrighted
May 6, 2024
ITEM TITLE: 2024 — Q2 Update on Childcare Challenges and Collaborations
SUMMARY: City Manager providing an update on the status of collaboration efforts
among numerous partners in Dubuque to address the need for access to
quality, affordable childcare options in the community, as it had been
identified as a barrier to employment and economic prosperity in
Dubuque.
SUGGESTED Suggested Disposition: Receive and File
DISPOSITION:
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
MVM Memo
Staff Memo
Type
City Manager Memo
Staff Memo
THE C
DUjIBQTE
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: 2024 — Q2 Update on Childcare Challenges and Collaborations
DATE: April 29, 2024
Dubuque
WAWca 914
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2007-2012.2013
2017*2019
Economic Development Director Jill Connors is providing an update on the status of
collaboration efforts among numerous partners in Dubuque to address the need for
access to quality, affordable childcare options in the community, as it had been identified
as a barrier to employment and economic prosperity in Dubuque. Although previous
updates have been provided to City Council to relay timely information, this memorandum
attempts to more fully lay out the complete history of Dubuque's work to positively impact
the childcare ecosystem.
Mic ael C. Van Milligen
MCVM:sv
Attachment
cc: Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
Jill Connors, Economic Development Director
Dubuque
THE CITY OF
All -America My
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DUB E
2007-2012.2013
Masterpiece on the Mississippi 2017*2019
TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Jill M. Connors, Economic Development Director
Economic Development
Department
1300 Main Street
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-4763
Office (563) 589-4393
TTY (563) 690-6678
http://www.cityofdubuque.org
SUBJECT: 2024 — Q2 Update on Childcare Challenges and Collaborations
DATE: April 4, 2024
INTRODUCTION
This memorandum provides an update on the status of collaboration efforts among
numerous partners in Dubuque to address the need for access to quality, affordable
childcare options in the community, as it had been identified as a barrier to employment
and economic prosperity in Dubuque. Although previous updates have been provided to
City Council to relay timely information, this memorandum attempts to more fully lay out
the complete history of Dubuque's work to positively impact the childcare ecosystem.
DISCUSSION
The following is a timeline of key elements and progress of the effort.
2016
In 2016 the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, through its Project HOPE
program, conducted a community needs assessment, which identified that childcare
access and affordability are primary barriers to workforce participation, especially for low-
income households and women.
2018
As follow up to those findings, several regional partners held a Childcare Solutions
Summit in January 2018, including the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, Iowa
Childcare Resource & Referral, Jackson County Economic Alliance, Dyersville Area
Community Foundation, Greater Dubuque Development Corporation, and the Iowa
Women's Foundation.
In order to address some of those findings, community partners in Dubuque galvanized
and began to address barriers one by one. One early focus area was to increase the
childcare workforce, as the number of childcare businesses had decreased by 40% from
2012-2017 according to Childcare Resource & Referral.
In partnership with Greater Dubuque Development Corporation, the Northeast Iowa
Community College developed a certificate program to provide training in the childcare
industry through its Opportunity Dubuque certificate program. The Child Development
Associate certificate curriculum was designed and then vetted by childcare providers. In
order to encourage enrollment, the Greater Dubuque Development Corporation
developed a pilot program to provide free childcare to Opportunity Dubuque students
during their certificate studies and continuing for one year after graduation from the
program.
The hope was to increase childcare availability in order entice parents into the workforce,
as the local unemployment rate was 1.8% at the time — one of the lowest in the country.
2019
In January 2019 the Dubuque City Council committed $80,000 to support the
aforementioned Child Development Associate certificate pilot program. Dubuque County
Supervisors likewise contributed $80,000 to the effort.
Then in November 2019 a small group from Dubuque including City staff, as well as staff
from Greater Dubuque Development Corporation, Northeast Iowa Community College,
and the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, participated in a National League of
Cities program (Cities of Opportunity), using that opportunity to discuss our local childcare
challenges. The program is designed to provide a framework for how to address
community -wide issues in order to achieve desired outcomes. At the Cities of Opportunity
inaugural cohort convening, a representative from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
encouraged participants to "Do more than think big. ACT." And so, we continue our work.
Stemming from and in tandem with the work with the National League of Cities, the small
group began to have a larger conversation with additional organizations suited to address
childcare issues. This local coalition is collaborating to address current challenges and
to identify next steps in this work for a community -wide approach to providing sufficient
affordable, quality childcare in Dubuque to support families, employers, workforce, and
childcare providers.
Our local coalition is comprised of the following partners:
• City of Dubuque
2
• Childcare Resource & Referral
• Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque
• Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce
• Dubuque Community School District
• Dubuque County Early Childhood
• Dubuque Initiatives
• Greater Dubuque Development Corporation
• Northeast Iowa Community College
• Visiting Nurses Association
2020
In 2020, Greater Dubuque Development Corporation, through over 300 personal
interviews with local industry leaders identified that workforce availability and childcare
were looming issues. The pandemic only exacerbated the problems for both employers
and the childcare centers and providers their workers relied on
2021
Local partners traveled to the capital of Iowa in Des Moines to speak with state leaders
about reimbursement formulas and ways to support local childcare centers Then -Mayor
Roy Buol served on Governor Reynold's Childcare Task Force that developed a
comprehensive set of state strategies. Greater Dubuque Development Corporation met
with the board of Dubuque Initiatives to talk about the role that business -oriented non-
profits could play.
During its annual goal setting, the Dubuque City Council identified "Childcare Initiative"
as a 2021-2023 High Priority. And its 2022-2024 priorities included implementation of the
Poverty Prevention and Reduction Plan, which calls for an Early Learning & Childcare
task force to address childcare deserts and the childcare worker shortage.
2022
Early in 2022 Greater Dubuque Development Corporation commissioned an independent
assessment of the Dubuque region's childcare capacity and detailed the need for
childcare generally and specifically the types of coverage hardest for centers to provide,
including infant care, emergency care, extended hours and shift care.
Dubuque Initiatives then used that study, and the new tools coming from the Governor's
Task Force and State to aggressively pursue solutions to our workforce childcare crisis
in the Dubuque region. To assist, Greater Dubuque Development Corporation also
created an extensive employee survey that employers could use to help them understand
3
the extent and type of childcare challenges their workers faced and how it was impacting
the company.
We engaged our employer community and childcare community together. Employers
were very supportive but hesitant to undertake childcare efforts themselves, given that
was not their core competence. Childcare centers were very supportive but hesitant to
expand given costs and workforce issues they faced. But they both felt there was an
opportunity to work together.
In mid-2022 Governor Reynolds and the State created the Childcare Business Incentive
Grant program. It offered matching funds to employer -led initiatives designed to increase
childcare capacity in Iowa. Dubuque Initiatives seized on the opportunity and created an
employer consortium to pursue matching funds for a multi -employer childcare center.
Dubuque Initiatives and its employers pledged $2.2 million and received a $2.15 million
dollar State match.
Of note is the simultaneous granting of millions of dollars to two other local organizations
for the buildout of other childcare centers — one in Dubuque's downtown and the other on
the opposite side of Dubuque County. In fact, these 3 awards constituted 25% of the
grant funds available statewide.
Greater Dubuque Development Corporation was tasked with finding a home for a new
center and after review of multiple properties, focused on a facility owned by Medline
Industries in the west end industrial park. Medline's management believed this effort was
important to the community and offered the building at 50% of its assessed value.
Dubuque Initiatives closed on the purchase of the building on December 30, 2022.
The Board of Dubuque Initiatives issued an RPF and interviewed multiple provider
partners, eventually selecting the Dubuque Community Y to operate the childcare center.
2023
Bright Minds Campus
As the facility was larger than what would be needed for a childcare center, and not
content with its partnership so far, Dubuque Initiatives and Greater Dubuque
Development Corporation began conversations with other organizations to fill additional
spaces in the building. This included the Dubuque Community School District, the City,
and the County; each of which had been concurrently scouting for a new location for some
of their operations.
4
The building now includes the Dubuque Community School District's new preschool
center called "Seedlings". Housing a preschool and childcare center in the same building
solves the transportation issue that some parents encounter when enrolling their children
in preschool and needing wraparound care while they are still at work.
The City had been searching for a locating for a new IT Center, with room for its servers
and staff.
The County had been looking for a location for a new 911 Call Center to replace its
outdated and too -small current space. As both the City and the County benefit from the
911 Call Center, they have partnered on the costs of building out the space.
The tenants collectively have agreed to call the facility the Bright Minds Campus.
As important as this new childcare facility is for filling existing gaps and creating new
childcare capacity, we know it is not, by itself, the answer. That answer is to make sure
that every childcare provider can be successful and that every person who wants to work
in this profession can afford to do so. And we pledged to work toward that goal.
Wage Enhancement Program
In the midst of our build -out in the fall of 2023, we were contacted by the State of Iowa
with a second opportunity. There was a new, one-time program through the Department
of Health and Human Services called the Childcare Solutions Fund that would be
available for projects where employers and childcare centers who partnered to invest on
improving the recruitment and retention of needed childcare workforce could be matched
one -for -one by the State. The grant -funded program provides wage increases for
childcare providers during the timeframe of the grant.
We were asked ... is there an opportunity in Dubuque and could we move quickly enough,
since the grant funds would need to be expended by October 2024? The answer was a
big "yes". Dubuque Initiatives and Greater Dubuque Development put a strong plan
together noting that they felt $280,000 could be raised from local employers for the
effort. The State wanted to see that figure guaranteed and the Board of Greater Dubuque
Development Corporation stepped up to do just that. With that strong showing of
commitment, we were awarded not a one -for -one, but a two -for -one grant of $560,000.
Greater Dubuque Development then undertook an extensive campaign (Business
Champions for Childcare) with area employers to raise both the pledged funds and
capacity for a larger, three-year program to support workforce childcare capacity.
Employers responded positively to Greater Dubuque Development's efforts, including a
5
John Deere Foundation commitment of $600,000 over 3 years toward a wage
enhancement program. Other companies have also committed funds and become
"Childcare Champions", bringing the total commitment from private employers through
Greater Dubuque Development to over $1.1 million to date.
Dubuque Initiatives, Greater Dubuque Development, and Childcare Resource & Referral
are partnering on the implementation of the wage enhancement program. Dubuque
Initiatives and Greater Dubuque Development convened a meeting to provide information
to local childcare providers about the program. Childcare Resource & Referral is
administering the program. In order to be eligible for the program, childcare providers
must be licensed and accept state Childcare Assistance funds as well as be able to show
the program will be sustainable once the grant funds are no longer available. Those funds
can be used to increase wages, provide annual training bonuses, and enhance
recruitment efforts by offering a $1,000 bonus/stipend to new childcare workers to expand
capacity.
Although this is one-time money, it has already shown it is a viable short-term option while
continuing to search for longer term solutions.
2024
One year and one week after purchasing the facility for the new childcare center, the
Dubuque Community Y opened its doors on January 8, 2024 at the Bright Minds Campus.
Our local coalition of partners continues to meet regularly to sustain the momentum. The
coalition recently invited a representative of Johnson County Social Services to its
January 2024 meeting to learn more about their county's deployment of the wage
enhancement program dollars. The program in Johnson County has similar eligibility
requirements as Dubuque, with the addition of requiring recipients to be IQ4K certified
(Iowa Quality for Kids is Iowa's new quality rating and improvement system for childcare
providers). Dubuque is considering this requirement (or preference) for future rounds of
funding.
BENEFITS OF OUR COLLABORATION
We have found our regular meetings helpful for hearing from our partners in the field
about new developments, and for having a forum for elevating new challenges and
opportunities that we identify during the course of our work.
RECOMMENDATION/ ACTION STEP
This memo is for informational purposes, and I respectfully request the City Council
continues to recognize and prioritize childcare as a community need in the coming years.
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