July 2024 Volume 34; Issue 11

You can view the complete newsletter here.

From the Executive Director's Desk

What an eventful month June has been with the catastrophic flooding in Northwest Iowa. The extreme rainfall led to an immediate disaster proclamation from Governor Kim Reynolds following the evacuation of thousands of residents. Four of Mid-Sioux’s five counties (Cherokee, Lyon, Plymouth & Sioux) were approved by President Biden for a Major Disaster Declaration. This Declaration allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide assistance to homeowners, renters, businesses, and nonprofits whose property was impacted by the disaster. Thank you to Laura Benson and her staff for their work in assisting families through the Iowa Individual Grant Program, prior to the FEMA Declaration. Their work will continue through the Disaster Case Advocacy Program as they assist families with accessing services and resources as they recover from the disaster. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and businesses who were impacted by the floods.

June was the last month of the State of Iowa’s fiscal year. This means all of the contracts with state funding ended in June. This is a busy time for Project Directors and fiscal staff as they monitor expenditures to close out the current fiscal year and also set up budgets for the new fiscal year. Thank you to the fiscal staff for their diligent work in monitoring the budgets to assure we stay within our financial limits.

The Iowa Community Action Association (ICAA) hosted its annual conference July 24^th & 25^th. We had several staff members in attendance. This was a great opportunity for networking with the other 15 Community Action Agencies in Iowa. Thank you to Kendra Rensink for serving on the conference planning committee!

As we approach the end of July, families are busy with county fairs, state tournaments, and vacations! With summer wrapping up, I hope everyone can spend meaningful time with family and friends! 

Respectfully,

Cindy Harpenau
Executive Director

Child Care Resource & Referral

New Professional Development Services Available

Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) was awarded new contracts from Health and Human Services (HHS) following a competitive bid process in 2023-2024. In this process, Mid-Sioux received a Professional Development Statewide contract. One of the new services is to provide online training available statewide.

Dottie Roberts, former Regional Training Specialist, accepted the new position of Statewide Professional Development Specialist (Online). In this new position, she will develop and implement an annual virtual and online training plan that will include trainer-led and self-study online, or hybrid training opportunities, including:

• ChildNet 3.0

• EC-PBIS Preschool 2023 Modules 1-3

• EC-PBIS Preschool 2023 Modules 4-6

• EC-PBIS Infant Toddler Modules 1-6

• EC-PBIS Infant Toddler Modules 7-8

• EC-PBIS Family Child Care

• School Age Matters

The training plan will primarily focus on offering and maximizing participation, utilizing the following strategies:

• Offer individualized group coaching cohorts

• Support ChildNet Certification and Practice Based Coaching by offering a quarterly ChildNet 3.0 series

• Support child care center program individualized staff training needs by hosting sites

• Support child care center host programs approved internal instructors in partnership to provide training credit 

• Reduce overlap of virtual and in-person offerings through strategic scheduling and collaboration with the regional agencies 

• Offer series completion stipend 

• Offer a minimum of four topics of quarterly gap content virtual training

• Offer a virtual conference annually on a topic

CCR&R is looking forward to supporting child care providers on their professional development journey. You may contact Dottie at: ccrrpd@midsioux.org for more information. 

Dawn Badker completed the I-Consult Mentor Credentialing program which prepared her to mentor other consultants. Dawn developed skills in the areas of co-creating relationships, observation, supporting reflection, giving feedback, and action planning. She participated in four mentor credentialing workshops, developed a professional portfolio, and worked in partnership with Iowa State University to mentor a consultant working towards their Consultation Credential. 

I-Consult Credential Renewal

Congratulations to Bailey Hill for achieving her I-Consult Credential Renewal. I-Consult is a professional development system developed by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach supporting consultants employed by Iowa CCR&R. Child Care Consultants work closely with early childhood programs to identify program strengths and problem solve challenges. They are a valuable resource to help improve the quality of care for Iowa’s children.

Bailey Hill participated in the I-Consult Credentialing program this past year. The process required consultants to reflect upon, document, and demonstrate their skills in consultation in four content areas by linking their practices to the I-Consult competencies. She participated in four credentialing workshops, developed a professional portfolio, and received feedback from her mentor and clients regarding her practice.

Heating & Energy

Human Resources

Mid-Sioux Opportunity, Inc. employment opportunities:  View Openings Here

Resource Requests

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