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Helping People. Changing Lives.
September 2020 Volume 30; Issue 10
From the Executive Director's Desk
September is the last month of our fiscal year. What a year it has been. Mid-Sioux continues to serve families and in some cases our service numbers are up. This is true for W.I.C. services and for emergency/crisis applications. Serving W.I.C. families remotely has worked well and allows staff the time to follow up with clients more frequently. Crisis assistance has seen a large increase in requests for various needs such as rental payments. Staff continue to do an excellent job in providing services in a flexible way.

Our funding from the federal CARES Act/COVID-19 has provided over $1 million dollars in additional support for various services. Some of that assistance will end on December 31st while other funds will be available for another year. 

We are preparing for the annual audit financial review which will take place later on in the calendar year. The compliance portion has been completed with all reports indicating there were no findings. Thanks very much to the fiscal staff and everyone involved in management of our grants/contracts.

We have completed our 3-year review of the Community Services Block Grant and the CSBG Standards Review. We do not have an official follow up letter yet but indications are that both reviews had no findings. Thanks to Sharon Heidesch, Monica Gravenish, Laura Benson and all who work with these services.

Congress has not passed a budget for the new year. A continuing resolution lasting until at least Mid-December is likely. 

Fall is upon us. I hope it is a profitable one for our farmers and area businesses.
OUTREACH PROGRAM
Although services have looked a little different in our Outreach offices as we continue to respond to and protect our staff and customers during the COVID-19 pandemic, staff has continued to stay very busy! 

Most of our work has been done over the phone and we continue to provide curb-side food packages. As we begin to prepare for our busy fall and winter season, we will still be conducting most of our services over the phone, including the Low-income Home Energy Assistance Program (LiHEAP) applications. Applications can be taken for elderly and disabled households beginning October 1st. All other households are eligible to apply beginning November 1st. Although most of these applications will be taken over the phone, we still encourage families to call and schedule a phone appointment. We still plan to offer our Holiday Gift Program as well and although it seems early, we will also begin working on letters for that very soon!

We are restricting the amount of people in to offices. If you feel it is necessary to come in for services, we encourage you to call the office first. We are more than willing to work with families on getting us the required information to apply for services (whether it be by mail, email, fax, or leaving it in one of our outside lock boxes).

If you have questions on any of our outreach services, staff can be reached at the contact information below.

Cherokee County Outreach
(712) 225-3322
Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 4:30 pm


Sioux County Outreach
(712) 722-3611
Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 4:30 pm

Plymouth, Ida, and Lyon County families may reach staff at the above phone numbers, email, or call 1-800-859-2025 to apply for services over the phone. 
CHILD CARE RESOURCE & REFERRAL
Child Care Resource & Referral of NW Iowa has continued to work with The Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) to post all COVID-19 rules, regulations and announcements regarding topics child care businesses are to follow. DHS released a funding opportunity which included of a monthly stipend that child care businesses may apply for if they were open and eligible for the months of April through August. DHS has now announced that they will be able to continue offering the Basic Monthly Stipend, the Essential Employees Add-On, the Rejuvenation Grant and CCA unlimited billing for the month of September! Listen to our CCR&R VLOG to learn more about this funding opportunity. Check out our newest VLOG at https://iowaccrr.org/blog/2020/8/11/CCRR_Blog/Basic_Monthly_Stipend_Review/

Did you know September is National Emergency Preparedness Month? This month helps promote family, child care, and community disaster planning. Iowa law requires child care providers to have a written emergency plan in place by October 1, 2016. Emergency plans must include procedures for:
  1. Evacuation and relocation
  2. Sheltering-in-place
  3. Lockdown
  4. Addressing the individual needs of children, including those with functional or access needs
  5. Communication and reunification with parents and other approved individuals
  6. Continuity of operations
If you or someone you know has not prepared an emergency plan, check out https://iowaccrr.org/fa/EP/ for templates or tools to help! 
SIOUX COUNTY OUTREACH
Our Sioux Center office has been getting busier now that we are in the office all week. We have seen an increase in crisis applications for both rent and utilities in August. We are still taking applications for utility and rental assistance until the end of September, then we will begin taking LiHEAP (Low-income Home Energy Assistance Program) applications for clients that are over 60 years old or have a fixed income. 

 We had a great turn out for the Back to School program this year. The Back to School program helps families who are income eligible and had children in grades K thru 6th by providing a backpack and school supplies. We were able to help 53 families and 103 children with their basic necessities for school. We appreciate the continued partnership with our many sponsors that help us make this program possible.

We have been receiving donations every week this summer from the All Season’s Center in Sioux Center. They hold a donation drive every Tuesday. If you bring in a canned good, then you get $2.00 off admission. This summer they have brought us over 200 lbs of canned goods and they hope to continue the program so they are able to help more!! Our office also completes scholarship applications for a discounted pool pass at the All-Season’s Center for Sioux Center families. The amount of the scholarship is based on a family’s income. This year, we have assisted 108 children in 36 families with the scholarship applications. 

Early Head Start is still accepting applications! Sioux County classes are in particular need for more children. To apply, you can contact any Outreach office or go to www.midsioux.org and fill out the online application. 

For questions on any of our services, I can be reached Monday through Friday at 712-722-3611 or at skennedy@midsioux.org.
418 S. Marion Street | Remsen, IA 51050 | 712-786-2001 | 800-859-2025