Greetings and Happy Spring!
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The 89th Legislative Session began January 10, 2022 and should conclude in 100 days on April 10, 2022. The 100th session day falls on Tuesday, April 19th this year, two days after Easter. Legislator per diems end at that point. Unlike many states, the Iowa Legislature does not meet for a set number of days, and can go past the per diem deadline, or adjourn prior to the deadline. Though it's unlikely they will want to work on Easter weekend just to end session early.
While there were several child care bills introduced this year, only three are still active.
Allows a childcare provider to collect the difference between the amount of state assistance and the amount the provider normally charges from a family in the childcare assistance program.
Requires the DHS to amend rules to allow 16-year-olds working or volunteering at a childcare facility to be unsupervised.
The Childcare Ratio bills (HF 2131/SF 2268) remain on the House Calendar and eligible for consideration as well.
This is also an election year for state and federal offices. Primary candidates were filed by March 18, 2022. For list of candidates go to the Secretary of State website. There are many changes in districts due to the redistricting that will be implemented this year. The Des Moines metro has many new lines and the 4 R Kids ECI area will have a 30% increase in legislators representing Adair, Dallas, Madison and Warren County and this is due to the population changes.
Stay healthy and safe!
Debra Schrader
4 R Kids Executive Director
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Say Thank You to 4 R Kids Board Members
They donate their time to make a difference in lives of families with children under the age of 6. Give a shout out to the following board members the next time you see them!
Deb Blazek- Adair County
Brittany Shinn - Adair County
Jesse Ramey - Adair County
Bryce Smith - Dallas County
Kevin Howe - Dallas County
Colleen Strohmaier - Dallas County
Rita Martens - Madison County
Paul Millhollin - Madison County
Wendy Sawyer - Madison County
Justin Terry - Warren County
Nancy Hopkins - Warren County
Nikki Gunn - Warren County
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Food Alergies
How Common Are Food Allergies?
- About 32 million people have food allergies in the U.S.
- About 26 million (10.8%) U.S. adults have food allergies.
- About 5.6 million (7.6%) U.S. children have food allergies.
- In 2018, 4.8 million (6.5%) children under 18 years of age had food allergies over the previous 12 months.
- In 2018, 6% of Black and Hispanic children had food allergies over the previous 12 months, compared to 6.6% of white children.
- Food allergy has increased among U.S. children over the past 20 years, with the greatest increase in Black children.
- Milk, egg, wheat and soy allergies are often outgrown. Most people do not outgrow peanut, tree nut, fish and shellfish allergies.
- Children with food allergies are two to four times more likely to have asthma or other allergic disease.
What Are the Most Frequent Food Allergens?
Eight foods cause 90 percent of most food allergy reactions; Milk, Egg, Peanut, Tree nut (e.g., almonds, walnut, pecans, cashews, pistachios), Wheat, Soy, Fish (e.g., bass, flounder, cod), Shellfish (e.g., crab, shrimp, scallop, clams), Sesame is also a rising food allergy. It affects an estimated 1 million people in the United States.
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Childcare Crisis by the Numbers
Iowa, like the rest of the country, continues to experience an interconnected workforce and childcare crisis. The Governor’s office reports that the state has lost a 1/3 of its available childcare businesses in the past 5 years, with a current shortfall of 350,000 slots statewide.
More sobering facts about the reality of childcare in Iowa:
- A year of daycare in Iowa costs more than a year of in-state college.
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Each parent misses an average of 8.6 days of work per year for lack of childcare.
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In 2020, the average cost of childcare center care for a baby and a 4 year-old was $19,599. That’s 75% of poverty-level income for a family of four.
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The mean wage for Iowa childcare workers is $10.70 per hour (BLS). The vast majority of childcare workers—approximately 95% are women, and many are raising children themselves.
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Iowa leads the nation in the percentage of households with children under 6 where all available adults are working (76%).
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April is Child Abuse
Awarness Month
It’s estimated that at least 1 in 7
children in the US has experienced
child abuse and/or neglect in the past
year. Show your support for child
abuse prevention by wearing
blue on Blue Out Day April 1.
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Child Abuse
Prevention Conference
The FY22 state Child Abuse
Prevention Conference will be
virtural May 11-12 th.
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Toddlers Have Allot Of Energy
You might find yourself wondering how much energy toddlers have, but you probably aren’t even close. An average toddler expends the same amount of energy as an adult, if the said adult ran 30 miles!
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Did You Know?
On average, a 4-year-old child asks 437 questions a day.
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Toddlers Have Better Hearing
A baby’s hearing even within just 10 minutes of birth is good enough that they can tell where a sound is coming from. Hearing in toddlers is much better than in adults, thanks to their relatively newer ears. They can pick up higher frequencies of sounds that adults just automatically learn to tune out.
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Germs
Your toddler’s high chair has around 1500 times more germs
on it than his/her potty.
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Do YouWant Twins?
Adding generous amounts of sweet
potatoes to the diet may be the answer. Professor Percy Nylander of
the University of Ibadan, located in
Nigeria, has done extensive studies
of the native Yoruba tribe who have the highest rate of double births in the world. It was discovered that their diet is extremely high in yams (or sweet
potatoes)!
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Did You Know?
Winterset's City Park is the hidden limestone structure known as Clark Tower. It is three-stories tall and it was built in 1926 to honor two pioneers who settled in Madison County in the 1800s, Caleb and Ruth Clark.
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Google Folders
Due to the pandemic most if not all meetings are held electronically. Google folders have been implemented for anyone to drop documents into. Feel free to view or drop information into the respective folders.Folders are organized by fiscal years and months.
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4 R Kids ECI Board Meetings
April 21, 2022
May 19, 2022
September 8, 2022
All meetings are open to the public, agendas and minutes are located at www.4rkids-eci.org.
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