There is a critical lack of child care for refugee families. In response the Catherine McAuley Center is partnering with local agencies to support refugee women in establishing registered in-home child care businesses. Federal funding has been secured to support the program. However, this funding is restricted to refugees who have been in the US for less then 5 years, excluding a significant number of refugee women who are interested, qualified, and have the capacity to operate quality child care businesses in their homes. Through initial outreach, CMC has identified at least 1-15 women who fall into this category but are currently ineligible. Funding from IWF will be used to enroll 4-5 of these women, creating approximately 15-20 new child care slots in Cedar Rapids and contributing to participants‘ household income.
