Refugee Child Care Business Development Program – CORE Grant

LSI’s Child Care Business Development program has worked to build bridges within the child care system for prospective and existing child care providers from various ethnic groups since 2012. The program helps refugee women increase their families’ financial stability by becoming registered in-home child care providers through the Iowa Department of Human Services (IDHS); it improves the number of quality culturally and linguistically appropriate child care spots available for refugee parents who are seeking to go to work or school; it Increases retention of registered child care providers who have limited English and American business backgrounds, to keep the pool of available culturally-competent child care slots at a reasonable level; and it offers support to other refugee populations and their advocates who may want to increase registered child care homes in their area of Iowa.
LSI provides interpreted DHS-approved training, registration support, literacy and business development home visits, walk-in technical assistance, and connection to childcare professional development networks. In addition to offering training to providers in Central Iowa, LSI is also committed to providing technical assistance and training to other communities and organizations interested in starting a refugee childcare training program.