This article was originally published in Iowa Capital Dispatch.
The Iowa House passed a measure Monday to make the current pilot program providing free child care for child care workers permanent.
Iowa’s Child Care Assistance (CCA) program is available to parents with a gross monthly income below 250% the federal poverty level, if they are gone during the week days due to their job, schooling, vocational training or state PROMISE JOBS activities. However, Iowans working at least 32 hours a week in the child care field have also been able to access the CCA program outside of the income restrictions through a pilot program implemented in 2023 and extended in subsequent years…