The solution.
The Allamakee County Child Care Solutions Fund supports long-term child care solutions, such as more livable wages for child care providers, financial support for building resilience in local child care businesses, and implementation of child care projects as they are prioritized by local communities.
Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission currently manages Allamakee’s Child Care Solutions Fund. In addition, the Allamakee County Child Care Coalition, a local childcare task force, helps set the parameters for the Solutions Fund, facilitates community investment in the fund, engages the community about child care issues, and otherwise collaborate on long-term child care strategies for our county.
The current priority for the Solutions Fund is retaining the child care workforce to ensure availability of care. In the fall of 2023, using a combination of local donations and state funds, a child care Wage Enhancement Program (WEP) was created within the Solutions Fund to address the urgent issue of attracting and retaining a child care workforce. In its first year (2024) wage enhancement was provided as an hourly increase to child care center staff and a retention bonus to registered in-homes. In 2025, the Allamakee Child Care Coalition shifted to a countywide Retention Bonus Program for all child care providers.
The impacts.
The benefits of the child care provider Retention Bonus Program in shoring up of the child care workforce and increasing resilience in child care businesses is apparent. Impacts include new staff at child care centers, better retention of existing staff, an opened classroom (Postville Child Care Services), reduced waiting lists, and small increases in enrollment. We have also received appreciative comments from registered in-homes, describing using the funds to buy needed educational toys, games and equipment, to improve compensation, and to generally stabilize business operations in whatever way is most helpful. Providers are feeling supported and appreciated by this program, and they are clear that the need was real and the impacts have been positive.
Give your support.
Local businesses, community members, city leaders and county representatives can all invest in the Allamakee County Child Care Solutions Fund to help keep childcare open and available in your communities. An easy online giving option is provided below, or reach out to Upper Explorerland to learn more!
Other Resources
and Contacts.
Allamakee County Child Care Coalition
Allamakee County Economic and Tourism
Val Reinke, Coalition Chair
allamakeecountyedt@gmail.com
(563) 419 – 0908
Allamakee County Child Care Solutions Fund
Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission
Jodi Emery, Finance Manager, jgray@uerpc.org
Michelle Barness, Regional Planner, mbarness@uerpc.org
Phone: (563) 382 – 6171
