1. The department shall work with the early childhood Iowa office in the department of management established in section 256I.5 and the state child care advisory committee in designing and implementing a voluntary quality rating system for each provider type of child care facility.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 237A.30

  • Child: means either of the following:
  • Child care: means the care, supervision, and guidance of a child by a person other than the child's parent, guardian, or custodian for periods of less than twenty-four hours per day per child on a regular basis, but does not include care, supervision, and guidance of a child by any of the following:
  • Consumer: means any one of the following:
  • Department: means the department of human services. See Iowa Code 237A.1
  • Director: means the director of human services. See Iowa Code 237A.1
  • facility: means a child care center, preschool, or a registered child development home. See Iowa Code 237A.1
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Internet: means the federated international system that is composed of allied electronic communication networks linked by telecommunication channels, that uses standardized protocols, and that facilitates electronic communication services, including but not limited to use of the world wide web; the transmission of electronic mail or messages; the transfer of files and data or other electronic information; and the transmission of voice, image, and video. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. The criteria utilized for the rating system may include but are not limited to any of the following: 

 a. Facility type.
 b. Provider staff experience, education, training, and credentials.
 c. Facility director education and training.
 d. An environmental rating score or other direct assessment environmental methodology.
 e. National accreditation.
 f. Facility history of compliance with law and rules.
 g. Child-to-staff ratio.
 h. Curriculum, including the extent to which the curriculum focuses on the stages of child development and on child outcomes.
 i. Business practices.
 j. Staff retention rates.
 k. Evaluation of staff members and program practices.
 l. Staff compensation and benefit practices.
 m. Provider and staff membership in professional early childhood organizations.
 n. Parental involvement with the facility.
 3. A facility’s quality rating may be included on the internet site and in the consumer information provided by the department pursuant to section 237A.25 and shall be identified in the child care provider referrals made by child care resource and referral service grantees under section 237A.26.