Oct. 19—OTTUMWA — As consternation over the lack of child care in the region continues, help is on the way soon.
Sieda Community Action and Indian Hills Community College announced a partnership Wednesday that will give the college's Childhood Development Center a new lease on life, with Sieda housing child care for infants to 3 years old starting in January.
It was a plan that came together quickly after the college announced in August it would be closing its daycare center after almost 30 years in operation. When that happened, both the college and Sieda sprung into action.
"Indian Hills presented a partnership opportunity that was at the best cost for us," Sieda Executive Director Brian Dunn said Thursday. "We were contacted by some folks shortly after they announced they were closing to see if we could pursue a solution.
"As far as things like this go, it turned around pretty quickly."
Sieda will begin offering day care Jan. 1 in the building on the college's main campus, but Head Start will not be included, at least for now. Dunn estimated that between the two classrooms in the building, a maximum of 24 children could attend day care under the new partnership, though the infant/toddler split "will based on need."
Head Start will continue to be run out of Sieda's building on West Second Street.
Still, one of the reasons IHCC cited in closing its daycare was the lack of qualified help to provide that care. Dunn said Sieda will be hiring staff for the new day care because it's a new partnership.
"We try to pay competitive wages, and that's our intent, but we will go through the normal hiring process," he said. "Folks that work on the child care side will be paid in line with what folks who do similar work make at Head Start."
Dunn said in the fall of 2024, Sieda hopes to offer Head Start classes at the day care center.
Indian Hills president Matt Thompson praised the partnership in a press release the school released late Wednesday afternoon. Initially, the college was ceasing its 0-3 daycare Oct. 27, but that has been extended through Dec. 21.
"We feel it's important to offer care through the transition period to provide both staff and families with children at the center with the opportunity to stay at the current location," Thompson said. "We are excited to see this agreement finalized, and look forward to partnering with Sieda Community Action to continue offering child care on the Ottumwa campus."
The initial agreement between the entities ends Dec. 31, 2026. Sieda will rent the childhood development center from the college for $22,800 per year.