Child Care Scholarships

The Scott County Kids Early Childhood Iowa child care scholarship, administered by Friendly House, is designed to help Scott County families with a portion of their child care fees for children ages birth through five years old, not yet in kindergarten. Families must be ineligible for any other child care assistance and must secure a licensed or registered daycare provider. Registered in-home providers must carry child care liability insurance and receive a 100% compliance visit from the Department of Human Services to be a provider on the program.

Who is the program for?

Designed to pay a portion of child care expenses for families not meeting financial eligibility for Iowa DHS child care assistance, the Child Care Scholarship Program assists eligible families who are working and/or attending school.

Criteria for participating in the program:

  • Infant through 5 years old (not yet attending Kindergarten)
  • Resident of Scott County
  • Parent must be working and/or attending school a minimum of 28 hours per week and fall within the income guidelines.
  • Parent must secure care with a licensed child care center or registered in-home child care provider

How does it work?

A flat rate ($200 – $300 per month for full-time childcare or $100 – $150 per month for part-time childcare)  is paid directly to the child care provider and the parent pays the remainder of the provider fee. Child care scholarship payments can only be made to licensed centers or registered family child care homes that have been visited and approved by the Family Child Care Compliance Auditor at Scott County Kids.

Client Testimonials

The program has helped me maintain steady, stable employment, a stable place to live for me and my child.  It allows me to have a little peace of mind, that if a temporary cut happens at work, I will still be able to afford to work. Without this program, I would not be able to work toward my goals of self-sufficiency and home ownership because I wouldn’t have been able to afford to pay all of my bills all of the time.        — Julie

It has given me the opportunity to work full time and be able to afford daycare, and provide a better life for my kids on my own.  — Courtney

Sign Up

The Child Care Scholarship program is administered by Friendly House. To sign up, please contact Renee Rankin at 563-323-1821 x14 or visit the Friendly House website to download an application. You can also download a brochure for more information.