Early Childhood Iowa has a long and rich history of investing in young children, birth through age five, and their families. Early childhood experiences have an impact on the health, success in school, success in work, and in life overall.

Paired with research on the importance of the first three years of life, in 1998, the Iowa Legislature created the Iowa Community Empowerment. This provided funding for early childhood services with the establishment of state and local partnerships. In 2010, the Iowa Legislature passed additional legislation transitioning Community Empowerment to Early Childhood Iowa.

Local Early Childhood Iowa Areas are provided throughout the State of Iowa and are partners in the Early Childhood Iowa Initiative. Local ECI Areas are geopolitically self-defined within state-legislated parameters. Use community planning to drive local decision making. The Community Plan is a guide for the process to coordinate local planning and purchasing/contracting for services. Each local area is overseen by a board and Early Childhood Iowa Team who reports to the State Board. Oversite includes approved budgets, technical assistance, monthly meetings, mid-year reports, annual reports for statewide performance measures and funding, along with a designation process to determine the areas are meeting the requirements.

The Northwest Community Plan will be available at a later date.