

FMC
Early Childhood Iowa Area
In Floyd, Mitchell and Chickasaw Counties,
every child, beginning at birth, will be healthy and successful
FMC ECIA Programs
FMC (Floyd-Mitchell-Chickasaw) Early Childhood Iowa is the state-designated recipient of two grants, a "School Ready" grant and an "Early Childhood" grant. These funds may only serve children ages prenatal to 5 and their families. The FMC ECI Board is entering its 25th year of serving children and families in the three-county area.

The School Ready Grant:
The FMC ECI Area School Ready grant funds are from the state of Iowa and designed to help prepare children to be ready for school. The FMC ECI area has been serving families with children ages birth to 5 since the fall of 1999. There is a degree of local control in how the dollars are utilized. In the FMC ECI Area, the local board of 10 persons has approved the following programs that serve several grant categories, including, but not limited to:
Preschool Programming for Low Income Families:
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Preschool scholarships in Floyd, Mitchell and Chickasaw counties
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Preschool scholarship coordination
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Head Start services in Chickasaw County
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Head Start mental health services in Floyd County classrooms
Family Support and Parent Education for Children Prenatal to age 5:
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Lutheran Services in Iowa/Families Together (home visitation/parent education)
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Learning Connections: Charles City Community School District (parent education/group settings)
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Learning Connections: Mitchell County/St. Ansgar and Osage (parent education/group settings)
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Learning Connections: New Hampton area, held at the St. Joseph Comm. School District (parent education/group settings)
*Note: Families Together and Learning Connections are all state- credentialed programs.
Quality Improvement:
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Coordination services for the FMC ECI Area
The Early Childhood Grant
The Early Childhood grant is the smaller of the two grants the FMC ECI Area administers. This grant supports:
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Resource and development coordination for the FMC ECI Area through a contract with Child Care Resource and Referral
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Assistance for home and center providers to become registered, maintain and increase quality and provide essential, specialized technical assistance.
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Every child,
age birth to 5, will be healthy and successful.
In The
News:
FMC ECI Meetings:
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Fiscal Year 2025​
Meeting #4
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The FMC ECI Board will meet Monday, March 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the Floyd County Law Enforcement Center Meeting Room, Charles City. A Zoom option is available.
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Agenda items include remarks from the new board chair and approving new board members. Action items include approval of the previous meeting's minutes, the financial report and new financial tracking reports.
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New FMC ECI director, Shawna Lebeck, assisted by Gloria Carr, Administrative Assistant, will update the board on upcoming changes in the ECI world.
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Meetings are open to the public.
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Additional Future
2025 Meetings TBA
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