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Sen. Ernst tours Cambridge Little Achievers in Fairfield
FAIRFIELD – U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst visited the Cambridge Little Achievers in Fairfield on Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 20.
The senator was in town as part of her 99-county tour, which included stops in Lee and Van Buren counties earlier that day, and in Henry and Clinton counties the following day. In Fairfield, Ernst met with Cambridge Little Achievers’ Director Tiffany Finch and the childcare center’s board to talk about how the center is doing since it opened in January 2023. Board members who attended included Bryan Hunger, Mike Parker, Morae Metcalf and Kate Van Pelt.
Ernst toured the center inside and out, and even tested out a slide at its playground. The center is located on Libertyville Drive just west of Jefferson County Health Center, and is the product of many years of fundraising by Jefferson County Kids, an organization that sought to address the large and unmet demand for childcare in the county.
Finch said she and Ernst spoke about both the highlights and challenges that have arisen in the 1.5 years since the childcare center opened. The most eye-popping fact the two discussed was the center’s enrollment and how quickly it’s grown. Today, the center’s enrollment is 182 children, almost reaching its capacity of 185.
“We reached that sooner than we expected,” Finch said. “We were expecting that to take a minimum of two to three years.”
Cambridge Little Achievers serves children from ages 6 weeks to 12 years, who are spread across its 12 rooms. The center employs 47 staff members. Ernst asked Finch if it was difficult to hire and retain staff, and Finch said that it has not been a problem, though finding the time to hire all the employees is.
“She asked about what benefits we offer, and we don’t offer the typical benefits,” Finch said. “One of the items she’s working on is health benefits. That opened the door into talking about struggles, and how it’s very common for entities to just ask for money. That’s not my goal. My goal is to find other directors who would like to meet to come up with a list of our top problems and how we move forward with them, so when you’re speaking to different legislators, it’s not just asking for money because we’ve got solutions. She was extremely receptive to that.”
Ernst said that when she speaks to an organization that is always asking for money, she considers that a “red flag” because it means the organization hasn’t found other means to sustain their operation.
During the tour, Ernst told Finch and the board members that she co-authored a bill to allow people to maintain their childcare benefits even if they got raises at work, since some of the board members said that employees had turned down raises to ensure they still qualified for benefits. She also mentioned that she’s working on a bill with Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire to allow AmeriCorps workers to fill childcare worker shortages.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
