“Protecting Our Children”
Johnson County celebrated National County Government Week (NCGW) April 6 to 12 with an informational display in the County Administration Building, and daily visits to local schools and organizations to highlight the many services provided to the community.
NCGW, sponsored by the National Association of Counties (NACo), was first celebrated in 1991 to raise public awareness and understanding about the roles and responsibilities of the nation’s counties. The theme for this year’s celebration of NCGW is “Protecting Our Children.”
The Johnson County Board of Supervisors proclaimed April 6 to 12 County Government Week during its formal meeting on April 3rd, and encourages members of the public to support efforts that advance the safety and well-being of our children. Click here
to see the proclamation.
The Johnson County Decategorization Board & the Johnson County Empowerment Board are two examples of broad-based efforts – supported by local government – to allocate state and federal funds to local organizations to enhance the well-being and safety of children and families. Additionally, Johnson County provides funding directly to local non-profit organizations serving children and families through its Social Services Block Grant and Juvenile Justice Youth Development programs, which includes support to local agencies including Big Brothers Big Sisters, Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County, and United Action for Youth.
The Board of Supervisors celebrated the week through daily site visits to local programs serving children.
On Monday, Pat Harney, Amy Correia met up with Lemme Principal John Bacon and Assistant Director of
the Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County Diane Dinbaum at the Breckenridge Neighborhood Afterschool
Program. Efforts to address the isolation experienced by children and families living in the Breckenridge
Mobile Home Park were initiated last May, 2007. Breckenridge Mobile Home Park is located in rural Johnson
County, miles from public transit and other services. Children ride the school bus to and from school, but
many times are not able to participate in out of school activities due to a lack of transportation. At the
request of the Lemme Principal John Bacon, a collaborative team, including ISU Extension, Neighborhood
Centers of Johnson County, County Social Services and the Community Partnership to Protect Children,
School District personnel, met to leverage resources to provide pro-social activities to youth, and
support to parents. This collaborative team planned and implemented youth programming on-site at
Breckenridge during Summer 2007. One challenge for providing neighborhood-based services to this
community is the lack of communal in-door space. This provides constraints for offering youth
programming outside of the summer months. In order to address these challenges, and continue
to provide programs to strengthen neighborhood and school networks, the collaborative team met
again over the winter to determine how to continue efforts with youth and families. This led
to a leveraging of financial resources from Johnson County to provide a support program to rural
residents through an Afterschool Program for Breckenridge youth at Lemme Elementary, along with
weekly support offered to parents. The purpose of this program is to reduce isolation for children
and families living in rural Johnson County, and to increase opportunities for pro-social activities
for youth.
From Left: John Bacon (Lemme Elementary), Diane Dingbaum (Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County),
and Pat Harney (Johnson County Board of Supervisors).
Breckenridge Afterschool Program 5th & 6th Graders prepare for their upcoming Kickers Soccer game.
On Tuesday, Larry Meyers, Dave Moran, and Amy Correia visited the afterschool homework
help program at Regency Community Center. This program also serves residents of a rural Johnson
County mobile home park. Services and programming at Regency began 5 years ago through a
Johnson County Decategorization Program grant to the Iowa City Community School District.
This program has continued to receive this local allocation of state funding. The success of
this program has been due to the incredible collaboration and leveraging of resources. On-site
indoor community space is available to support year-round programming. Although small, this
space has proved invaluable to increasing neighborhood connections. There is a phone on-site,
and computers with internet access so that youth can complete their homework, and adults can
search for jobs. During the 2nd quarter of this year, 33 youth from Regency were active in the
Hills Elementary after-school program; 24 children participated in afterschool homework help at
the Regency Community Center, and 3 community family events were held to a full house. Additionally,
Clover Kids – a program of ISU Extension – was offered on-site, as well as Cub Scouts.
From Left: Larry Meyers (Johnson County Board of Supervisors), Martha Meiners (Regency Community Center),
Dave Moran (Community Partnership to Protect Children)
From Left: Christa Howard (Regency Community Center); Larry Meyers (Johnson County Board of Supervisors)
On Wednesday, Terrence Neuzil and Amy Correia visited HomeTies daycare over lunch! The purpose of this
special program of the 4 Cs (Community Coordinated Childcare) is to provide no-cost quality child care for
families, infant through 5 years old who are homeless, near-homeless, or are otherwise in transition.
Transportation is provided to parents and children who reside in any of the Johnson County shelters.
The goal is to help keep families together, and give parents an option for safe care for their children
while they are looking for work and stable housing. This service operates year round, Monday through
Friday, from 7:00am to 6:00pm. This program receives funding from Johnson County Social Services
Block Grant program and the Empowerment Board. Over the first 2 quarters of the year, HomeTies
provided free care to 19 children. 
From Left: Susan Gray (4Cs); Terrence Neuzil (Johnson County Board of Supervisors)
From Left: Jan Koch (HomeTies); Susan Gray (4 Cs); Terrence Neuzil (Johnson County Board of Supervisors)
On Thursday, Sally Stutsman and Amy Correia visited a kindergarten classroom at Oxford
Elementary. This year, the Johnson County Decategorization Board, under its mandate to locally
determine how state funding is allocated to strengthen children and families, is funding Clear
Creek Community School District to provide the Families and Schools Together (FAST) program.
This program is a research-based family strengthening group program that works with the whole
family to support positive parenting, child well-being, and positive school connections.
A local team was trained, including teachers, social workers, mental health, and substance
abuse prevention professionals, and parent partners. The first group was offered to huge
success. Success was reported through a research evaluation as well as comments from parents.
One parent wrote: “This program has helped my daughter appreciate what school has to offer.
She has raised her grades since the FAST program began.” Another parent shared: “Another
benefit was being able to meet other parents in the school district and to develop a relationship.”
Yet another, “All the effort and time were very productive – for both the parents and the staff.
The kids really enjoyed one on one time with their parents without the TV on. The service of the
meal made them feel special. All the activities kept their minds busy.”
Sally Stutsman (Johnson County Board of Supervisors) reads the book Giraffes Can’t Dance! to a
kindergarten class.
From Left: Amy Correia (Johnson County Social Services); Sally Stutsman (Johnson County Board of
Supervisors); Tess Ward (Oxford Elementary)
On Friday, Rod Sullivan and Laurie Nash visited the morning session of Lone Tree Preschool.
The Johnson County Empowerment Board, a local board mandated to allocate state resources to support
children birth to 5, provides funding to support school-readiness programs for children 3-5 years
old in settings throughout Johnson County. At this site, funding is available for up to 9 children
to receive full or partial scholarships to enroll in Lone Tree Preschool. The goal is that 75% of
children entering kindergarten in Lone Tree will have had a pre-school experience.