Adair County
• Empowerment
& PCA Council
Adams County
• Empowerment
• Interagency
• PCA Council
Union County
• Empowerment
• Interagency
• PCA Council
Community Meetings
• Youth Plus
• SAFE
Welcome to Iowa Community Partners
DECAT History
Decategorization was created through legislation enacted by the Iowa General Assembly in 1987. The legislation authorized for the participation of two counties initially. Polk County and Scott County were selected to be the pilot projects and both started in 1988. The Creston Decat Cluster began in July 1998.
The goals of the 1987 legislation were to:
• enhance the array of services available to clients to better meet their needs
• overcome some of the problems and barriers to serving clients which traditional categorical funding streams presented
• accomplish major system changes without spending more than would have been spent in the former categorical system
The decategorization initiative was developed in response to:
• The growing number of children going into foster care
• The need to increase emphasis on early intervention and prevention services
• Community values which support the reality that most families, even dysfunctional ones, do a better job of raising children than the government
• The recognition that local jurisdictions are much more in touch with the needs of their children and families and have the capability to respond quicker and more appropriately than the state bureaucracy
Decategorization was designed to be a process that combines the individual state appropriations for child welfare services into a single fund to encourage the development of services that better meet the needs of youth and families by allowing the local county flexibility in how these funds are used. Participation by the Department of Human Services, Juvenile Court Services and the County are required terms of the legislation.
Decategorization is an effort to significantly change the child welfare system to one that is needs based, family focused, easily accessible, more intensive, less restrictive and cost effective.
Decategorization projects are organized by county or clusters of counties. Today there are 39 decategorization projects across the state of Iowa, covering every county except one. The Creston Decat Cluster includes Adams, Adair & Union Counties.
Lisa L. Cook
Decat Coordinator
304 North Pine Street
Creston, IA 50801
641.202.1522
lcook@dhs.state.ia.us