DCAT
The DCAT Project was created as the result of Iowa legislation-92 Acts, Chapter 1229, Sec. 18 in 1987. The intention of DCAT Project is to establish a system of delivering human services based upon client needs to replace a system based upon a multitude of categorical programs and funding sources, each with different service definitions and eligibility requirements.
SHIP DCAT Grant Awards 2025-2026
SHIP, JCS Client Rehabilitation Services, $50,000
SHIP, JCS General Programming, $50,000
SHIP, JC Coordinators, $99,696
SHIP, Functional Family Therapy (JCS District 2), $101,766
SHIP, CPPC, $20,000
SHIP, Wraparound, $90,000
SHIP, Native Unit Wraparound, $25,000
SHIP, Native American Programming, $40,000
SHIP, Native Tribal Liasons, $125,000
SHIP, DCAT Coordination, $50,000
DCAT Committee
Travis Heaton, Iowa Department of Health and Human Services
Dan Bittinger, Woodbury County Board of Supervisors
David Schmiedt, Juvenile Court Services
DCAT Model:
Legal Basis: The legal basis for decategorizations outlined in Iowa Code Section 232.188 and in the annual Department of Human Services appropriation bills allowing continuation of the program.
Mandated Goals:
Tailoring services to the individual needs of children and families.
Redirecting funding toward preventive family, neighborhood, and community-based services.
Reducing reliance on out-of-home and out-of-community placements.
Promoting community planning, collaboration, and governance of service systems.
Developing service systems that more accurately reflect the needs of the children and families within the communities served.
Guiding Principles:
There is a correlation between the ways decategorization projects use pooled funds and the purposes for which these funds are appropriated. Projects need to demonstrate that they are meeting the child welfare and juvenile justice needs of local residents through redeployment of funding streams and local operation of services.
