Metro Kids - Cowles
A licensed child care center in Windsor Heights, Iowa
Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. Iowa’s own record is on secureapp.dhs.state.ia.us.
The short answer
Each figure’s source sits beside it, in its section below.
What these words mean3
- Inspection (survey)
- A visit by state inspectors, often unannounced, who check a place against the rules it must meet. For nursing homes and other places Medicare pays, CMS calls these visits surveys: a standard survey of a nursing home comes at least every 15 months, and a complaint survey whenever a complaint calls for one. Source: CMS; 42 CFR 488.308.
- Deficiency, citation, violation
- What inspectors write up when a place didn’t meet a rule: the rule, what they saw, and when. CMS calls it a deficiency; states may say citation or violation. It is the inspectors’ finding, not a court’s, and the place is usually asked for a plan to correct it. Source: CMS, statement of deficiencies (Form CMS-2567); each state’s licensing agency.
- Licence status
- Whether the state’s licence lets the place operate now, in the state’s own words: licensed, on probation (allowed to keep operating on conditions, after problems), provisional, pending or expired. Source: Each state’s licensing agency.
What did inspectors find?
Iowa lists 11 reports: 5 compliance reports and 6 regulation checklists, the latest dated Aug 4, 2026.
On its 4 regulation checklists from the last three years, Iowa marked 3 rules not met, 2 of them on the latest, on Aug 4, 2026.
What its other reports found is in each one, linked with it; this page doesn’t count it.
Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Childcare Compliance and Complaint Reports and Regulation checklists (PDF), Childcare Compliance and Complaint Reports. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Each deficiency, in its source’s words
Grouped by visit, newest first, with the level its source gave it.
Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Regulation checklists (PDF), Childcare Compliance and Complaint Reports. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Aug 4, 2026: regulation checklist2 deficiencies
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Program space must meet the following conditions: •Room must be arranged so as not to obstruct the direct observation of children by staff. •Individual covered mats, bed, or cots and appropriate bedding will be provided for all children who nap. •Equipment and materials are maintained in a sanitary manner. •Sufficient spacing must be maintained. •The center will have sufficient toilet articles for each child for hand washing.
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Ratio maintained in center as required: •Brief absence of staff person permitted for 5 or less minutes when another staff person is present •At least one staff is present in every room where children are resting. •If ratio reduced to one staff per room during nap time, does not exceed one hour and ratio in center is still maintained. •Ratio in infant rooms is always maintained. •When more than eight children are present on the licensed premises, at least two staff members shall be present. •For a period of two hours or less at the beginning and end of the center’s hours of operation, one staff member may care for eight or fewer children, provided no more than four of the children are under two years of age and there are no more than eight children in the center. •Ratio exceeded for school-age children when school classes unexpectedly start late, are dismissed early, or cancelled. For no more than four hours, care is limited to children already in the program and licensed capacity is not exceeded.
Sep 12, 2024: regulation checklist1 deficiency
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•Center shall serve each child a full, nutritionally balanced meal as defined by CACFP guidelines. •Staff shall provide supervision at table during snacks and meals. •Children at center two hours or longer shall be offered food of not less than two hours and no more than three hours apart unless child is asleep.
All 11 visits on record
| Date | Visit | What the record says |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 2026 | Child Care Center Evaluation and Recommendation for License | Findings are in Iowa’s report |
| Aug 4, 2026 | Regulation checklist | 2 rules marked not met |
| Feb 20, 2025 | Child Care Center Evaluation and Recommendation for License | Findings are in Iowa’s report |
| Jan 20, 2025 | Child Care Center Evaluation and Recommendation for License | Findings are in Iowa’s report |
| Jan 20, 2025 | Regulation checklist | No rule marked met or not met |
| Jan 20, 2025 | Regulation checklist | No rule marked met or not met |
| Sep 12, 2024 | Child Care Center Evaluation and Recommendation for License | Findings are in Iowa’s report |
| Sep 12, 2024 | Regulation checklist | 1 rule marked not met |
| Jul 24, 2023 | Child Care Center Evaluation and Recommendation for License | Findings are in Iowa’s report |
| Jul 24, 2023 | Regulation checklist | Findings are in Iowa’s report |
| Jul 24, 2023 | Regulation checklist | Findings are in Iowa’s report |
Is it licensed?
- Licensed Center, Iowa provider number 36554.
Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Childcare Compliance and Complaint Reports. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Has Iowa acted against it?
- Iowa’s report list doesn’t show enforcement actions; any are written in the reports themselves.
Who does the caring?
- Iowa’s report list doesn’t show staffing. State rules set staff-to-child ratios by age.
Who owns it?
- Iowa’s report list doesn’t name owners.
How is it rated?
- Iowa’s quality rating (IQ4K) isn’t in its report list, so it isn’t shown here.
How does it compare nearby?
- Providers aren’t compared: Iowa’s checklists don’t cover every visit, and complaint findings aren’t on them.
| Place | |
|---|---|
| Metro Kids - Cowles This child care provider | Not given |
What the record doesn’t say
- Findings here are the rules Iowa’s regulation checklists from the last three years mark as not met, in the checklists’ own words. What evaluations, letters and complaint investigations found is in those reports, linked with each one, and isn’t counted here.
- Iowa lists a report once it is written up: most within two weeks of the visit, some six weeks or more after it, so a recent visit may not be listed yet.
- Each report is dated the day Iowa created it, which can be weeks after the visit; a checklist is dated the day of the inspection it records.
- Iowa’s report list gives only a provider’s city and county, not its street address, ZIP code or phone number.
- Iowa’s report list doesn’t show quality ratings (IQ4K), capacity, ages served, hours, owners or enforcement actions.
Sources
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Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Childcare Compliance and Complaint Reports.
Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily. No licence stated.
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Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Regulation checklists (PDF), Childcare Compliance and Complaint Reports.
Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily. No licence stated.
If you believe something here is wrong, a correction starts with the agency whose record this copies: Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. Iowa’s own record is on secureapp.dhs.state.ia.us. If Hearth Record copied something wrongly, it will fix it and log the correction publicly, with its date: how corrections work.
This copy of the record was made on Oct 19, 2026.
From the provider
The public record above comes first. Anything the provider adds will appear here, below it, and say who wrote it.
Replies
None. Replies aren’t open yet. When they open, the provider will be able to answer any finding for free, and the reply will show beside that finding, unedited and dated.
Paid listing
None. Paid listings aren’t open yet. When they open, anything paid for will say “Paid by the provider”, and paying will never change a finding, a rating or the order of results.