By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

The head of Iowa’s Department of Health and Human Services says she’s “deep and meaningful” developing partnerships with Iowa pastors and churches to help for Iowans facing personal challenges.

During remarks the morning at The Family Leader’s annual summit, HHS director Kelly Garcia said government is “an incredibly powerful force” for good, but “it doesn’t need to be involved in everything and this is where government gets it wrong: the notion that we, though, can somehow solve poverty, as a government — no.”

Garcia described foster care and services for disabled Iowans as core government functions that no one else can do, but Garcia said her agency has found a team of church leaders eager to step into other gaps. “Ultimately, in government our relationships with people are meaningful and important, but they’re transactional,” Garcia said. “…The work that can come alongside through deep community build and through church is lasting and that’s where redemption happens.”

Garcia indicated the partnership with The Family Leader’s church ambassador network has “exceeded my expectations,” and is addressing “social isolation” and “a lack of hope” that are all too common among Iowans who need her agency’s services. Greg Baker, The Family Leader’s vice president of church engagement, said the evangelical church is ready to “dive into the social service side” of government and it will “outperform expectations.”

“Government was never designed to solve poverty,” Baker said. “Poverty is a spiritual issue. Addictions are spiritual issues and they will only be solved in the spiritual realm.”

In opening remarks at the summit, Bob Vander Plaats — president and CEO of The Family Leader — said Garcia realizes “just cutting a check is not the answer.”

“She operates a huge, multi-billion dollar budget and it’s all because of the breakdown of the family,” Vander Plaats said. “…We need to break the bondage of addition. We need to restore the family.”

Vander Plaats told the crowd a record number of pastors and congregations are represented today at the group’s annual summit. “We want to impact elections because we believe who serves us, who’s in leadership positions — it makes a difference,” Vander Plaats said. We believe that leadership matters and we want to elect ministers of God.”

Governor Kim Reynolds, who spoke at the event this afternoon, said the collaboration between Iowa’s social services agency and The Family Leader’s network of evangelical churches is a “revolutionary approach” that will be mimicked in other states.

“Government exists to promote personal responsibility, not replace it,” Reynolds said. “…Truly, this partnership has empowered us to address the spiritual bondage that’s at the root of so many of society’s problems.”

Reynolds complemented the organization’s director of church engagement and Iowa Department of Health and Human Services director who were on stage this morning discussing the partnership. “Get out of the way because they are on a mission and they are not only changing Iowa and the communities across this state, but we’re going to serve as an example of what can be done and we’re taking it to the country, so thank you for leading the way,” Reynolds said, to cheers and applause.

Reynolds announced in April she would not seek reelection and grew emotional as she was ending her speech. “I could not be prouder of all of the good that we’ve accomplished together and I pray that the fruits of efforts will last for generations of Iowans to come. God bless you. I love you. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as your governor,” Reynolds said, to prolonged applause,

Reynolds told the crowd she looks forward to spending time with her family once she leaves office, but Reynolds said she intends to find some way to stay involved in the public sphere once her term as governor ends in early 2027.