News Archive

In 2011, Colorado had enough licensed child care to care for only 43 percent of children under age 6 who have all parents in the workforce; the other 57 percent of children are cared for by a family member, friend or neighbor while their parents are at work. To better understand both the contributions to children’s school readiness FFN providers make to the young children in their care as well as the challenges they face to ensure the care they provide is high quality, the FFN Learning Community convened eight community conversations with FFN providers in locations across Colorado beginning in the fall of 2012. School Readiness for All: The Contribution of Family, Friend and Neighbor Care in Colorado captures those conversations, discusses how FFN care fits within the broader early childhood landscape and makes recommendations for additional research and next steps.

For the latest updates in early childhood.

For the latest Early Childhood Updates.

Last chance to take the Expanding Quality for Infants and Toddlers training through the Denver Early Childhood Council until September 2013! Sign up today! Orientation is March 5th.

The Denver-based Colorado Trust has announced grants totaling $983,639 to eight organizations working to connect children and families to early childhood resources and services, with a focus on health, and we are one of those organizations!

Have you had questions about federal labor laws and the audits that are taking place? The Wage and Hour Division is the agency responsible for the enforcement of federal labor laws including the Fair Labor Standards Act which regulates minimum wage, overtime, child labor and record keeping. This workshop will include a presentation on the laws as they apply to child care providers and answer questions.

Tendremos un presentacion en espanol al jueves, 21 de febrero, 9:00am-11:00am.

We will have one presentation in english on Thursday, March 14, 5:30pm to 7:30pm. 

The School Finance Partnership completed and released a full report of the recommendations in August 2012. The report expanded upon the recommendations with context and background. Topics addressed include Building a Continuous P-20 Pipeline, and the expansion of the Colorado Preschool Program (CPP).

The Harvard Graduate School of Education has published a series of one-page memos for policymakers and early learning leaders on how to improve early literacy. These Lead for Literacy one-pagers use research-based evidence and are designed to help leaders avoid common mistakes in early education programs. Each memo revisits assumptions that guide current policies and practices, outlines common pitfalls, and presents solutions to pressing issues.

The full series of one-pagers is available on Harvard’s website.

DENVER ­- Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012 - Gov. John Hickenlooper and Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia announced today the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded Colorado a $29.9 million grant from the Race to the Top: Early Learning Challenge.

Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference

March 1st and 2nd at the Colorado Convention Center

• More than 150 workshops on compelling topics ranging from early childhood practice to policy (all eligible for training hours) 

• Over 300 presenters representing some of the brightest minds in the field 

• A keynote address from one of the world's foremost experts on early language and brain development, Dr. Patricia K. Kuhl 

• A keynote address from achievement advocate, author, and  stand-up comedian, Kathy Buckley.

Dr. Freeman Hrabowski is the president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and is considered a national expert in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, or STEM, with an emphasis on minority participation. He is lauded for having transformed UMBC, a mid-sized commuter school, into one of the country’s top producers of African American Ph.D.s in science and engineering.

Register Now! 

Denver Early Learning Institute:

Social Media and Technology in Early Childhood 

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Clayton Early Learning Campus

3975 Martin Luther King Blvd. Denver, CO

Free event but registration required.

Space is limited to 50 attendees per track, so REGISTER early at http://decc.civicore.com.

Who should attend?

Early Education Program Administrators:

Learn how to leverage social media and technology to improve business practices, enhance marketing, and enrich parent communication.

For Early Childhood Community Partners and Advocates:

Learn how to use social media and technology to engage funders, expand your influence, and promote your cause.

Register Now! 

Denver Early Learning Institute:

Social Media and Technology in Early Childhood 

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Clayton Early Learning Campus

3975 Martin Luther King Blvd. Denver, CO

Free event but registration required.

Space is limited to 50 attendees per track, so REGISTER early at http://decc.civicore.com.

Who should attend?

Early Education Program Administrators:

Learn how to leverage social media and technology to improve business practices, enhance marketing, and enrich parent communication.

For Early Childhood Community Partners and Advocates:

Learn how to use social media and technology to engage funders, expand your influence, and promote your cause.

The Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) is designed to pay a portion of your heat bill during the winter season, November 1 - April 30. Households that qualify will receive an amount based on the cost of the heat bill, the number of people living in the home, and the household income. The program also provides emergency assistance when a family receives a shut-off notice or when heat has already been shut-off.

The Colorado Child Care Contribution Credit will be available starting again in 2013 in a limited fashion: in calendar years 2013 and 2014, the amount of the credit that can be claimed will be 50% and 75% respectively. In 2015, the credit will return to its original form. The schedule of allowable credits to be claimed in 2013, 2014 and 2015 will remain the same. For more information go to http://www.colorado.gov and search for "Child Care Contribution Credit".

Colorado is one of several states thinking strategically about financing early childhood quality care and education through tax credits. See, Tax Credits for Early Care and Education: Funding Strategy in a New Economy, written by the Alliance for Early Childhood Finance to learn more.

This report is produced by Chapin Hall, and is one in a series of reports being done on the Children’s Services Council (CSC) of Palm Beach County, which is a long-term initiative to build an integrated system of care and support, with a focus on promoting the healthy development of children in the first 5 years of life. The report presents findings about the potential impact of the service system on improving children’s readiness for school.

Colorado Covering Kids and Families (CKF) is excited to release a new update to The Maze. This report focuses on priorities to improve Colorado's eligibility and enrollment system and eliminate barriers that keep so many eligible kids and families uninsured. Based on insight from parents and professionals who routinely navigate the maze of barriers to coverage, CKF highlights significant improvements that Colorado has already made and nine opportunities to simplify and improve access to Medicaid and CHP+.

Colorado Covering Kids and Families (CKF) is a statewide project that works to ensure all children and families eligible for Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) are enrolled. Click here to learn more about CKF.

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University has released a new interactive feature on their website entitled:

Five Numbers to Remember About Early Child Development

1. Getting things right the first time is easier and more effective than trying to fix them later.
2. Early childhood matters because experiences early in life can have a lasting impact on later learning, behavior, and health.
3. Highly specialized interventions are needed as early as possible for children experiencing toxic stress.
4. Early life experiences actually get under the skin and into the body, with lifelong effects on adult physical and mental health.
5. All of society benefits from investments in early childhood programs.

Child Care Aware® of America has unveiled its 'In the States' map. Now you can get the profile of a state instantly and all in one place! Clicking on each individual state will pull up a link to that state's 2012 fact sheet, which includes state  demographics, the price of child care, child care supply and demand, and other data related to child care; a link to the state's child care center licensing data (from our We Can Do Better report); a link to the state's family child care home licensing data (from our Leaving Children to Chance report); as well as a brief state policy maker landscape (links to the Governor’s office and state legislature in each state). In addition, from each state’s page, visitors will be able to click on a link to register to vote. Go to the map, and click on your state for more information. 

The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) is a federal nutrition program designed to ensure low-income children have access to nutritious food when school is out. Federal reimbursement is provided to schools, local governments, and private non-profit community based organizations that serve free meals and/or snacks to children aged 18 and younger throughout the summer.

Click here and follow the directions located in the search page. Or you can call 855-855-4626 or text "FOOD" to 720.HFC-EAT5 for help in locating a site. Both English and Spanish speaking operators are available to assist you.

A new issue brief from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) looks at quality in home-based child care.The purpose of the brief is to offer guidance on content for professional development efforts that target home-based child care providers. To achieve this, OPRE studied home-based providers who participated in a multi-state study.

Gov. John Hickenlooper and Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia today welcomed the U.S. Department of Education’s announcement that Colorado is among five finalist states invited to apply for $133 million from the 2012 Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge fund. Colorado will be eligible for up to $30 million in a non-competitive application process. Read more here www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=LtGovGarcia%2FCBONLayout&cid=1251620850280&pagename=CBONWrapper
 

The 2011 State Preschool Yearbook is the newest edition of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER)'s annual report profiling state-funded prekindergarten programs in the United States. This latest Yearbook presents data on state-funded prekindergarten during the 2010-2011 school year as well as documenting a decade of progress since the first Yearbook collected data on the 2001-2002 school year. Tracking these trends is essential to ensuring states prioritize early childhood education, which influences how successfully America's future generations will compete in a global knowledge economy.

The full report is available here http://nieer.org/node/660

Colorado's profile is here: http://nieer.org/sites/nieer/files/Colorado.pdf

Key findings:

• Despite a decade of progress in which many states began or improved pre-K programs, state investments in high-quality pre-K are now slipping.
• Colorado has seen its national ranking for access for 4-year-olds drop from 14^th to 21^st and state resources fall from 23^rdto 36^th, among the lowest of 39 states offering pre-K.

The Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics recently released a technical report on “The Lifelong Effects of Early Childhood Adversity and Toxic Stress.” The report takes a multidisciplinary approach to tracking early adversity to later heath, behavioral and learning challenges throughout a person’s life.

The Colorado Early Learning Partnership has released their report documenting statewide discussions on, barriers to and recommendations for, the continued improvement of the supports and services that effect children and families.

The Colorado Early Childhood Leadership Commission and the Office of Lt. Governor Joseph A. Garcia just released an Early Childhood Needs Assessment report for Colorado.

The objective of this assessment was to identify counties with high levels of socio-demographic risk and high rates
of poor maternal, infant, and child outcomes.

The ECLC is a collaborative legislatively authorized group that is coordinating and establishing early childhood policy in Colorado. 

The ECLC is authorized by legislation until 2013. The purpose of Early Childhood Leadership Commission is to improve outcomes for young children ages birth to eight and their families by advancing the alignment, coordination, and efficiency of programs and services.

The Early Childhood Colorado Framework is the Commission's guide for developing a comprehensive, coordinated service delivery system for Colorado's youngest children.  This high-level leadership commission will accelerate and sustain Colorado's commitment to improving outcomes for young children.

Friday, January 20, 2012 the Early Childhood Leadership Commission presented their 2011 Annual Report before Governor John Hickenlooper, and the Senate Education, Senate Health and Human Services, House Education, and House Health and Environment Committees. The report highlighted Commission accomplishments and laid out the vision for future early childhood work. News of the report appeared in the Pueblo Chieftan, “State Ed Panel Wants More Early Programs,” and the Durango Herald, "Bill Aims to Help Kids".

Read more news in the Early Childhood Leadership Commission Newsletter

Impacts of the Recession and State Budget Structural Challenges Threaten Programs Supporting Colorado Kids and Long-Term Prosperity of State

According to a report released today by the Colorado Children’s Campaign, children have claimed a shrinking share of Colorado’s total state budget since FY 2009-10, despite a growing child population and increasing child poverty rates.  According to the Colorado Children’s Budget 2011, the portion of the state budget supporting children’s programs and services decreased from 45.3 percent in FY 2009–10 to 41.7 percent in the current fiscal year.  The Colorado Children’s Budget 2011 analyzes Colorado’s public investments in programs and services supporting children for the past five years, a period marked by a severe recession and weak economic recovery. 

“Budgets should reflect the priorities of the community,” said Chris Watney, President and CEO of the Colorado Children’s Campaign. “Since children are our state’s greatest asset, adequately investing in them should be a high priority. These statistics are cause for concern.”

Over the five-year period analyzed in this report, Colorado’s investment in children’s programs grew at an average annual rate of 3.3 percent, just enough to keep pace with inflation and the growth in child population. However, the average annual growth rate was boosted due to the temporary infusion of federal dollars through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which has now been mostly spent.  Since the peak in FY 2009–10, investments in children’s programs decreased by 6.4 percent in FY 2010–11 and 4.7 percent in FY 2011–12, whentaking into account inflation and the growth in child population.

Based on initial FY 2012–13 state revenue projections, possible decreases in federal support for discretionary children’s programs, and continued structural imbalances in the state budget, children’s programs are likely to face additional cuts in the upcoming year.

“No population is at greater risk as a result of Colorado’s current fiscal crisis than children,” said Watney.  “More than 1.2 million Colorado children rely on the education, health and early childhood services they receive today to shape them into tomorrow’s adults.  The budget decisions made in the upcoming year will impact our kids and our state long after the economy recovers.”

The Children’s Budget 2011 is intended to serve as a resource guide for policymakers and advocates who are interested in better understanding how Colorado funds children’s programs and services and to help unravel the often confusing and complicated details of the state budget.  The report provides detailed information on appropriations and sources of financing for programs which help children across four domains: early childhood learning and development, health, K-12 education, and other support services.

Other key findings:

• When it comes to specific programs, appropriation data from FY 2007–08 through FY 2011–12 show that, overall, whether or not a program experienced growth hinged on one of three factors:(1) stateconstitutional protection;(2) dedicated cash fund revenue stream;or (3) ability to leverage substantial federal funding.  If none of these exist, investments usually failed to keep pace with inflation and child population growth.

• Colorado relies heavily on federal grants to deliver services and support for children and families and future flows of these funds are uncertain.  In the current fiscal year (after most ARRA funds were spent), federal grants account for more than one-quarter of state spending on children, with the level of dependence on federal funding varying greatly by domain.  Nationally, federal spending on children is projected to decline as a proportion of the federal budget. 

• Programs absorbing cuts during the five-year period covered in the report include K-12 education, Early Intervention Services, the Colorado Preschool Program, the Child Care Assistance Program, summer and after-school programs, public health and prevention programming, programs enhancing economic security for low-income families with children, child welfare services, and youth corrections.

• Colorado’s constitutional fiscal constraints and its reliance on a revenue system not capable of keeping up with state program commitments continue to pose challenges to lawmakers as they struggle to balance the budget and meet the needs of Colorado’s children in a recovering, but still sluggish, economy. 

“Our state cannot cut its way out of the serious fiscal challenges that it faces,” said Watney.  “We must work together to develop long-term structural solutions that will put our state’s budget and our future generations back on a path to success.”

The full report can be downloaded at www.coloradokids.org/facts/childrensbudget2011.html

###

The Colorado Children’s Campaign is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization committed for over 25 years to creating hope and opportunity for all of Colorado’s more than 1.2 million kids.  As the state’s most trusted source for data and research on child well-being and backed by an extensive, statewide network of dedicated child advocates, the Children’s Campaign champions policies and programs that help lift children out of poverty, improve child health, early childhood learning and development, and K-12 education, and provide all of Colorado’s children the opportunity to reach their full potential.  For more information, please visit www.coloradokids.org. 

Even as federal and state policymakers consider cutting back programs that boost the incomes of working-poor families, two researchers report evidence that poverty among young children not only slows them in school but also shrinks their earnings as adults.

This suggests that while cutting programs like Earned Income Tax credits (EITCs) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) may produce short-term budget savings, it also could generate significant costs for the nation down the road.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Prevention Services Division  releases a summary of the 2011 Colorado Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Report that includes a thorough review of the literature supporting risk and protective factors for early childhood obesity, and prevention practices during the preconception and prenatal periods, and the first 5 years of a child’s life. For more information contact Tracymarie.Miller@state.co.us.

Parents and the High Cost of Child Care: 2011 Update
This update from the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) reports on the results of a recent survey on the costs of child care, revealing that the cost of center-based care for two children exceeds annual average rent payments in every state.

The latest quarterly newsletter for the Early Childhood Councils Initiative is available at  http://www.cde.state.co.us/early/eccnewsletters.htm

National Award Tied to Best Plans for Improving Third Grade Literacy

A coalition of Denver civic leaders has agreed to target early literacy as an urgent priority, recognizing that children who don’t learn to read well by the end of third grade are more likely to struggle academically and less likely to finish high school.

Denver joins more than 150 other cities, counties, and towns in at least 36 states to address what is clearly a national crisis: A full two thirds of U.S. students fail to become proficient readers in the early grades, and schools cannot fix this problem without community support.

The communities—ranging from big cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and Baltimore to smaller places like El Dorado, Kansas—are developing strategies to tackle three underlying issues that have consistently kept children from learning to read well:

• school readiness— too many children are entering kindergarten already behind
• school attendance— too many young children are missing too many days of school
• summer learning— too many children are losing ground academically over the summer

The cities and counties (read the list here) have signaled their intent to apply for the 2012 All-America City Awards, which will go to those that develop the most comprehensive, realistic, and sustainable plans to deal with these three challenges.

A pact between the National Civic League and the foundation-led Campaign for Grade-Level Reading allows these communities to join the Campaign’s network, which will provide assistance throughout the application process and help cities develop community-wide plans for improving reading achievement by the end of third grade. These localities will also be on the radar screen for the Campaign’s 80 foundations and philanthropic donors, who fund early childhood and early learning and literacy projects.

The concerted local action comes at a time when states and the federal government are paying particular attention to early education through legislation and grant programs. It also complements efforts underway by United Way Worldwide and the National League of Cities, both key partners in the Campaign.  Other major partners include the United States Conference of Mayors, America’s Promise Alliance, and the Council for a Strong America, whose Mission: Readiness affiliate brings a strong national security message to the Campaign and other efforts to improve the prospects of the nation’s youngest children.

“We’ve put a stake in the ground to cut the number of high school dropouts in the U.S. by half, and we know that boosting reading proficiency by the end of third grade is critical to meeting our goal,” said Brian A. Gallagher, president and CEO of United Way Worldwide.

The national movement focusing on grade-level reading responds to a “call to action” issued by a special Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS COUNT report, Early Warning! Why Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters. The 2010 report underscored the troubling data on student achievement and poverty: Only 17 percent of low-income children scored proficient in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Half of them hadn’t even mastered basic reading skills.

Children who don’t read well by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school than proficient readers, 2011 research shows. Poverty compounds the problem: Poor children who don’t read proficiently early on are 13 times more likely not to finish high school than good readers who have never lived in poverty, according to Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation.

“Those numbers are catastrophic and they bode ill for those children,” said Ralph Smith, the Casey foundation senior vice president who is managing director of the Campaign. “They bode ill for their families. They bode ill for our communities, and they bode ill for the nation as a whole.

“Clearly, we must hold schools accountable for helping all children achieve. But schools cannot succeed alone. We need to bring together communities to help solve these problems.”

The All-America City Award is given annually to 10 communities recognized for outstanding civic accomplishment, with an emphasis on innovation, inclusiveness, and collaboration among community leaders. It does not come with a cash prize, but cities have touted it to attract new businesses and seek higher credit ratings. The Campaign will provide assistance to cities to develop their final applications, which are due in March. Finalists will be selected by April, and the winners will be announced in June.

“Any community that works collectively and passionately to get all children reading and succeeding in school will see tremendous benefits,” said Gloria Rubio-Cortes, president of the National Civic League. “Regardless of whether a community wins, this process will allow places across the country to develop ambitious, doable, and coherent plans that can help close the academic achievement gaps, improve graduation rates and guarantee a better future for our children.”

The local push complements what state and federal leaders are doing to improve early learning:  

• This week, U.S. Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Michael Enzi (R-Wyoming) will begin mark-up on a plan to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary School Act (ESEA). The draft plan includes provisions for early learning.
• On Wednesday, as many as 43 states will submit applications for $500 million in grants from the federal Early Learning Challenge Fund. The program, administered jointly by the U.S. Education and Health and Human Services departments, will reward states with the best plans to improve learning in the years before a child arrives at kindergarten.

“City leaders are uniquely positioned to champion local efforts to boost early reading proficiency, which can not only bridge the achievement gap and reduce dropout rates, but will also strengthen a city’s workforce and advance its broader economic development agenda,” said Clifford Johnson, executive director of NLC’s Institute for Youth, Education and Families. “We are excited to lend our support and resources to cities participating in the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.”

The Campaign for Grade-Level Readingis a collaborative effort by dozens of funders across the nation to: close the gap in reading achievement that separates many low-income students from their peers; raise the bar for reading proficiency so that all students are assessed by world-class standards; and ensure that all children, including and especially children from low-income families, have an equitable opportunity to meet those higher standards. For more information, visit www.gradelevelreading.net.

The National Civic Leagueis the home of the All-America City Award,  an honor achieved by more than 600 communities across the country. NCL is a 117-year-old nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that strengthens democracy by increasing the capacity of groups and individuals to participate in and build healthy and prosperous communities.  NCL publishes the Model City Charter and the National Civic Review, and conducts programs, research and technical assistance on topics like fiscal sustainability, transportation-oriented development, environmental stewardship, racial equity and immigrant integration. www.ncl.org  www.allamericacityaward.com

The National League of Citiesis the nation’s oldest and largest organization devoted to strengthening and promoting cities as centers of opportunity, leadership and governance. NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages, representing more than 218 million Americans. 

United WayWorldwideis a worldwide network in 40 countries and territories, including more than 1,200 local organizations in the U.S. It advances the common good, creating opportunities for a better life for all by focusing on the three key building blocks of education, income and health.  United Way recruits people and organizations who bring the passion, expertise and resources needed to get things done.  LIVE UNITED® is a call to action for everyone to become a part of the change. For more information about United Way, please visit: LIVEUNITED.org.
 

DENVER - Colorado's Lieutenant Governor has boarded a "literacy bus" to begin a listening tour in hopes of boosting up childhood literacy in our state.

The Literacy Bus will visit 18 Colorado cities between October 17th and 21st and on November 7th. The focus of the tour will be on hearing from local education and community leaders and parents on how to support their efforts on early literacy.

"Governor Hickenlooper and I share the belief that early literacy is one of the education cornerstones to building a strong workforce for Colorado's future," Garcia said. "We're joining with communities across the state in a dialogue about what we can do to help ensure every child is a successful reader by the end of third grade."

The tour, which kicks off October 17 in Steamboat Springs, will feature a series of community conversations with educators, leaders, teachers and parents. All of the forums are open to the public. The objective is to exchange ideas and information on ways to ensure every third-grader reaches literacy proficiency.

Mile High United Way is a lead partner with the Lieutenant Governor on the effort to strengthen early literacy in the state. 

Garcia says the emphasis of the tour will be on identifying and implementing programs that foster literacy from birth through age 8. He says data from across the United States consistently show that literacy skills evolve from birth, and the intervention and education at the earliest stages of life are critical to literacy development.

"By engaging in this week-long dialogue, we will learn how communities foster early childhood literacy and what state leadership can do to support their efforts," Garcia said. "Governor Hickenlooper has proven that this kind of community engagement is the right way to build a movement of support toward a common goal. I'm excited to get started."

1 NATIONAL KIDS COUNT DATA BOOK REVEALS IMPACT OF THE RECESSION ON CHILDREN IN COLORADO AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY

New Data Looks at Impact of Foreclosures and Unemployment on Children
(Denver, CO, Aug. 17, 2011)

According to national data released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in its annual KIDS COUNT® Data Book, there has been a significant decline in the economic well-being of American children and families over the last decade. The U.S. child poverty rate increased 18 percent between 2000 and 2009, effectively wiping out the gains made on this important measure in the late 1990’s. This increase means that 2.4 million more American children are living below the federal poverty line ($21,756 for a family of two adults and two children). Data also reveals the impact of the job and foreclosure crisis on children. In 2010, 11 percent of American children had at least one unemployed parent and 4 percent have been affected by foreclosure since 2007.

Please visit the Data Book home page to download the report and create maps, graphs and charts at the national, state and local level.

The Application for Initial Funding for the Early Learning Challenge has been released.  The executive summary is attached for your review.  The full application can be downloaded at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-earlylearningchallenge/index.html.  Colorado will be now moving into officially launching the grant production using the process outlined in the  attached document.  

The grant application outlines five selection criteria: 

(A)  Successful State Systems

(B)  High-Quality, Accountable Programs

(C)  Promoting Early Learning and Development Outcomes for Children

(D)  A Great Early Childhood Education Workforce

(E)  Measuring Outcomes and Progress

Selection Criteria areas A and B are Core Areas – meaning Colorado must respond to all criteria.  The other areas are “Focused Investment Areas” – meaning we can be selective in how we respond.   

The deadline for submission for the application is October 19^th.  This email list will continue to be used to share updates and opportunties related to this grant.