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Colorado Open Records Act (CORA)

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The Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) is committed to transparency and open government. In compliance with statutory requirements, CDEC responds to all CORA requests in an orderly and expeditious manner. For more information, please review CDEC's CORA Policies.

For more information about access to data, reports and on open child daycare facilities, please visit Reports and Data webpage.

View CDEC Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) Policy.

All Colorado Open Records Act requests should be directed to:

Colorado Department of Early Childhood
Attn: Legal Analyst, Policy and Legislative Unit 
710 S. Ash, Bldg. C
Denver, CO 80246
CDEC_CORA@state.co.us

More information about Requesting Records and CORA

What is Available

Unless you know specifically what you are looking for, it would be helpful to become familiar with the types of records kept by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC). The records you seek may have been posted online, either by the entity itself or by another requester. To get to answers quickly, you may wish to conduct a web search and check our website for available resources.

There are a few common CDEC publicly available data portals which you may benefit from:

Colorado Shines

Find the last three years of licensing records posted online for all active child care facilities.

  • For a description of licensing record types which this Department maintains, please follow this link.
CO Early Care and Education Workforce Data DashboardThe most up-to-date information on Colorado’s Early care and education (ECE) professionals who were employed throughout 2021
Colorado Licensed Child Care Facilities DashboardFind the Colorado Licensed Child Care Facilities dataset with option to filter for geographical subsets of data.
Early Intervention ColoradoColorado’s Early Intervention program provides supports and services to children with developmental delays or disabilities and their families from birth until the child’s third birthday. Early Intervention Colorado can help families learn ways to support and promote their child’s development within their everyday routines and activities. 

This webpage may contain data, reports and other public information useful in your research.
Early Childhood Councils Shared Measures Dashboard

This is the most recent annual dashboard responsive to the Early Childhood Council (ECC) Shared Measures reporting. This is a combination of state level data and local level data that aims to tell the impact of ECCs across Colorado. The data included in this dashboard is responsive to the following collaboratively defined statewide outcomes: 

  • High-quality early care and education is available to every child in every community
  • Supports a more highly-qualified early care and learning workforce through recruitment, retention, and ongoing professional development
  • Provide access to affordable, quality, licensed early childhood education in communities through grants and financial assistance
  • Social/Emotional supports are provided annually in each ECC catchment area
  • Health and well-being (not social-emotional) supports are provided annually in each ECC catchment area
  • The community invests actively in the early childhood system

The data collection period for ECCs is July 1 - August 15 each year and includes previous SFY data. This dashboard is created each fall and released between November - December.

CDEC Stimulus Website

CDEC received over $700 million in federal and state stimulus funding to address pandemic recovery needs and advance efforts that strengthen and grow Colorado’s early childhood sector.  

During extensive community listening sessions, over 2,300 child care providers, families with young children and other stakeholders identified three areas in which funding would best support short- and long-term outcomes for the state's early childhood ecosystem: 

  • Improving access and quality;
  • Developing the workforce; and
  • Strengthening families. 

Across these areas, CDEC developed over 40 stimulus-funded activities to build a more accessible high-quality early learning and care system for all Colorado families.

Child Care and Development Fund StatisticsOur annual report to Administration for Children and Families is available on their national website.  ACF website does post the annual reports here
CCCAP dashboardLongitudinal data through SFY2022.
License Exempt providers who accept CCCAP.The inspection reports for child care providers who are license-exempt and accept CCCAP may be viewed here.
Colorado Child Care Assistance Program For ProvidersPlease find provider rates, county policies and plans, and the Market Rate Survey by following this link. 

Drafting Your Request

Before drafting a formal records request, it is often helpful to speak or email with the CDEC Legal Team who knows what records the agency maintains. Nothing prevents you from simply asking for public records outside of the CORA process. 

If you are not seeking records, but rather have questions for the Department, the Legal Team can help get you to the subject matter expert who may respond. If you are a member of the media and have questions for the Department please contact our Communications Team.

Although we do not require a specific form to file a records request, the following details are helpful to include:

  • Your email and contact information
  • The specific record(s) you are interested in
  • Any date ranges we should apply
  • Other details that may be helpful to locate what you seek

Additional tips

  • Be specific when you know what you’re looking for, such as a particular document. Listing easily identifiable records will more likely generate a timely response and limit the fees you may be charged.
  • Try not to be vague or overly broad. Adding context, such as keywords and date parameters, will help the custodian locate the records you’re seeking.
  • Ask for records, not information. Government entities are required to provide public records that contain information. 
  • Research the types of records kept by the government entity you’re interested in.
  • Be willing to talk through your request with the CDEC Legal Team. 
  • If research-and-retrieval charges are cost prohibitive, you may be able to narrow your request. It’s often helpful to talk this over with the CDEC Legal Team.

CDEC Response Time

Three working days or less. C.R.S. § 24-72-203(3)(b). Records that are “readily available” may be provided right away.

Extenuating Circumstances

CDEC may extend the three-working-day response period by no more than seven working days (for a total of 10). If these circumstances exist a written explanation will be provided to the requester by the 3 day statutory deadline. 

Responsive Records Sent

CDEC will provide responsive records in a digital format by email transmission. If this method is not feasible for the requester, another mutually-agreed-upon transmission method can be utilized.

Copies of Records When Applicable

The cost of a copy cannot exceed 25 cents per standard-sized page or the “actual cost” of providing a copy, printout or photo of a public record in a format other than a standard page. C.R.S. § 24-72-205(5)(a).

A records custodian is not permitted to charge a per-page fee to provide records in digital or electronic formats, such as PDFs. C.R.S. § 24-72-205(5)(a) (effective Aug. 7, 2023).

Research and Retrieval Fees

To research, retrieve, and compile public records, CDEC will charge requesters $33.58 per hour, with the first hour provided at no charge. This includes attorney time for privilege review. Please see the CDEC’s CORA Policies for more information.