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Early Childhood Councils

Business Supports for Child Care Providers

The Department of Early Childhood Preschool Development Grant team is working with the Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) to offer business training and one-on-one business consultation to licensed child care providers at no cost. 

No-cost, virtual child care business training is now available! Available training and registration details are listed on the “Available Training, Scholarship, Grant and Other Opportunities” section of the Colorado Shines Brighter (PDG B-5) website. Additional training options will be added as they become available, so encourage providers to check back. Training is offered as four week to six week series with different start dates and meeting times. Trainings will have three target audiences: family child care homes, child care centers or start-up and expansion opportunities. Each training is available to licensed providers throughout the state, regardless of their location. Participating providers will earn professional development hours through PDIS.

Small Business Development Center business experts are also available to virtually meet one-on-one with child care centers and family child care homes to discuss their business needs, including budget concerns, emergency planning, and more. Consultation is available in English and Spanish. This service is offered at no cost to providers! Find the local Small Business Development Center offering this great opportunity in your county.  

Early Childhood Councils are critical partners to ensuring the success of this effort. We look forward to your help in promoting these services to providers in your communities. Find more information about how ECCs can support the SBDCs, in these ECC resources (contact information, guidance document, invoice document and more).  

Employer-Based Child Care Grant Application

As put forth in SB21-236, the Department of Early Childhood  is now accepting applications for Employer-Based Child Care projects. This is an initial interest application, and it will be necessary to provide more information as part of your application for funds.

For-profit companies will have to put forth a minimum match of 50% of the project total. Non-profit organizations and government entities will have to put forth a match of at least 25%.

Apply for funding available through June 30, 2023 or until funds are exhausted.

In 2019, 29% of surveyed Colorado providers suspended one or more children and 9% expelled one or more children under 6 years old. Males, children with identified delays and disabilities, and 5-6 year olds were at increased risk of both types of removals and 2-3 year olds were at increased risk for expulsion. When children are removed or isolated from the group, it impacts the child’s opportunities to grow, thrive, learn and develop social-emotional skills that prepare them for success.

View the Infographics 

There are different practices that are considered suspension or expulsion -- even if the program doesn’t use those words.

  • In-school suspension -- separates or removes the child from the classroom or activities
  • Out-of-school suspension -- temporarily removes the child from the program
  • Expulsion -- permanently removes a child from a program
  • Soft-expulsion -- when a program becomes inconvenient for a family to use or unwelcoming to the point they have little choice but to stop attending
  • Disenrollment/Termination of Care – permanently unenrolls a child from a program
  • Early pickup – when a program requires a child to be picked up earlier than was scheduled

All child care programs are required to have clear behavior policies. The policy should explain to staff and families how the program will respond to and find solutions for children in their care who may be struggling. Sometimes a transition to another care setting or schedule change may be the most appropriate decision, but this is a decision that must include families as equal partners in the decision-making process.

It’s important for parents and providers to understand the policy of the program. The behavior policy should be reviewed with families at the time of enrollment.

Families

Click here to download a print-friendly PDF: Preventing Suspensions and Expulsions in Early Childhood Program. 

Downloadable PDFs are also available in Arabic, Burmese, Farsi, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Somali, Swahili, Vietnamese and Tigrinya. Access the files. 

Family Child Care Homes

Click here to download a print-friendly PDF: 

Child Care Centers and School-Age Care

Download a print-friendly PDF: Preventing Suspensions and Expulsions in Early Childhood Programs

Downloadable PDFs are also available in Arabic, Farsi, French, German, Hmong, Russian, Spanish, and Swahili. Download PDF files. 

See the impact Early Childhood Mental Health consultation can have.

Learn more about the ECMH Program 

View the Overview Flyer (Overview Flyer - Spanish) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) (Frequently Asked Questions - Spanish)

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The Department of Early Childhood partners with Early Childhood Councils statewide to administer quality improvement and systems building efforts.

Rules and Regulations

Early Childhood Councils are governed by rule 7.717. Printer-friendly rules have been created for your convenience and are current as of February 8, 2017. The Secretary of State's website is your official source for updated and current rules.  

Governance Waiver Application Review Process

Per Early Childhood Council Rule 7.717.6(E), Early Childhood Councils have the opportunity to apply for waivers to state governance rules and regulations when compliance causes an undue hardship. Learn more or apply for a waiver. 

State TA Webinars

Recorded webinars for each State TA Day are available online. View the webinar archive.

Lightning Conversion Webinars

View recordings of the Lightning Conversion webinars for ECC's below.  

ECC Cost Estimation Calculator

This tool was developed in consultation with the CDEC, Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance (ECCLA), and Early Childhood Councils to estimate council costs associated with a given scope of work (based on full time equivalent positions). Please create a copy of this tool BEFORE entering information by selecting "Make a copy" from the "File" menu. Please input your information into the cells highlighted in blue. Total estimated costs will automatically calculate and appear in the green cells in column K. Note: This tool does not make decisions! Rather, it is designed to provide data-informed information regarding costs. 

This instructional video explains how to use the cost tool.

Cost Estimation Tool

This work is responsive to Colorado Shines Brighter strategy 1.2.4.