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Policy & Legislation

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The Policy and Legislative unit is responsible for advancing policy and fiscal interests to achieve the strategic mission and vision of the Department, with both the Governor's Office and the Colorado General Assembly. The unit works on behalf of the Department's leadership team, coordinating and facilitating the legislative agenda and implementation process, articulating the Department's position on legislative and fiscal matters, and regularly engaging with external stakeholders, partners, and advocates to accomplish the Department's policy and fiscal objectives.

Legislative Agenda

The Colorado Department of Early Childhood is committed to ensuring the delivery of a comprehensive, community-informed, data-driven, high quality, and equitable early childhood system that supports the care, education, and well-being of all Colorado’s young children, their families and early childhood professionals in all settings. CDEC is prioritizing the following bills through its legislative agenda for the 2024 Colorado Legislative Session:

HB24-1009: Bilingual Child Care Licensing
Sponsored by Representatives Joseph and McLachlan and Senators Ginal and Rich, this bill would require the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) to ensure that child care licensing services be available in Spanish and establish a Bilingual Licensing Unit. Providing access to Spanish language child care licensing services would help remove barriers that preclude individuals from becoming licensed child care providers in their communities. Read the fact sheet here. 
 

Legislative Reports

The Colorado Department of Early Childhood is statutorily required to submit reports to the General Assembly and the Governor's Office. These reports, which include programmatic data, performance information and/or policy recommendations, are organized below by office/division, report and date.

SMART Act
Office of Administrative Solutions

Department Performance Plan

Federal Funding

Department Regulatory Agenda


Long Range Financial Report

Transition, Program Review, and Agency Collaboration Report

Division of Community and Family Support

Early Childhood Mental Health Funding


Early Intervention Services

Division of Early Childhood Workforce

Qualified Early Childhood Educator Supply

Division of Early Learning Access and Quality

Colorado Child Care Assistance Program Annual Report


Colorado Early Childhood Councils Triennial Evaluation


Infant Toddler Quality and Availability Grant Program in Colorado


School Readiness Quality Improvement Program in Colorado

Division of Universal Preschool

Online Kindergarten Readiness Pilot Survey

 

Joint Budget Committee Requests for Information

Following the passage of the annual appropriations act, known as the Long Bill, the Colorado Department of Early Childhood receives formal requests for data on an annual basis from the General Assembly's Joint Budget Committee. The responses to these requests are organized below by office/division, report and date.

Administrative

Child Care Development Funds

 

Schedule 9 Cash Fund

 

Non-Developed Property

Division of Community and Family Support

Colorado Nurse Home Visitor Program (Tobacco Master Settlement Funds)


Early Intervention Caseload Growth


Social Emotional Learning Programs Grant

Division of Early Learning Access and Quality

Child Care Development Funds


Colorado Child Care Assistance Program Costs

Legislative Resources