Blog

On April 18th, President Biden signed an Executive Order on Increasing Access to High-Quality Care and Supporting Caregivers. The Executive Order does not immediately make any changes to childcare. It is a sweeping list of directives to various federal departments to take action to improve access to care and support caregivers across the country.  We investigated what this might mean for Coloradans and childcare in Colorado. While the order specifies actions for federal offices, we anticipate that many impacts will flow to the corresponding state departments through related funding streams, guidance, and reporting. Even in the absence of a specific directive, we urge Colorado state departments to consider similar actions to increase the availability and affordability of childcare.   Childcare Professionals There are approximately 23,000 childcare workers in Colorado who are compensated $16.03 per hour on average. Nationwide, childcare providers make less than 98% of other professions, and in Colorado, 15% live below the poverty line. Below are the many directives in the Executive Order that could impact Colorado’s childcare professionals and industry:  Directive supporting childcare workforce Federal Department Corresponding State Department Improve childcare workers’ access to health insurance (HHS) Health and Human Services (HHS) Healthcare Policy and Finance (HCPF), Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) Expand mental health support for the childcare workforce (HHS) HHS Behavioral Health Administration (BHA), CDEC Expand training pathways and professional learning opportunities for childcare professionals HHS, Education (ED), and Department of Labor (DOL) Higher Education (CDHE), Education (CDE), CDEC, Labor and Employment (CDLE) Publish best practices resources such as sample employment agreements for domestic childcare workers, to ensure workers know their rights DOL CDLE Work with community and local partners to expand culturally and linguistically appropriate community outreach and education efforts to childcare workers DOL CDLE Develop materials addressing the employment rights of non-citizen childcare workers who are legally eligible to work Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Use AmeriCorps to encourage entrance into care jobs AmeriCorps Serve Colorado Create innovative funding opportunities and demonstration projects for training and provide technical assistance to governments to improve the quality of care jobs DOL, ED, HHS CDLE, CDE, CDHS, CDEC Conduct and publish an analysis of early childhood workers’ pay in comparison to the pay of other workers with similar levels of training and skill DOL CDLE, CDEC Help states and localities conduct their own analyses of comparable pay rates for care workers DOL CDLE, CDEC   Head Start Colorado is home to nearly 300 Head Start and Early Head Start programs across the state. These programs are managed locally and funded with Federal money. President Biden’s order directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to identify opportunities to increase compensation and benefits for Head Start staff and eliminate barriers to Head Start eligibility for families. CCCAP/TANF The Colorado Childcare Assistance Program (CCCAP) is administered by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) and funded by Federal money that comes from the Childcare and Development Fund (CCDF) and a state match. This program supports childcare costs for […]

It’s the end of another 120-day session of the Colorado state legislature, and as always, it was a sprint at the end, with the legislature logging 8 straight days of work, finishing at about 10 pm on the final day. At the end of session, many discussions were focused on the Governor’s signature land-use legislation (SB 23-213) and property tax referendum (SB 23-303). The land-use bill failed, and the property tax bill passed and will go to the voters in November. Both topics are likely to be dominant discussions in the next session. This was a very successful legislative session for EPIC, with our top bill, Continuation of the Childcare Contribution Tax Credit (HB 23-1091), passing with overwhelming bipartisan legislative support and support from over 65 organizations across the state. Thank you so much to our partner organizations and the EPIC members who testified, wrote guest columns, and called your representatives. We couldn’t have done it without you! A big thanks also goes out to the EPIC team and our policy consultants, William Mutch and Beth Melton, for their hard work and efforts on EPIC’s behalf. The other bills on our support list also moved through the entire process this session and EPIC played a meaningful role in each of them — through direct advocacy, testimony, and coalition support. This session has been described by some as the “session of implementation” and this held true across several early childhood bills this session, with clean-up bills for the Department of Early Childhood (HB 23-1235) and Proposition EE (Universal Pre-K funding) revenue retention (HB 23-1290). We also had a few bills that will help people enter the early childhood workforce (SB23-205 and HB 23-1246), and finally, a bill creating bonus payments for new Universal Pre-K providers with additional amounts for serving infants and toddlers and low-capacity areas (SB23-269). We are also very excited that EPIC members and employers across the state were successful in advocating for $3 million in funding for employer-based childcare through the Joint Budget Committee! Thank you all for your continued work on early childhood issues in Colorado. The voices of business leaders are powerful, and your support for early childhood helps to support the workforce of today and tomorrow! In the interim and during the next session, there will continue to be opportunities to get involved, and we’re always interested in hearing from you.             CCTC Bill Signing on May 23, 2023