Network Documents

This report highlights the activities and progress of the SWFI Learning Community from July 2018-July 2019 and builds upon the foundation of a strong process and action planning, which took place in 2017-2018. While the first year of the SWFI Learning Community was heavily focused on creating a process and foundation for collaboration, the last year has been focused on taking action informed by the experiences of various players in the system, including parent students, formal and informal child care providers, Early Childhood Councils, and provider referral partners like community colleges and employers. The following report highlights key learnings and accomplishments of the Learning Community, as well as what is planned for its final year of formal collaboration, with the SWFI project concluding in June of 2020.

Bell Policy Center's role with the SWFI project is to conduct focus groups with students and staff members and interview leaders at the community colleges, community partners and other key informants in the region.  We also conducted a review of the literature on best practices for coordinating early childhood systems and workforce development and postsecondary education systems.  This is a summary of the discovery research that was presented to the Learning Community at the Kick Off meeting in June 2017. Bell will continue to present the results of our research to the learning community along with suggestions for additional community partners and policy and systemic changes that could improve the outcomes for SWFI families.

Follow up from March SWFI whole group meeting. 

This a summary of the April 11, 2018 meeting of the Public Policy Action Group.

Colorado Children's Campaign Wrap-up of the 2018 legislative session.

CCLP's summary of legislative action on bills affecting family economic security.

Bell Policy Center's Wrap-up on the 2018 Legislative Session

This report from The Colorado Children's Campaign includes an assessment/analysis and recommended next steps for serving FFN providers.  Although produced in March 2013, it is still a good resource for this Action Team to review and consider. Melissa

I was assigned the task to gather information on CDHS/OEC lessons as they worked with informal / unlicensed child care providers.  The attachment summarizes efforts/lessons and includes links to other resources.  

This is summary of the ideas and recommendations developed during the January Learning Community Meeting.  It contains a list of strategies along with priorities that was developed by participants. 

This is a bill developed by most of the school superintendents in the state that will allocate state funds to the school districts.  It will only go into effect if the voters approve a tax increase for education on the 2018 ballot.  One of the provisions of the bill is the aspiration for universal, state funded preschool.  This is something the Learning Community identified as an important goal at its January meeting.  See the provision below. (I) The Colorado preschool program set forth in article 28 of title 22, Colorado Revised Statutes, limits the program to a certain number of state-funded preschool program participants and requires that state-funded children attending preschool meet certain eligibility criteria. The new public school funding distribution formula contemplates universal, quality preschool for four- and five-year-old children, for which each child is funded as a half-day pupil, and does not limit preschool funding for four- and five-year-old children to a restricted number of preschool program participants or by a child's risk factors. Current preschool program provisions will continue to apply for three-year-old children participating in the preschool program. 

A report by the Bell Policy Center on the cliff effect pilot program and how they affected families receiving CCCAP.  It makes recommendations for addressing the cliff effect.

This is a Joint Budget Committee bill that makes significant changes in CCCAP.  It will set a statewide entry level income limit of 185 percent of Federal Poverty Level and an exit level equal to the federal limit of 85 percent of statewide median income for family size.  It makes other changes in CCCAP.

This is a staff document prepared for members of the Joint Budget Committee for their use in setting the budget for the Colorado Department of Human Services, which includes the CCCAP program.  See pages 15-19 for a discussion of a proposal to restructure CCCAP.

This is our Action Planning Template we completed during the March 12, Learning Community Meeting.