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Policy Priorities

Together, Colorado’s 35 Early Childhood Councils form a statewide network with deep knowledge of local perspectives. Leaders can rely on the expertise of Councils to ensure policies focus on helping young children enter school ready to learn and achieve their full potential. Annually, ECCLA and Councils develop policy priorities to ensure there is a collective voice on behalf of all Colorado’s young children and their families.

ECCLA’s Policy Priorities for 2024

In 2024…

  • ECCLA will advocate and promote that local infrastructure must be supported and sustainably resourced to deliver on the strategies outlined in the Colorado Early Childhood Framework and HB 22-1295 that highlights a vision of coordinated and comprehensive local early childhood services and systems. This will include advocating for full flexible funding for the Navigator Program for Early Childhood Councils.
  • ECCLA will advocate that Early Childhood Councils and Local Coordinating Organizations should be included in the Service Provider Rate Increase in the 2024/25 budget and thereafter, and that the rate increase should be flexible and allow organizations to meet the rising costs of providing existing, statutorily required, services within their local communities.
  • ECCLA will advocate that Early Childhood Councils and local Child Care Resource and Referral services have a critical and unique role to play in coordinating local early childhood systems and continue to seek clear roles, efficient processes, and nonduplicative uses of funding within duplicative statute mandates between Early Childhood Councils and Local Coordinating Organizations.
  • ECCLA will advocate for the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) and opportunities that expand eligibility, increase funding, and decrease barriers for families, providers, and counties in ensuring all eligible families receive services.
  • ECCLA will promote and advocate for a variety of workforce strategies that support recruitment, retention, quality, and competency, including ongoing support for universal access to scholarship programs with a focus on T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Scholarship, apprenticeships, Child Development Associate Credential (CDA), and other opportunities for Higher Education, and assessing, understanding, and applying standards that result in a qualified workforce.
  • ECCLA will support policy that ensure all Colorado Children have access to universal, preventative, and developmental screening, referral, and follow-up, and promotes access to intervention services when needed.
  • ECCLA will support policy that strengthens and increases local access to increased family strengthening services that support the entire state including but not limited to home visiting, Family Resource Centers, WIC, SNAP, CCCAP, CACFP, child maltreatment prevention, Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation and other services local communities and state partners identify.

Within these 2024 priorities, ECCLA generally advocates for policy that has bi-partisan support, equitably impacts all communities and counties across the state in alignment with Policy Criteria 4, and directly supports identified policy outcomes.

ECCLA’s Policy Agenda is inclusive of membership perspectives and views but is unique and separate from individual Early Childhood Council’s positions on proposed policy.

Click here to read ECCLA’s full policy agenda.

Find your local Council and connect to engage in policy solutions together.

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