We have a lot going on legislatively. Here is the link to:
The Senate Education Committee Members are:
Action Item #1:
If you participate in the CCCAP program, email your legislators and tell them how freezes are impacting you. You can tell them that if federal funds are frozen it will only further undermine your business. Tell them your story for your program. How is that true for you?
Action Item #2:
If your legislator is on the Senate Education Committee, we need you to email them this week and tell them that you support SB26-019:
- Consolidating support systems and sharing fiscal resources for those systems makes sense for Colorado.
- Encourage the legislature to make sure that there is a smooth transfer in this function empowering Early childhood councils to take on the role effectively. For instance, in Denver the two entities have a contract that outlines how DPP will support the transfer of skills/knowledge/support gradually over to the Denver Early Childhood Council.
Action Item #3:
If your legislator is on the Senate Education Committee, we need you to email them this week and tell them that you support SB26-020:
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Create a centralized digital system for child care providers so that you don't have to keep hard and digital copies of everything. Also so you don't have to find documents years after they already inspected them.
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Move toward more consistent state-led inspections (consolidation of services to the state). This enables them to have direct supervisory authority over the licensing specialists around the state.
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Retain quality efforts but define it in a way that makes sense and actually indicates quality
- Adult/child interractions
- Environment
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Allows provisional licensure for 9 months if local challenges exist. If you pass a licensing inspection then you can open under that provisional license while you work out the local challenges. It also attempts to stop local fees from localities (ie health department)
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Creates a focused quality task force to meet and come up with recommendations that bring regulations to a place where they ensure safety but do not undermine businesses.
Speak to what matters to you most in this bill but emphasize that the child care industry needs legislation that is supportive of the industry rather than hindering it the way it has in recent years. Use your own words or it goes straight in the trash bin.
That's how you can help the industry most this week! Watch for more alerts as the legislative session continues.
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