Talk about change. Colorado’s early care and education system is undergoing major shifts, largely in response to new requirements at the state and federal levels. For starters, there are the new federal requirements in the reauthorized Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act. In addition, last year Colorado’s child care licensing regulations were updated and now are among the strongest in the nation. For the first time, child care health consultants in the state are required to take introductory training, and child care staff who work with infants must undergo annual training on safe sleep practices.

Spotlight

Take Care of Yourself: Reduce Your Stress

The holiday season often brings an abundance of excitement for young children who anticipate receiving new toys and games. The gift givers’ tasks aren’t accomplished by simply finding and buying the wish list items—attention also needs to also be paid on ensuring that gifts are age appropriate and pose no safety hazards.

Every week in the United States, nearly 11 million children younger than age five are in some type of child care arrangement. While all families with young children benefit from an awareness and knowledge of high-quality, affordable child care options that match their need for safe, healthy, and developmentally appropriate care, children from economically challenged and diverse families benefit even more monumentally from a high-quality child care environment. There are, however, many barriers for low-income and otherwise vulnerable families accessing care including preventable barriers such as the lack of knowledge of early care options.

During the late hours of December 9, the Senate avoided a government shutdown and approved H.R. 2028, a continuing resolution (CR) that will fund the Federal government until April 28, 2017. CRs, which are used is the absence of a final budget bill, are funded at the same levels appropriated for the previous fiscal year (2016). In addition to maintaining child care and early childhood development programs at FY 2016 levels, the CR also includes $4.1 billion for Hurricane Matthew recovery efforts.

As the leaves change and the weather starts to turn cold, we shift our attention to important end-of-the year work, which includes the launch of our 10th Parents and the High Cost of Child Care report. Visit usa.childcareaware.org/costofcare for more information on this year’s report, which includes both state and county-level data on the cost of child care. We also continue to plan and build momentum around our Child Care Works movement following the election and lead-up to the first 100 days of the new administration.