The West Steps

Prior to the pandemic, Colorado made significant strides in improving the quality standards of early childhood programs. However, since the onset of the public health crisis, existing structural challenges have been exacerbated. Among these challenges include issues with workforce recruitment and retention, enrollment rates, and funding – with many children unable to receive care altogether. High...

 The U.S is the only developed country with an increasing maternal mortality rate, and in Colorado, that rate has doubled since 2008. Additionally, longstanding discriminatory policies and practices have led to maternal mortality rates among birthing people of color and people using Medicaid that are significantly higher than the mortality rates seen amongst birthing people who are white, or using...

When kids experience extreme poverty, it can have lifelong impacts on their health and well-being. That is why it is critical we take steps to help support families who are living far below the federal poverty level. House Bill 22-1259 will make changes to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF), known here as Colorado Works, so that it is responsive to the needs of our families...

With less than 80 days to go in the legislative session, the pace has started to pick up at the Capitol. More than 400 pieces of legislation have been introduced, and the Children’s Campaign has already analyzed and taken positions on 120.  We are excited to see some of our priority bills already making their way through the legislature. If passed, our state could see significant systems change in...

In Colorado, a family with two children must make less than $421 per month to qualify for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Therefore, the level of poverty a family must experience to access this program is too low for it to truly help families achieve economic security. In addition, TANF payments do not adjust proportionally to inflation. The payments families receive ar...

Without health insurance, families are one medical emergency away from financial ruin. Therefore, the security and care that health insurance provides is immeasurable. Unfortunately, many Coloradans still do not have access to these services. This lack of health coverage can lead to detrimental outcomes, especially for people of color and people without certain documentation, who often face greate...

Hunger has always been an issue in our state. Over the course of the pandemic, food insecurity amongst Colorado kids increased from 1 in 6 children to 1 in 3. Along with that, many families often were not filling out free or reduced-price lunch applications, making it difficult for schools and programs to identify kids in need of food. This resulted in inaccurate data capturing the number of “at-r...

Colorado is currently facing an early childhood worker shortage. The increased demand for educators, issues with workforce retention, and the compounding effects of the pandemic have only exacerbated the sector’s high turnover rate. House Bill 22-1010 , the Early Childhood Educator Income Tax Credit, hopes to change this. If passed, this bipartisan bill would establish a fully refundable tax credi...

Accurate, reliable data allow us to fully understand the health of perinatal people and their babies. Especially with the pandemic’s impact on maternal health, data are critical in providing a robust understanding of the support needed by birthing persons. Unfortunately, the current patchwork system of funding data collection is jeopardizing our understanding of maternal health outcomes in our sta...

The Colorado General Assembly is back, which means it’s time to kick off season four of The West Steps. Episode 1 welcomes our Government Affairs Director, Riley Kitts, for an exciting conversation on what we can expect in the 2022 legislative session.   A lot has happened since last session ended in June 2021. Interim committees and task forces convened on issues ranging from behavioral health to...

Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) are developed to ensure children with identified disabilities receive the necessary resources and support they need to thrive in the classroom. As the transition to the new Department of Early Childhood continues, a subgroup has been devoted to developing recommendations for the administration of special education services within the new state agency.  No chil...

In traditional early care settings, the focus is primarily on educating the child. However, from what we know about our education system, the involvement of parents and caregivers in a child’s earliest years of education is essential to their success. Home visiting programs work to create this reality, especially for immigrant and refugee families who face numerous barriers to accessing high-quali...

When people picture child care providers, many envision licensed professionals in settings outside the home. However, this is not always the case. Family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) providers may be viewed as informal caregivers, but they offer invaluable services to children across our state. By offering trusted, culturally competent, and often more inexpensive care to the families they serve, FF...

For parents of young children across Colorado, navigating the early childhood system is nothing short of exhausting. The fragmented programs that are often controlled by money and politics have repeatedly belittled the voices of concerned parents and providers for decades – perpetuating a system that fails kids in their most critical years of life. As the transition to the new state Department of...

The passage of Proposition EE in November 2020 provided a huge increase in the number of children able to access preschool in 2023 when it goes into effect. As with any issue like this, universal preschool cannot be implemented overnight, and stakeholders across the state immediately got to work to determine how to ensure our system will be ready for this change. It also pushed our state to think...

Although the 2021 legislative session felt like one of the longest to date, it ushered in tremendous progress for kids and families in Colorado. This session not only forced many to recognize the numerous cracks in our society exposed by the pandemic, it also led to the start of removing the many barriers that created those systemic issues in the first place. The Colorado Children’s Campaign saw a...

For years, the level of funding for Colorado schools has been largely dependent on property wealth. This is primarily an unintended result of how Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) amendment, which restricted the amount of revenue the state collected and spent, was implemented. Over time, this has created enormous inequities in the way our state collects and spends money in school district...

The health of a child is completely dependent on the health of their parent or caregiver. That is why quality, affordable behavioral health services play a critical role in creating strong families, especially during the perinatal period. However, lack of support, inaccessible services, and systemic racism have all contributed to the rising rate of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. As out stat...

High quality, accessible child care is not only necessary for helping young children thrive, but also for creating a strong and stable economy. In Colorado, our early childhood system remains fragmented and difficult to maneuver for both families and providers. Along with that, quality, availability, and cost of these services make it difficult for our providers to support families in the best way...

Lack of quality, affordable health insurance has the potential to create a vicious cycle of medical and financial strain for families. While more than 50 percent of Coloradans have health insurance through an employer, our state has experienced an increase in the number of individuals struggling to balance payments between medical bills, rent, and food. Along with that, longstanding systemic racis...

The U.S spends more on maternal care than any other country in the world, and yet, we have worse outcomes than any other developed nation. Racism and structural issues within our health care system are just two of the many contributing factors to the rising maternal mortality rate in our country. The longstanding dehumanization experienced by Black and indigenous women when giving birth has led to...

When families can’t afford diapers, it impacts more than just their child’s health and well-being. Not having enough diapers can result in maternal depression, prevent families from accessing child care, and ultimately leads to stress and shame for parents who are unable to provide this crucial need for their child. Prior to the pandemic, 1 in 3 families in America did not have enough diapers for...

We may only be halfway through the legislative session, but so much has already happened for kids and families at the Capitol.  Things are starting to feel normal again as more in-person meetings take place and many state programs cut last year have been restored.  Along with that, the state budget has seen an increase as Colorado receives an influx of federal funding from the recent stimulus pack...

Harmful, racist policies not only intentionally target members of our community, they also bleed into the workings of our everyday culture, creating invisible barriers that prevent people from living their fullest lives. In 2006, Colorado passed three laws that established greater barriers for immigrants and consequently fueled anti-immigrant sentiment in our state and nation. The passage of SB 10...

Data tell stories, and by understanding those stories, we can become better advocates for kids and families. But what happens when that data is not available? The onset of the pandemic has prevented educators, policymakers, and community leaders from accessing fully comprehensive data regarding how kids are doing in their classes.  With students’ lives being turned upside down this past year, asse...