Date: 07/28/2014

Final
Family Support for Early Childhood

EARLY CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL READINESS LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
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02:34 PM -- Family Support for Early Childhood

Representative Pettersen called the meeting back to order and welcomed the next set of panelists to the table.

Ms. Lisa Hill, Executive Director, Invest in Kids, began her presentation on the Nurse-Family Partnership (Attachment P) and the goals and populations served by the program. She discussed how the program can provide referrals to other services. She highlighted the results of the Nurse-Family Partnership, based on evidence from several prior trials, and the number of families served in Colorado over the life of the program. She discussed the locations of the program in Colorado and the funding for the program. Ms. Hill discussed areas of savings to the state that results from a woman and child's participation in the program. She responded to questions from the commission.

14EarlyChildhood0728AttachP.pdf14EarlyChildhood0728AttachP.pdf

02:54 PM

 Ms. Kathryn Gray Beck, Program Officer, Colorado Parent and Child Foundation, began her presentation on her organization's practice models, the Parent as Teachers (PAT) and Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) models (Attachment Q). She described the PAT program as a home visitation model and told the commission about the various supports provided. She described the evidence-based nature of the program and the requirements for fidelity in the 30 program locations throughout the state. HIPPY is also a home visitation program. Ms. Gray Beck stated that the program serves parents with low educational attainment and that the program helps parents stay involved once the child goes to school. She stated that there are seven HIPPY sites in Colorado and that the program is peer delivered. She discussed a partnership with AmeriCorps under HIPPY. Ms. Gray Beck also provided handouts on these programs and her organization (Attachment R). She responded to questions from the commission.

14EarlyChildhood0728AttachQ.pdf14EarlyChildhood0728AttachQ.pdf 14EarlyChildhood0728AttachR.pdf14EarlyChildhood0728AttachR.pdf

03:12 PM

Mr. Christopher Price, Vice President and COO, Bright Beginnings, began his presentation. He described the history of his organization. He stated that the organization cannot serve everyone and aims to provide additional support to the families that it can serve. He discussed the cost per enrollee in the program and help provided by volunteers and partner agencies. He described how Bright Beginnings follows up with new parents to ask about their needs for services. Mr. Price provided an information packet to the commission members (Attachment S). He described efforts to communicate more frequently with parents and track their engagement. He discussed how many of the children they serve are served by friends and family or by a parent who stays at home and stated that many of these children are not on the radar of traditional early childhood providers and agencies. Mr. Price responded to questions from the commission. Ms. Hill then described the collaboration between the Nurse-Family Partnership, Bright Beginnings, and other organizations.

14EarlyChildhood0728AttachS.pdf14EarlyChildhood0728AttachS.pdf

03:24 PM

Ms. Cathy Lines, Chair, Colorado State Advisory Council for Parent Involvement in Education (SACPIE), began her presentation (Attachment T) and provided a research paper on the importance of family involvement in education (Attachment U). She described the statutory charge of the SACPIE and the membership of the organization. She highlighted the best practices that SACPIE hopes to achieve and described their role in monitoring research and disseminating information. She discussed the importance of transition periods as children age and move through the education system. She talked about other relevant research and highlighted the national standards for family-school partnerships. She commented on the need for teachers to have the skills to work with families dealing with academic achievement and behavioral issues, among other challenges. She described the membership and work of the Early Childhood Committee at SACPIE. Ms. Lines responded to questions from the commission.

14EarlyChildhood0728AttachT.pdf14EarlyChildhood0728AttachT.pdf 14EarlyChildhood0728AttachU.pdf14EarlyChildhood0728AttachU.pdf

Representative Pettersen thanked the panelists for their presentation.