Date: 09/28/2015

Final
Presentation on Child Care Licensing and Demographics

EARLY CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL READINESS

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
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01:24 PM -- Presentation on Child Care Licensing and Demographics

Senator Martinez Humenik called the meeting back to order. She invited Noel Nelson, CEO and President of the Early Childhood Education Association of Colorado (association), to come to the table. He explained that the association is a professional trade association focusing on the needs of early childhood programs and parents. He provided background information about the association, and distributed a copy of his powerpoint presentation (Attachment F). He discussed a survey that was done in 1996 when the Colorado Preschool Program was first being implemented to identify the top five early child care provider concerns. He told the commission members that from 2012 to 2014, the number of child care centers operating in Colorado dramatically decreased, and that center closings are outpacing center openings. He explained that in response, a new survey of child care providers was done and the top concerns of providers currently are: low Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) reimbursement rates, new publicly-funded centers that compete against private centers, problems with staff recruitment, and a burdensome regulatory structure. He said that Colorado ranks second in the country for the high cost of infant care, and talked about the expenses incurred by providers and why it is so expensive to provide early child care. Mr. Nelson responded to questions about why child care in Colorado is so expensive.

15EarlyChildhood0928AttachF.pdf15EarlyChildhood0928AttachF.pdf

01:35 PM

Mr. Nelson spoke about the economic impacts of the child care industry on the state. He said that these employees support families that are working in other industries, and therefore early child care is a driver of other economic impacts in our state. He said the child care industry provides $1.4 billion in output to Colorado's economy, and that the affordability of child care is central to the conversation, but the real issue is how to support families facing the high cost of high-quality early childhood education. He discussed the need to leverage dollars to support private industry as opposed to directly competing with it. Mr. Nelson answered questions from the committee.


01:42 PM

A commission member asked Mr. Nelson what percentage of providers in the state provide continuing education services to their employees. Mr. Nelson answered that 70 percent of the association's providers provide continuing education benefits to their employees. The commission discussed employee recruitment and retention in the child care sector. Mr. Nelson responded to a question about why more centers are closing than opening. He said that the number one reason is the shallow talent pool, which causes centers to be unable to find qualified staff to meet the operating licensing requirements. He explained that this problem is more pronounced in rural counties. He said there has also been a decline in enrollment in early childhood education programs in the community college system.


01:51 PM

Mr. Nelson responded to questions about the current regulatory environment faced by child care centers and stated that in the past five years, the Department of Human Services has become more collaborative with the Early Childhood Education community when dealing with concerns. He said there is a need for child care center licensing to ensure health, safety, and quality education for children. He concluded by stating that another reason centers are closing are due to the local county reimbursement rates.