Early Childhood and School Readiness (10/26/2015)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

EARLY CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL READINESS

Date:	10/26/2015	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:08 PM to 04:36 PM	Marble	E
		Merrifield	X
Place:	SCR 356	Singer	X
		Wilson	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Pettersen	X
	Senator Martinez Humenik	Martinez Humenik	X

This Report was prepared by
	Lisa Gezelter
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
Fiscal Note Briefing Impact of Domestic Violence on Early Learning and School Readiness Early Learning Challenges Faced by Homeless and Foster Youth Public Comment Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts		Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only Recommendation(s) Approved

01:09 PM -- Fiscal Note Briefing

Senator Martinez Humenik, Chair, welcomed the committee and audience. Josh Abram, representing Legislative Council Staff, spoke about fiscal notes prepared for interim committee bills. He discussed the process by which interim committee bills move through Legislative Council, and explained that even if bills are amended today, revised fiscal notes will not be prepared until after the Legislative Council meeting. He stated that fiscal notes discussed at this meeting should be considered preliminary.

01:11 PM -- Impact of Domestic Violence on Early Learning and School Readiness

Lydia Waligorski, Lindsay Wyrick-Bruner, Bill Jaeger, and Elizabeth Collins introduced themselves. Ms. Collins, representing the Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence distributed a handout (Attachment A). She spoke about the prevalence of domestic violence and the ties between domestic violence and maltreatment of children. She described the effect of domestic violence on children and what happens when victims attempt to separate from their abusers. She defined domestic violence as coercive control, and spoke about the emotional responses that children have. She discussed the neurological effects of trauma on children and common responses that children have to domestic violence. She spoke about resiliency and the need for children to maintain a close relationship with their primary caregiving parents.

15EarlyChildhood1026AttachA.pdf

Ms. Waligorski, representing the Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence, talked about the guiding questions used to prepare the panel discussion, such as what happens when one parent flees the home. She said 13,000 people are turned away from domestic violence shelters each year, and that those turned away are usually women and children. She spoke about the loss of jobs and how this can lead to homelessness. She described the importance of basic documentation such as social security cards and birth certificates to people attempting to access bank accounts or apply for services. She described how abusers control access to documents as a means of controlling their victims. She listed immunization records as an example and said that without access to these, parents cannot access childcare or enroll their children in a new school. She said that for school-age children, federal law provides for navigators in schools and districts to assist families, but that for children ages 0 to 5, no guidance is provided.

Mr. Jaeger, representing the Colorado Children's Campaign, spoke about programs and systems that make it difficult for individuals experiencing a transition due to domestic violence. He said that the age of children most likely to be in homeless shelters is infancy, and that most families that are homeless are headed by women, with one infant. He described the obstacles to enrollment in programs that would enable vulnerable children to develop the close relationship with a caregiver that is the most important factor in resiliency. He spoke about how to lower barriers for families experiencing domestic violence and homelessness and described efforts in other states, such as more inclusive definitions in the Child Care Assistance Program; a period of presumptive eligibility in a domestic violence situation, to enable access to childcare while searching for job or enrolling children in school; a grace period for providing documentation while enrolling in childcare; and more Mckinney-Vento liaisons for early childhood.

Ms. Bruner, representing Domestic Violence Support Services Family Tree, Inc., described the requirement that parents comply with child support enforcement while applying for the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). She spoke about the problems this requirement presents for survivors of domestic violence and said that often when victims choose to leave their relationships and try to access services, the requirement to get child support enforcement from a battering parent can bring the batterer back into their lives. Ms. Waligorski spoke about how mothers that do not live in poverty can choose not to pursue child support enforcement, but poverty-stricken mothers are required to.

Representative Singer asked about the McKinney-Vento advocates program and why intervention is only provided to children ages 6 and up. Mr. Jaeger responded that he is researching the nature of that barrier. He said that McKinney-Vento liaisons can identify families with kids under age 6 and work with them, but that these liaisons may not have the opportunity to come into contact with young children because children under age 6 may not be enrolled in school. Representative Singer asked about presumptive eligibility and a grace period for documentation, specifically asking how long the grace period should be, since it can take a year or more to get a homeless family into a home. He asked whether or not counties already have flexibility to put in presumptive eligibility. Mr. Jaeger responded that Colorado has a process in place that allows counties to allow presumptive eligibility, but that the provider must agree, and if the family is later found to be not eligible, the cost falls to the provider with no reimbursement. He said that more counties would take advantage of a presumptive eligibility period if reimbursement was guaranteed and described programs in other states that have enacted grace periods of 60 days for immunization records.

Representative Singer asked about child support enforcement. Ms. Waligorski spoke about good cause waivers that are granted on a county-by-county or caseworker-by-caseworker basis and cause trouble to those attempting to navigate benefits systems. Mr. Jaeger added that for service-providing organizations working with domestic violence victims, child support enforcement is the single biggest challenge to accessing services and stated that having a waiver on the books does not lower the barrier sufficiently for families fleeing an abuser. He spoke about other states that allow child support enforcement to be the choice of the individual rather than the choice of the county.

Representative Singer asked about metrics and how domestic violence hurts school performance. He asked if any organization in Colorado had made an attempt to track this on an epidemiological scale. Ms. Collins responded that she is unaware of any widespread tracking of that information. She spoke about limited access to data that would show these results on a statewide basis, and discussed the limitations of having to look at numbers by arrest category and having no way to correlate this information with educational outcomes. Mr. Jaeger spoke about graduation rates for homeless and foster youths, and said that in Colorado, the graduation rate for foster children went from 31 percent to 29 percent from 2007 to 2012, while other groups' rates were increasing. He said that domestic violence has a 40 percent co-occurrence rate with maltreatment of children he described an adverse childhood experience study that showed that for children with four or more adverse childhood experiences, the probability of diseases and negative outcomes goes up four times. He said there is much correlational evidence, but a lack of hard data linking domestic violence to health or educational outcomes. Representative Singer spoke about how principals might like to know how to help communities.

Ms. Collins added that the adverse childhood experience study shows that children exposed to domestic violence are more likely to experience other adverse life events, like homelessness, and that there is an adverse impact on them. She added that behavior problems can have roots in traumatic experiences.

Representative Wilson asked about the handout (Attachment A), and commented that someone who leaves home without identification documents cannot prove who they are. He asked about the barriers to accessing data. Ms. Waligorski responded by pointing out the difficulties of replacing a birth certificate without a driver's license or social security card. Senator Martinez Humenik spoke about her experiences talking with women, who report that the threat from their abusers was so great, they left with only the clothes on their back. She spoke about issues of identity theft. Representative Wilson asked how this is different from losing a wallet. Ms. Bruner responded that people with no identification have to start somewhere, and that there may be a financial barrier to gaining new identification. She said that victims first need to access birth certificate, and that can take a long time, but that most domestic violence shelters have a 30 day stay limit. She said that victims may have birth certificates for themselves and their children by then, but nothing else. She spoke about how victims need to get a state-issued identification card, and that this is not an immediate process. For example, she stated that state-issued identification cares are mailed to recipients, but for those without a home address, that's a barrier. She spoke about what happens when domestic violence victims cannot get an identification card, and then cannot get a job without one and stated that this is why many victims return to their abuser when their children are homeless and hungry. Representative Wilson asked about solutions. Mr. Jaeger replied that in order to be able to navigate those systems, victims with child under the age of 6 need expedited access to an early learning setting for their children. He spoke about lowering the barriers to access for child placement so adults can navigate the systems they need.

01:49 PM -- Early Learning Challenges Faced by Homeless and Foster Youth

Victoria Black, representing Advocates for Children, introduced herself. She spoke about her experiences in foster care, how early childhood is critical to future success, and how children not reading by grade level in third grade are unlikely to graduate from high school. She spoke about significant challenges to homeless families and foster children, and described three of the largest barriers to educational success for those children:

1. Trauma: Ms. Black said that children in out-of-home placement are in traumatic settings already. She described children from ages 0 to 5 as having no understanding of why they have been removed from their families or lost their homes, and having no idea what the future will bring. She described studies that show that victims of early childhood trauma develop unique attachments to parents, so they are more attuned to the safety of their parents than their own needs. She said that early childhood trauma is likely to cause regression of speech or life skills, that children may lose control over emotions, have more outbursts, or withdraw or stop speaking. She described how children use post-traumatic play to work through emotions and said there is a need for training for early childhood educators.

2. Educational Stability: Ms. Black stated that this is a problem for foster children of all ages. She described how unstable placements make it harder for children to form attachments. She said that while homeless children are still likely to be with their parents and connected to family, foster children more likely to attach to teachers, rather than foster parent or caseworker. She said that in unstable placements, children cannot attach to teachers. She described problems with educational support at home for foster children. She spoke about how children who do not grow up in poverty and who live with their parents are read to and spoken to, and that the state would benefit from more supportive programs for foster parents. She spoke about the benefits of reading programs, similar to visiting nurse programs, for foster parents and homeless parents.

3. Opportunity: Ms. Black spoke about prioritizing preschool for foster children. She explained that many foster parents and caseworkers do not feel it is their responsibility to ensure preschool enrollment for foster children. She said that preschools and early childhood centers are competitive and have waiting lists, and that foster youths will not be enrolled if no slots are available the day a foster parent or caseworker attempts to enroll them. She spoke about the importance of reading programs and said that kindergarten should be mandatory for foster children, even though it is not mandatory for all children in Colorado. She discussed the cost of preschool and explained that foster parents and homeless families cannot pay the requisite fees. She spoke about transportation, and explained that transportation is guaranteed for homeless children so they can stay in their schools, but that this is not true for all foster children.

Ms. Black discussed statistics relating to educational attainment for foster children. She said that the mobility rate for foster children in Colorado's K-12 schools is 42.8 percent, while it is 33.2 percent for homeless children, 14.7 percent overall, and 5.3 percent for gifted and talented students. She stated that the state's graduation rate is 27.5 percent for foster children, and 50.4 percent for homeless children. Ms. Black said that Colorado should prioritize preschool and make sure kids are being read to during their early childhood years. She suggested that the best way to support educational stability is area permanence and spoke about a foster child named Jasper, who was removed from his home in Greeley, spent a few weeks in Greeley foster care, then was moved to Colorado Springs. She said that a major problem is a lack of adequate foster homes and that in Colorado, the number of foster homes has decreased in the last four years. She described how children are moved across the state on a regular basis because there are not enough open beds for foster children.

Senator Merrifield asked how to raise the number of foster homes. Ms. Black replied that foster parents are not given adequate support to raise children, that taking in a foster child is a significant financial burden in addition to added responsibility. Representative Singer responded that counties are responsible for licensure of foster homes and that there has been an increase in scrutiny on who gets licensed as a safeguard of foster children's safety. He stated that a lack of wraparound services and respite care make it difficult to recruit foster parents and that there may be different solutions for different counties. Ms. Black responded that the best placement for a child is often a kinship placement, but that these bring no monthly subsidy to assist foster parents in providing for children. Representative Wilson asked how the state could address traumatic removals. Ms. Black responded that removals are decreasing, but there will always be trauma involved with removal and stated that Colorado needs to do better at trying to keep children in their schools.

Representative Pettersen spoke about the need for increasing preschool slots. Ms. Black responded that subsidized kindergarten exists, but foster children have no mother involved; instead they have a team of people who may point fingers at each other rather than getting children enrolled in preschool or full-day kindergarten. She pointed out that it is not just a matter of the number of slots, but that educational outcomes need to be an administrative priority of the foster system.

02:14 PM -- Public Comment

The committee recessed.

02:25 PM

The committee came back to order. Sharon Knight, representing Warren Village, spoke about her organization and its work with homeless families. She talked about domestic violence and how women leave their homes without identification. She described how children are severely impacted and gave an example of a boy, age 3.5, with no language skills, having angry outbursts, and a mother who was raised in poverty so that the child experienced trauma in utero, and then the child was diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome. She stated that if children do not get the services they need, the cycle will perpetuate itself. She said that children need to be in high-quality care and spoke about the impact of the disruption of services when people have to leave one county for another to find housing or work. She discussed pockets of poverty, where there is a correlation to low-performing schools. She asked legislators to look at domestic violence and childhood trauma in a holistic fashion. Representative Singer asked about waivers and about county case managers. Ms. Knight responded that case management is inconsistent and that there is probably a lack of training and a lack of understanding of regulations and rules.

02:34 PM -- Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts

Ed DeCecco, Office of Legislative Legal Services, spoke about the need for the commission to determine bill sponsorship after each bill is voted on. He spoke about Bill 1, which relates to a state child tax credit, available for certain families with children ages 5 and younger.

Mr. DeCecco responded to questions from the committee. Committee discussion ensued. Kate Watkins, Legislate Council Staff, came to the table to respond to questions about the fiscal note. The committee discussed the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) impact of the bill.

02:51 PM -- Bill Jaeger, representing the Colorado Children's Campaign, spoke about the impact of this tax credit on childhood poverty. Mr. Jaeger responded to questions from the committee.

02:54 PM

Mr. DeCecco responded to questions from the committee. Committee discussion ensued.


BILL:	Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts
TIME:	03:01:19 PM
MOVED:	Merrifield
MOTION:	Inclusion of Bill Draft 1 as one of the bills forwarded by the Early Childhood and School Readiness Legislative Commission to Legislative Council. The motion passed on a vote of 3-2.
SECONDED:	Singer
		VOTE
	Marble	Excused
	Merrifield	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Wilson	No
	Pettersen	Yes
	Martinez Humenik	No

Final YES: 3 NO: 2 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:02 PM

Representative Singer and Senator Merrifield volunteered to sponsor the bill, and agreed that it should start in the House. Representative Pettersen volunteered to be a Co-Sponsor of the bill.

03:03 PM

Julie Pelegrin, Office of Legislative Legal Services, introduced Bill 2, which adds 3,000 slots to the Colorado Preschool Program (CPP). She stated that these slots can only be used for preschool, not as a means of funding full-day kindergarten.

03:04 PM -- Rich Jones, Director of Policy and Research, Bell Policy Center, spoke about the benefits of adding slots to the CPP. Mr. Jones responded to questions from the committee.

03:08 PM -- Bill Jaeger, Colorado Children's Campaign, spoke about the benefits of expanding the CPP. He described the benefits of putting this expansion in the School Finance Act rather than passing this legislation as a stand-alone bill.

03:09 PM

Committee discussion ensued. Senator Merrifield recommended the committee draft a letter to the Joint Education Committees and the JBC requesting the addition of these slots via the School Finance Act. Representative Wilson spoke about tying the hands of school districts by requiring these slots to go only for CPP and not for full-day kindergarten.

03:16 PM

Lauren Schreier, Legislative Council Staff, came to the table to respond to questions about the bill's fiscal note.

03:17 PM -- Anna Jo Haynes, representing the Early Childhood Leadership Council (ECLC), spoke in support of expanding the CPP but urged that this expansion be part of the School Finance Act.

03:18 PM -- Sophia San Miguel, representing herself, spoke in support of the bill.

03:20 PM

Committee discussion ensued.


BILL:	Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts
TIME:	03:26:26 PM
MOVED:	Merrifield
MOTION:	Letter to the Joint Education Committee and the Joint Budget Committee that would express the commission's belief that school finance should include funding of 3,000 additional CPP slots and include the suggestion that a discussion be included on whether the use of those slots should be CPP or Ecare. The motion passed on a vote of 5-0.
SECONDED:	Singer
		VOTE
	Marble	Excused
	Merrifield	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes
	Martinez Humenik	Yes

Final YES: 5 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:28 PM

Jane Ritter, Office of Legislative Legal Services, presented Bill 3, which makes changes to Senate Bill 10-191 by exempting licensed preschool teachers from requirements that academic growth measures be used in evaluations. Senator Merrifield explained his intent in requesting the bill draft. Committee discussion ensued.

03:34 PM -- Bill Jaeger, representing the Colorado Children's Campaign, spoke about measuring student growth in the preschool years and about the contribution preschool teachers make to students' academic growth.

03:36 PM

Committee discussion ensued.

03:37 PM -- Senator Evie Hudak spoke about the passage of Senate Bill 10-191 and the legislative intent behind that bill, which she described as licensed personnel in K-12, not inclusive of preschool teachers. Committee discussion ensued. Senator Hudak responded to questions from the committee.


BILL:	Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts
TIME:	03:42:57 PM
MOVED:	Merrifield
MOTION:	Inclusion of Bill Draft 3 as one of the bills forwarded by the Early Childhood and School Readiness Legislative Commission to Legislative Council. The motion failed on a vote of 2-3.
SECONDED:	Singer
		VOTE
	Marble	Excused
	Merrifield	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Wilson	No
	Pettersen	No
	Martinez Humenik	No

Final YES: 2 NO: 3 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL

03:43 PM

Brita Darling, Office of Legislative Legal Services, presented Bill 4, which removes the 10-county limit from the Cliff Effect Pilot Program. Committee discussion ensued.

03:48 PM

Josh Abram, Legislative Council Staff, came to the table to respond to questions about the bill's fiscal note.

03:50 PM

Committee discussion ensued.

03:51 PM -- Brian Conly, representing the Office of Early Childhood, spoke about the bill. Mr. Conly responded to questions from the committee.

03:52 PM

Bill Zepernick, Legislative Council Staff, came to the table to respond to questions about the fiscal note.

03:55 PM -- Rich Jones, representing the Bell Policy Center, spoke about the genesis of the ten-county pilot program.


BILL:	Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts
TIME:	03:58:26 PM
MOVED:	Pettersen
MOTION:	Inclusion of Bill Draft 4 as one of the bills forwarded by the Early Childhood and School Readiness Legislative Commission to Legislative Council. The motion passed on a vote of 5-0.
SECONDED:	Merrifield
		VOTE
	Marble	Excused
	Merrifield	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes
	Martinez Humenik	Yes

Final YES: 5 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:59 PM

Representatives Pettersen, Wilson, and Singer and Senators Martinez Humenik and Merrifield volunteered to sponsor the bill and agreed that the bill will start in Senate.

04:01 PM

Julie Pelegrin, Office of Legislative Legal Services, introduced Bill Draft 5, which creates a task force to address issues relating to the child care needs of low-income parents. Committee discussion ensued.

04:05 PM -- Chaer Robert, representing the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, spoke about the bill draft and discussed the importance of low-income parents being able to continue their education. She spoke about Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) data distributed to the committee (Attachment B). Ms. Robert responded to questions from the committee.

15EarlyChildhood1026AttachB.pdf

04:12 PM -- Senator Evie Hudak, representing herself, came to the table to speak about the bill. Representative Singer spoke about a conceptual amendment adding a requirement that the task force report to the ECSRLC.


BILL:	Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts
TIME:	04:14:53 PM
MOVED:	Singer
MOTION:	Adopt a conceptual amendment to Bill Draft 5 to add a separate sentence to require a report to the ECSRLC. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Pettersen
		VOTE
	Marble	Excused
	Merrifield
	Singer
	Wilson
	Pettersen
	Martinez Humenik

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

04:17 PM

Committee discussion ensued.

04:18 PM -- Sharon Knight, representing Warren Village, spoke about the inclusion of parents on the task force.

04:21 PM

Julie Pelegrin spoke about the work of the task force and its makeup. Committee discussion ensued.

04:24 PM -- Senator Evie Hudak spoke about the makeup of the task force.


BILL:	Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts
TIME:	04:29:31 PM
MOVED:	Pettersen
MOTION:	Adopt a conceptual amendment to Bill Draft 5 making the total number of parents on the task force at least 5 and up to 7. The motion passed on a vote of 5-0.
SECONDED:	Singer
		VOTE
	Marble	Excused
	Merrifield	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes
	Martinez Humenik	Yes

YES: 5 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

04:31 PM


BILL:	Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts
TIME:	04:32:01 PM
MOVED:	Pettersen
MOTION:	Inclusion of Bill Draft 5, as amended, as one of the bills forwarded by the Early Childhood and School Readiness Legislative Commission to Legislative Council. The motion passed on a vote of 5-0.
SECONDED:	Merrifield
		VOTE
	Marble	Excused
	Merrifield	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes
	Martinez Humenik	Yes

Final YES: 5 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

04:33 PM

Representative Pettersen and Senator Merrifield volunteered to sponsor the bill and agreed that the bill will start in the House. Representative Singer agreed to sign on as a co-sponsor.


BILL:	Discussion and Approval of Bill Drafts
TIME:	04:34:11 PM
MOVED:	Wilson
MOTION:	Adopt safety clause on Bill 5. The motion passed on a vote of 5-0.
SECONDED:	Merrifield
		VOTE
	Marble	Excused
	Merrifield	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes
	Martinez Humenik	Yes

YES: 5 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

04:34 PM

Senator Martinez Humenik thanked the audience for its feedback and input and encouraged them to remain involved throughout the session. The meeting adjourned.