Welcome to the Chaffee County, Colorado
Early Childhood Council Website
Links:

The Strategic Plan

Chaffee County Early Childhood Community Assessment

Parent Information and Family Support

The Council provides regular electronic communication on early childhood issues and activities. Sign up for getting on our e-list for meeting notices here.

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For many years, Chaffee County has benefitted from many high quality programs serving young children and their families. The Chaffee County Early Childhood Council (CCECC) grew out of a community initiative launched by many of these programs. The purpose of the council is to work collaboratively to develop a sustainable comprehensive early childhood system that builds on our community assets, while addressing unmet community needs. The Council currently has thirty-one active participants from a wide variety of stakeholder groups that include the school districts, libraries, parents, child care providers, elected officials and business owners.
As a first step, the Council worked with community members and representatives from the Colorado Department of Education to conduct an Early Childhood Community Assessment. This assessment covers young children and their families, prenatal through age five. The early childhood assessment addresses the four domains and eight systems goals that are considered essential to building an effective early childhood system. These domains and goal areas were developed through many years of research and practical application. They form the foundation of the Smart Start Colorado early childhood systems building work in our state, of which the Chaffee County Early Childhood Council is a partner. At this time, there are over thirty early childhood councils in Colorado.

Four domains or areas of work:
Early Care and Education
Health
Mental Health
Parent Information and Family Support
Eight systems goals

Quality and Standards
Program Availability
Parent and Family Engagement
Professional & Workforce Development
Funding and Finance
Public Engagement
Accountability
Systems Oversight

Through its Assessment and Strategic Planning Working Group, the CCECC consulted with county program providers and subject matter experts in each of the four domains to determine the scope of the community assessment, as well as the key indicators, data sources, and evidence-based practices that would be included. Additional information and perceptions were gathered through a parent survey and interviews with parents and a wide variety of community leaders and stakeholders. A survey created by Smart Start Colorado was used to measure perceptions about current levels of systems collaboration within the county.

The early childhood community assessment served as the foundation for the Council’s strategic planning efforts.

Council Vision
The children and families of our community are nurtured and thriving.
Council Mission
Provide a caring collaborative system of affordable, quality services for all children prenatal to age 8 and their families.
Strategic Goals
Based upon a countywide Early Childhood Assessment conducted by the Council, the following goals for serving young children were established:
Provide quality screening for early identification of needs to support all children prenatal to age eight
Expand affordable quality early care and learning services to ensure school readiness
Improve awareness, understanding and use of available resources for children and families in order to promote children’s healthy growth and development
Develop an affective and sustainable early childhood council that achieves our vision
Council Structure
The Council was established with funding from a multi-year grant through the Colorado Department of Education. There are 24 mandated partners who serve on the council along with additional valued community members (click through to partners list).
The Council has an elected Chair and Steering Committee, a Screening Task Force, an Early Care and Learning Working Group, and a Sustainability and Governance Working Group. Public awareness goals are integrated into the efforts of each Task Force and Working Group.

The Council provides regular electronic communication on early childhood issues and activities. Sign up for getting on our e-list for meeting notices here.