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Welcome to the Chaffee County, Colorado
Early Childhood Council Website |
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Links:
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. Documents on this website require Acrobat Reader |
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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: Quality and Standards 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 Council provides regular electronic communication on early childhood issues and activities. Sign up for getting on our e-list for meeting notices here. |