CCECC’S Impact on Chaffee County
Based on community need, CCECC has four strategic goals:
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Access to quality child care, especially for infants and toddlers
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Children will start school ready to learn
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Support Early Childhood Workforce
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Connect families with resources
Here’s how we’re meeting those goals:
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CCECC recruits and supports individuals to open licensed child care facilities; engages them in quality improvement programs; and also supports experienced child care providers in order to expand access to care, especially for infants and toddlers.
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Financial Resources to Support Quality
Through the state’s quality rating and improvement system for early care and learning programs – Colorado Shines – CCECC is able to secure additional financial resources for licensed child care providers in our community.
Expanding Quality in Infant & Toddler Care (EQIT)
EQIT is an evidence-based course combined with coaching designed to support healthy development and timely acquisition of developmental and social and emotional skills in the first three years of life. CCECC provides stipends for Chaffee County licensed home providers and center staff to take EQIT. Contact us to learn more.
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CCECC provides up to seven scholarships annually for online college-level courses for licensed home providers and employees at early childhood centers. The scholarship program supports skill development for child care providers and supports staff retention. CCECC also partners with Colorado Mountain College to offer the Emerging Early Childhood Educators Program for those newly entering the early childhood workforce.
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Kid Connects is a two-year program for licensed child care providers in which an early childhood mental health consultant works on-site at the program with staff and families. Kid Connects establishes integrated sustainable practices that support the development of behavioral and social-emotional skills (birth to age 5).
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The ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE assessments are widely available across our county, ensuring that all children in our communities receive timely, standardized developmental and social emotional screenings. CCECC has facilitated access to the ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE across Chaffee County and built strong systems for appropriate referral and service follow-through when additional services are indicated. CCECC also provides parent activities and additional support.
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CCECC supports the administration of DECA in licensed child care facilities. DECA is an evidence-based tool to identify risk and resiliency factors and guide implementation of proven strategies to build resiliency and support school readiness.
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CCECC works closely with parents, community partners, and subject matter experts across the state to provide local access to evidence-based trainings, strategies, programs, and practices that support school readiness and family well-being. These include free informational resources, events and convenings across the county.
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This 28-week program helps children build self-regulation and social-emotional skills they need to succeed in kindergarten. The Second Step program is offered throughout Chaffee County and helps preschool children harness their energy and potential by teaching them to listen, pay attention, manage their behavior and get along with others.
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Information about developmental milestones, age-appropriate learning games, and local resources delivered via text message right to subscribers’ cell phones. The program has evolved from a hard-copy kit of materials to a digital platform tailored to the needs of Colorado families.
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Efforts across our county aim to increase the number of women receiving standardized pregnancy-related depression screenings at physician offices, as well as local access to effective support and treatment options. CCECC has also been effective in raising awareness of the prevalence and impact of perinatal mental health disorders.
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CCECC works with Fremont County’s Early Childhood Council to share resources and establish regional solutions to the social-emotional needs of young children and their families. Areas of focus include access to mental health consultation in child care settings, home visiting programs, strengthening parenting skills and family supports, and integrating behavioral health in primary health care. This collaboration has resulted in new initiatives for Chaffee County including these programs: Circle of Security, Conscious Discipline, Your Journey Together, Seedlings, Creating Trauma Informed Care Agencies, and Child Parent Psychotherapy.
Testimonials
Hear what our partners — including physicians, child care providers, and community leaders — have to say about working with CCECC.
“Before CCECC was established, valuable needed programs came and went in our rural county depending on funding accessed and lost by individual agencies often serving one end of the county or the other. Since CCECC started, we have facilitated everyone working together to identify and prioritize local early childhood needs and implement sustainable and cost-effective best practice solutions.”
— Janine Pryor
“When children have a strong foundation, they enter school ready to learn, ready to succeed. CCECC provides access to resources, training for families and professionals, and nurturing strategies that make a difference in children’s school readiness. Young children are ready for school when their needs – physical, social, and emotional – are met from the beginning. CCECC connects the dots to create a system that makes this possible.”
— Lyndsay Pulsipher, Buena Vista Preschool Director (ret.), CCECC Chair
“CCECC, specifically the LAUNCH Together program has been a significant benefit to our medical clinic and has afforded us the opportunity to integrate behavioral health into our family care services. Having Beth Russell from CCECC in the office as a quick and accessible resource for a mother with anxiety or depression during pregnancy or the post-partum period has been a resource that our patients are thankful for. The emotional well-being of the parents has a significant impact on the child and we are grateful we are able to now integrate emotional screenings and immediate support in pregnancy and child wellness checks.”
— Dr. Meggan Grant-Nierman, First Street Family Health in Salida
“I cannot say enough about the value CCECC adds to our community by informing, encouraging, and supporting providers and parents. CCECC offers opportunities to learn new ways of connecting with kids – enriching them educationally and emotionally. CCECC’s support strengthens my relationships with the children, their families, and other providers. CCECC creates a community, a true supportive system, focused on children.”
— Barb Billings, Child Care Provider in Buena Vista
