Cornerstone 1: Quality Early Care & Education
Families have a variety of high-quality early care and education options that meet their needs, provided through a mixed-delivery system.
three primary strategies 
1. Planning & Funding
Develop an implementation plan and secure a dedicated public funding stream for universal preschool and other early care and education initiatives.
2. ECE Workforce Initiatives
Recruit, retain, and support a qualified early care and education workforce across child care and preschool settings.
Read more below.
3. Enrichment Programs
Ensure school-district and community-based enrichment programs and activities* are accessible to all across the continuum of prenatal to age 8.
*Enrichment programs and activities may include library reading programs, before- and after-school programs, summer camps, and child care.
Advancing Strategy 1 - Develop an implementation plan and secure a dedicated public funding stream for universal preschool and other early care and education initiatives
Goal 1: Support Colorado Universal Preschool Implementation (UPK) in collaboration with Colorado Department of Early Childhood.
Goal 2: Support multi-year statewide initiative, led by Gary Community Ventures and a group of Colorado funders, aimed at making child care more affordable for low- and middle-income families in Colorado. This multi-year initiative aims to elevate the need for affordable child care and build the public and political will among stakeholder groups to support child care affordability.
In Gilpin, Clear Creek & Western Jeffco: Implement community-driven solutions from community needs assessment for access to child care and family resources
Goal 1: Increase collaboration with existing groups already working on solving the childcare crisis in Clear Creek County, such as Expanding Early Care & Learning in Clear Creek, and support the launch of Mountain Kids in Gilpin County, including UPK registration.
- Support a series of community events (AQUA- Affordable, Quality, Useful, Access) designed to share information and develop funding strategies to expand Early Childcare resources in Clear Creek County.
- Host an Early Childhood Meet & Greet in Gilpin County to provide ECE resources on child care licensing, support for FFN caregivers, opportunities for parents to find summer care for their children, and/or to form FFN arrangements.
- Support the establishment of a Parenting book club in partnership with Rec Center and Jefferson Center.
- Support expansion of recreation center toddler times
Advancing Strategy 2 - Recruit, retain, and support a qualified early care and education workforce across child care and preschool settings
Goal 1: To address workforce shortages in Jefferson County, this group is developing a career pipeline and resources for all types of early childhood educators (and prospective early childhood educators) to provide concrete support and encourage providers to attain and maintain their desired role within the field.
In collaboration with Greater Arvada Chamber of Commerce, TBF will collaborate to grow the local talent pool for early educators using innovative talent pipeline management strategies.
Goal 2: To support workforce retention and bridge the income and cost of living gap for those already in the field, this group is creating a central location for curated resources for Jefferson County early childhood educators. Educators will be able to find everything they need to qualify for and access local benefits and services in collaboration with 2-1-1 Colorado. Examples of resources include affordable housing, SNAP/food pantries, Medicaid, CCCAP, mental health, low-cost medical appointments/physicals, paid family leave, tax credit information, financial assistance, and discounted rates on services and recreation.