Cornerstone 1: Quality Early Care & Education

The Bright Futures Roadmap is a community-wide strategy to support the health and well-being of our community’s youngest children and families. The Roadmap is organized around four cornerstones or key strategies. Partners have begun to identify opportunities for cross-cornerstone collaboration.

CORNERSTONE 1: Families have a variety of high-quality early care and education options that meet their needs, provided through a mixed-delivery system.

This cornerstone has three primary strategies, which you can read more about on this page:

  1. Develop an implementation plan and secure a dedicated public funding stream for universal preschool and other early care and education initiatives.
  2. Recruit, retain, and support a qualified early care and education workforce across child care and preschool settings.
  3. Ensure school-district and community-based enrichment programs and activities (e.g. library reading programs, before- and after-school programs, summer camps, child care, etc.) are accessible to all who want to engage across age continuum of prenatal to eight years old.

Strategy 1

Develop an implementation plan and secure a dedicated public funding stream for universal preschool and other early care and education initiatives.

2023-2024 Partner Activities

  • Healthier Colorado and Open Answer completed a survey of Jeffco families, to better understand families’ ECE arrangements and needs. The data will be used to make policy recommendations and is helping to guide Cornerstone 1 strategies. To see the full report, click HERE.
    • OPPORTUNITY: Collaborate with Cornerstones 2 and 3 on policy and funding.
  • UPK implementation through Triad Bright Futures LCO has launched.
    • OPPORTUNITY: Collaborate with Cornerstone 4, strategy 3 on navigation support.

Strategy 2

Recruit, retain, and support a qualified early care and education workforce across child care and preschool settings.

2023-2024 Partner Activities

  • Arvada Chamber’s B.O.L.D. 2026 Initiative is implementing strategies to increase child care capacity as a part of a regional talent pipeline management (TPM) plan, including:
    • Conducting an assessment of child care supply/demand data in Arvada;
    • Partnering with Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC) through the “Design Lab” program to develop on-site or near-site child care centers;
    • Identifying policy and regulatory barriers to expanding child care access;
    • Five businesses are participating in the Family Friendly Workplace Certificate pilot program and have completed their initial assessment.
  • Impact Charitable completed a policy scan and recommendations for permanent solutions (policies, practices, or resource flows) that could increase the number of FFN caregivers who receive public funding like CCCAP and CACFP. See the scan here.
  • The new Family Friend & Neighbor (FFN) Hub and State-level Stakeholder Group, Connection FFN, is underway.
  • Thriving Providers Project (TPP) is providing wage supplements to FFN providers.
  • Edgewater Collective Worker Cooperative is supporting FFN business development.
  • Nebula Consulting provides monthly wellness coaching to early childhood coaches, directors, teachers, and family home childcare providers.
  • Healthier Colorado is conducting a survey of child care providers in Jefferson County to understand more about the challenges they face and what additional resources could help support them.
  • Child Care Innovations at Red Rocks Community College hosts several Initiatives: Apprenticeship Program, Work-based Learning, and CDA support.

Strategy 3

Ensure school-district and community-based enrichment programs and activities (e.g. library reading programs, before- and after-school programs, summer camps, child care, etc.) are accessible to all who want to engage across the age continuum of prenatal to eight years old.

2023-2024 Partner Activities

  • Jeffco Libraries hosts ongoing events and outreach for families with young children.
    • OPPORTUNITY: Connect with Home Visitation and Mental Health Consultation on increasing public awareness.
  • Edgewater Collective offers summer and after-school enrichment programs.