 |  |  |  |  |  |
| |||||
Grants in Action
Colorado Early Childhood Systems Office
Early Childhood Moves to Front Burner
When Kristie Kauerz talks about the importance of providing quality preschool experiences for Colorado’s children, she means more than just the time that some spend in a pre-kindergarten classroom. She means the entire time of life before a child enters school – the pre-school developmental period that is so important to every child’s future success.
Kauerz is the early childhood / P-3 policy director in the state’s new Early Childhood Systems Office. (P-3 indicates preschool through third grade.) The Early Childhood Systems Office was established in 2007 within the Office of Colorado Lieutenant Governor Barbara O’Brien, a longtime champion of children’s issues, after Governor Bill Ritter asked her to spearhead early childhood matters for the administration. Rose Community Foundation granted $50,000 to support the effort.
The purpose of the Office is to coordinate a comprehensive early childhood system for the state. “Most people have a clear idea of how a K-12 system works,” says Kauerz. “We want to bring that same idea to early childhood.”
Kauerz describes numerous worthwhile initiatives in the last decade to create the kind of structures that will benefit young children: “There have been efforts focused on early care and education, family support and parent education, and improving access to health care and mental health care,” she says. “Then there have been efforts to start building a comprehensive system. But it is clear that these efforts could use some coordination.”
That coordination is happening through the Early Childhood Systems Office. In addition to Kauerz’ role, three state and federally funded projects and their staff are housed within the Office:
-
the Head Start State Collaboration Office, which works to link state policy efforts with federal policy efforts;
-
the Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems grant, responsible for launching Smart Start Colorado, which is working to build a comprehensive early childhood system; and
-
the Early Childhood Councils Advisory Team, which guides and oversees Colorado’s statewide network of local early childhood councils.
“My job is to take the 30,000 foot view of how these pieces work together and how we can build a state policy infrastructure that makes all of this work more sustainable,” says Kauerz. “Our office is embedded in the state government but we are very clear that we are working for the state’s families and children.”
Anna Jo Haynes, president and CEO of Mile High Montessori, has worked in the early childhood field in Colorado for more than four decades. “This is an exciting time,” she says. “We have a lieutenant governor who has spent her adult life working for children and we have legislators who understand that early childhood is a good investment. When the stars align like this, you say, ‘Now is the time to speak on behalf of kids who can’t speak for themselves.’”
To learn more, visit the Colorado Lieutenant Governor’s website at: colorado.gov/ltgovernor.
- From Impact, Rose Community Foundation's newsletter -
Spring 2008
Colorado Lieutenant Governor Barbara O'Brien
How Colorado Ranks
In a 2007 ranking that included the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense, Colorado’s child care system ranked:
- 40th overall
- 44th for child care standards
- 17th for child care oversight
Source: State of Child Care Centers 2007, National Association for Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies