7.1 Quality Activities Needs Assessment

7.1.1 Needs assessment process and findings a. Describe the Lead Agency needs assessment process for expending CCDF funds on activities to improve the quality of child care, including the frequency of assessment, how a diverse range of parents and providers were consulted, and how their views are incorporated: Colorado utilizes a range of strategies to assess needs, including utilizing data to inform data-driven decision making and engaging parents and providers. Colorado implements Colorado Shines, a statewide Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), to ensure children receive the highest quality programming in all licensed settings serving children prior to kindergarten entry (https://decl.my.salesforce-sites.com/programs?p=Overview-of-the-ratings-process). The Colorado Shines QRIS (https://decl.my.salesforce-sites.com/programs?p=Overview-of-the- ratings-process) includes integrated technology systems, which provide an opportunity to develop and track data-informed goals for quality improvement: -The Colorado Shines Professional Development and Information System (https://www.coloradoshinespdis.com/s/pdislogin?language=en_US) and the Colorado Shines QRIS technology system are integrated to share data related to employee professional development and credentials, which inform the progression and point accumulation for child care programs within the Workforce and Professional Development quality standard. -Integration with the State Child Care Licensing System enables Colorado Shines to always have up-to-date program license data and basic program profile information. -The data exchange between the Quality Improvement Grant Management System enables the program to see what funding is available, as well as the ability to apply for quality improvement grants. -Finally, including child care resource and referral (https://decl.my.salesforce- sites.com//search) functionality within the Colorado Shines website enables referral specialists to easily help families search for programs that match their needs and criteria with ease and in turn provide a better experience for families and their children. CDEC utilizes data from the Colorado Shines technology system and linked state databases to 1) support and sustain increased program quality across the state; 2) evaluate the progress of both professionals and programs; 3) assess and inform the presence of quality and areas of need; and 4) inform how quality investments are made and accessible to the highest number of programs to support quality improvement. CDEC develops goals through a performance-based analysis strategy that allows every program to focus on and improve performance outcomes. Through this process, CDEC is able to make more informed, collaborative decisions to align efforts and resources to affect positive change. There are a number of early childhood goals tracked through the Governor’s Dashboard (https://dashboard.colorado.gov/), which provides a summary of how Colorado is progressing on the Governor’s vision. These processes allow for the tracking of goals and continuous quality improvement efforts through: the collection of timely data; increasing transparency; conducting regular executive and cabinet meetings to assess the effectiveness of the strategies; and identifying new performance measures. CDEC collects data for analytic purposes to identify positive trends and opportunities for improvement. When improvements are needed, CDEC determines and implements appropriate strategies. CDEC Family Voice Council (FVC) is a diverse group of parents and caregivers who provide guidance on programs, services and supports across the early childhood system. Working with the FVC has resulted in more family-friendly materials (such as the CCCAP application, which the FVC reviewed); guidance and prioritization on grants and plans developed by CDEC; and a stronger commitment to equity across the Department’s work. CDEC recently completed an updated Statewide Early Childhood Needs Assessment in 2023 utilizing funding from the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five. The assessment was guided by the CDEC Family Voice Council throughout the process, and families were further engaged through focus groups available in English and Spanish. In addition to the qualitative data, the assessment also relied on a wealth of existing data from programs and research conducted over the last few years, including CDEC family surveys. The Needs Assessment explored the following questions with regard to quality: 1. How good are Colorado’s early childhood programs? Do different types of families have the same access to high-quality programs? 2. What gets in the way of providing top-quality programs? What are some ideas for solving these problems? Findings related to these questions included the following: 1. In addition to school readiness, early childhood services should emphasize a whole-child approach. 2. Early childhood programs have an opportunity to think broadly about what they mean by quality improvement. 3. About half of early child care and education providers have not advanced their Colorado Shines rating beyond a Level 1. 4. Families say quality is important, but they do not use quality ratings to make decisions about child care. CDEC staff are considering these findings in their work and sharing them across the state with partners b. Describe the findings of the assessment, including any findings related to needs of different populations and types of providers, and if any overarching goals for quality improvement were identified: Colorado includes multiple components that make up the overarching goals to improve the quality of child care services: quality standards (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c7xCyiti7zJOE_ORzb3mDAjHf2dKdsJ8/view), improvement supports, quality incentives, and support for implementation. Quality standards include child care licensing regulations and quality indicators outlined within the Colorado Shines Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). Colorado Shines includes five standard areas that research has shown are related to program quality: Child Health; Family Partnerships; Leadership Management and Administration; Learning Environment; and, Workforce and Professional Development. In addition to accumulating the total number of points required for each rating Levels 3-5, programs must meet points in all 5 standard areas as well as minimum levels of quality as measured by the appropriate Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ERS). To support quality improvement, Colorado Offers programs for professional development and coaching to support best practices. Quality Incentives are offered statewide to support quality improvement. Finally, support for implementation includes funding to support the recruitment and engagement of programs, training and supervision for technical assistance staff, and data systems development, integration and maintenance. These goals were selected as priorities for CDEC in partnership with the ECLC, Colorado's State Advisory Council.