Financing Child Care in the United States - Ewing Marion Kauffman ...

improved teacher education, compensation and retention.
Educare Colorado, in conjunction with the Colorado
Association for the Education of Young Children,
developed a database of approved trainers and mentors,
and contracts with these individuals and organizations
(e.g., community colleges). Equipment and minor facility
improvement needs are assessed in conjunction with the
technical assistance staff.
Educare Colorado also is launching a public education
campaign addressed to parents that emphasizes the
importance of early learning and demonstrates that
parents can partner with child care and early education
programs to improve the lives of their children.
A public policy component is being planned to
accompany Educare Colorado’s community–based
work with parents and with child care programs. It is
anticipated that public policy work, arguing for the state’s
role in a “social contract” for early childhood education,
will grow over time.
HOW FUNDS DISTRIBUTED
Educare Colorado is completing what it calls “alpha”
testing of its system redesign in three Colorado counties.
A total of 22 sites, consisting of 91 classrooms serving
1,100 children, are involved. The funds made available
by Educare Colorado are used to support training as well
as to improve facilities and equipment. Existing training
infrastructure is used whenever possible. Educare
Colorado does not have predetermined spending limits
to assist with quality improvement in the participating
communities. Educare Colorado makes all the purchasing
arrangements, including training, services and equipment,
on behalf of the sites with which it is involved.
POPULATION SERVED
Organized child care programs (home providers, nonprofit
and for–profit centers) are the targets for Educare
Colorado’s quality improvement efforts. Through the
public education, public policy and rating systems for
child care, Educare Colorado intends to eventually reach
all families and providers in Colorado and to change the
purchasing patterns of the Colorado child care market.
STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS
• Educare Colorado grew out of the work of the
Colorado Business Commission on Child Care
Financing, a governor’s initiative designed to bring
business leaders together to identify and implement
ways to improve child care financing. Through the
Business Commission, Colorado implemented a
voluntary tax checkoff strategy. (See the profile on
page 28.) The Business Commission provided an
opportunity for key business leaders in the state to
develop expertise and commitment to improved
financing and quality of child care.
• The Business Commission’s chair sought to develop
additional, market–based approaches to improve child
care when the Business Commission ended its work.
An initial effort was made by business leaders to
stimulate substantial philanthropic investment in child
care in Colorado. However, the philanthropic leaders
insisted that they would not provide further support
without deepening the engagement from the business
community. A series of leadership forums was held to
develop an accountable community plan to create and
sustain high quality child care in Colorado. This allowed
a broader group of individuals to commit to a joint set
of values and expectations, which became Educare
Colorado. Educare had appealed to traditional
proponents of child care (e.g., providers, early childhood
educators, public administrators) as well as to more
conservative groups that have traditionally been
considered opponents of child care and early
education.
• Educare Colorado’s approach to improving the
effectiveness and outcome of child care services is
based on changing the market behavior of two large
purchasers of child care in Colorado: parents and local
government.
• Recruitment of a diverse, interdisciplinary group of
employees, with expertise in business, marketing and
early childhood education, led to the initial acceptance
and success of Educare.
• The individuals involved with Educare Colorado have
been able to create a win–win situation, providing a
diverse array of stakeholders in child care with a
forum to be heard, to identify common ground and
develop an action plan. Included in the strategic
alliances in support of Educare Colorado are the
Denver Mile High United Way; The Integer Group, an
integrated marketing firm; the Clayton Foundation;
The Colorado Forum, a business advocacy organization;
the Colorado Association for the Education of Young
Children, and the Colorado Office of Resource and
Referral Agencies.
• Educare Colorado has invested time in creating a
unified vision and a clear set of expectations about
quality and a system by which to measure it. Educare
Colorado is concerned about the difficulty of creating a
workable definition for quality, and it has invested time
and effort in developing the star system. The market
research on parental views of child care conducted by
Educare confirm that parents are often ambivalent
about child care. In response to this, Educare seeks to
affirm the decisions that parents are making rather
than underscoring ambivalence about child care. The
rating system provides parents with information about
child care, and does it in a straightforward manner (e.g.,
by counting the number of stars).
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