Our policy and advocacy priorities

Our policy priorities aim to strengthen early childhood systems throughout the city and county of Denver, focusing on equitable solutions for workforce stability, family access, resources for child development, and community well-being.

Strategic Policy Outcomes:

• Workforce Retention, Development, and Compensation: We advocate for policies that equitably enhance recruitment, retention, compensation, business training and support, and career development of early childhood professionals. We elevate the need for competitive wages, improved working conditions, and funding that supports a strong, prepared workforce. We promote policies that create pathways to economic security for early childhood professionals and emphasize career advancement.
• Enhance Child Outcomes: Our aim is to ensure all children receive early developmental screenings and timely referrals by promoting policies that increase access to early developmental screenings, mental health consultations, and family engagement services, so that all children can thrive in supportive environments.
• Family Access to Services: We advocate for equitable policies that address service gaps, particularly in underserved areas, to ensure families have access to affordable, high-quality child care and other essential services such as mental health, WIC, SNAP, multilingual services, and family education programs that are grounded in language justice. Work to ensure that all families experience a culturally responsive, well-coordinated system of health, early learning, and economic and social support.
• Strengthen Early Childhood Infrastructure: We advocate for investments in the local early childhood infrastructure to address affordability, quality, and accessibility, ensuring that early childhood programs across Denver have adequate funding through local, state, and federal resources. This includes ensuring high-quality care through mixed-delivery systems that allow families to access services in their communities​.

Policy Criteria:

• Prioritize Workforce Solutions: We focus on policies that promote livable wages, recruitment, workforce diversity, business support and training, and professional development for the early childhood workforce, emphasizing economic stability and career growth.

• Promote Equitable Child Development Support: We advocate for policies that increase access to developmental screenings, mental health consultations, and other supports, prioritizing early intervention and prevention.

• Bridge Family Service Gaps: We seek to address gaps in access to services for marginalized families, ensuring that all families, particularly those in underserved communities, have equitable access to health, education, and family support services with emphasis on culturally and linguistically responsive practices​.

• Infrastructure for All: We advocate for local and statewide policies that sustain and strengthen the infrastructure needed for early childhood services, ensuring universal mixed-delivery access to high-quality education and care across Denver.

• Engage Families: We encourage policies that support authentic family engagement in decision-making processes, ensuring that families’ voices and experiences are central to shaping early childhood systems.

Our Policy Goals for 2025:

• Advocate for sustainable, long-term funding to support the local early childhood infrastructure.
• Promote workforce development initiatives, such as scholarships, apprenticeships, trainings, and competitive wages, to build a resilient early childhood workforce.
• Push for expanded access to multilingual services, including Early Intervention and home visiting programs, ensuring families receive comprehensive support.
• Support policies ensuring flexible funding models that reflect the cost of living and operational expenses to address the rising costs of providing high-quality early childhood care.
• Advocate for authentic family and child care provider engagement by promoting policies that provide families and educators with opportunities to participate in decision-making, ensuring their voices help shape early childhood systems​.

Overarching Focus: We advocate for bipartisan support to drive policies ensuring equitable access to high-quality, mixed-delivery early childhood education and services across Denver and Colorado. This agenda highlights our commitment to elevating the early childhood workforce, improving child and family outcomes, and addressing systemic challenges through strategic advocacy.