Funding & Structure
Structure
Joint Initiatives for Youth + Families houses Alliance for Kids, El Paso County’s Early Childhood Council, under its Foundations program. The AFK Council is the oversight group for Foundations. To learn more about the Foundations early childhood program of JI, visit Jointinitiatives.org.
AFK Council members are public and private stakeholders, children’s service providers, community organizations, parents, business leaders, and citizens; all coming together for the purpose of developing and ultimately implementing a comprehensive system of early childhood services for children in the community to ensure school readiness. The AFK Council meets monthly and is the oversight body for the Foundations program of Joint Initiatives for Youth + Families. It is responsible for developing and approving the Strategic Plan and approving the annual budget. Carrying out the strategies outlined in the Strategic Plan is the responsibility of all Council members and is accomplished through their participation on three standing committees aligned to the Early Childhood Colorado Framework: Learning + Development, Family Support + Education, and Health + Well-Being.
Funding
- Colorado Departments of Human Services provides monetary and technical assistance for the Quality Improvement project including Colorado Shines and EQIT, as well as Systems Building.
- Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation provides resources and supports for the Alliance Office of Professional Development (AOPD). AOPD provides Early Childhood Education (ECE) college scholarships to increase the availability of formal education and professional development opportunities for early childhood professionals and support the efforts of the ECE workforce to increase their levels of post-secondary education and certifications by providing these professionals with scholarship funding, a liaison/mentor, and an interconnected system of resources and training opportunities.
- Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation funding is utilized to extend the Early Childhood Mental Health (ECMH) Project’s reach into the rural remote areas already served by the ECMH Project including Park and Teller County and the rural boundaries of El Paso County. A partnership between JI-AFK and The Resource Exchange (TRE) is the primary strategy for implementation of the work.
- The El Paso County Department of Human Services provides funding for the Quality Enhancement Initiative to include outreach, information, resources, and supports for Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) Early Care and Education programs to raise and/or maintain quality within their program as well as provides similar supports, resources, and information for CCCAP families.
- Alliance for Kids member organizations provide meeting space free of charge for some meetings. Council members volunteer their time to participate in Council meetings (the oversight committee of Council) for the purpose of building a comprehensive early childhood system for the young children and families of El Paso County.
