Resources for Providers
Well-Being Support
- CU Anschutz is pleased to announce the Well-Being Support Line (303-724-2500), a free service for healthcare workers and educators — statewide. The support line is available via call or text from 8 AM to 8 PM, seven days a week. You’ll talk to a trained crisis counselor volunteer and there’s immediate access to additional mental health services as needed. For complete details, including who can call and what to expect when you contact the line, click here.
- Colorado Crisis Services: The hardest part about getting help for a mental health, substance use, or emotional issue is knowing where to begin – especially when an issue reaches a crisis point. Colorado Crisis Services provides free, confidential, and immediate help for any mental health, substance use, or emotional concern, 24/7/365. Call 844-493-TALK (8255) to speak with a trained professional who will provide immediate support and connect you, or someone you know, to further resources. Colorado Crisis Services is also a resource for case managers and all professionals connected with the child welfare system, Division of Youth Corrections, domestic violence victim services providers, and anyone working with at-risk families. Visit website »
Provider Updates... Made Easy!
Licensed providers… To keep your information up-to-date in the State database, you can now update your site information when it’s most convenient for you. Your response to the survey below ensures you receive important notices and information from the State.
NEW! Kindergarten Transition Resources
Early childhood programs act as the bridge between preschool and kindergarten and are an essential resource for families who are navigating this transition. For resources that will help your program implement practices to ensure that families have the information they need and that children are ready for this big transition, please click on the button below to visit our Transition to Kindergarten page.
FREE Early Childhood Mental Health Learning Series
Alliance for Kids, in partnership with The Resource Exchange, is offering the opportunity to view recorded sessions of its Free Early Childhood Mental Health Learning Series. Sessions are designed to support you in meeting the social-emotional and behavioral needs of children in your care. Download the ECMH Learning Series Winter Flyer for all links to the recorded sessions. For details about receiving a certificate for one hour of social-emotional training, please contact Bernadine McCarron.
This newsletter is distributed by the Office of Early Childhood.
Behavior Supports - Early Childhood Mental Health (ECMH) Consultation
- Are you struggling to meet the social-emotional or behavioral needs of a child birth to eight years of age?
- Would you like help creating a plan to decrease behavioral challenges and promote success at home or in the classroom?
- Is a child in your care at risk of being removed from a child care setting due to behavioral issues?
Beginning July 2021, all ECMH referral calls are routed to The Resource Exchange (TRE). TRE will assist you in determining if ECMH Consultation is the right fit. Call the referral line for more about these free services.
FREE ECMH Referral Line: 719.577.9190
Recognizing Trauma
If a child’s behavior is unusual, investigate the possibility of past trauma. There is hope for children whose lives have been affected by trauma. You can change a child’s future by learning: types of events that young children find traumatic, symptoms of post-traumatic stress and ways to help children affected by trauma. There is also a screening tool. Visit website HERE.
Colorado Department of Early Childhood | Supporting Children’s Social-Emotional Development
By helping children to learn social and emotional skills, you can build stronger relationships with children and families. You can also reduce challenging behavior in children that you work with.
Our resources are intended to:
- Educate professionals about social-emotional development and early childhood mental health
- Offer tips on how to support healthy social-emotional development in early childhood programs
- Support communication and outreach to families
The Early Learning and Development Guidelines (ELDG) websites include information in both English and Spanish with sections that will be tailored to each audience (family, provider or teacher, advocate) and allow site visitors to explore the Guidelines. The website feature the following: visuals, template platform, interactive toolkit, and “share your story” option. Extensive time and energy has gone into the development of the ELDGs, as well as the website, and we are excited to get this valuable information into the hands of partners and families in communities statewide.
Visit English website »
Visit Spanish website »
- Bright by Text Partners With the National Wildlife Federation
Bright by Text is proud to partner with the National Wildlife Federation to bring simple and fun outdoor activities to caregivers via text. Outdoor forts, mud pits, fairy gardens and more! Text BRIGHT to 274448 to get signed up and experience the joy of outside play! - Early Childhood Health Outdoors (ECHO) Trainings
Join ECHO team members and partners to learn best practice in outdoor spaces. We provide families, caregivers, early childhood professionals, and designers with content knowledge and practical skills to improve and enhance outdoor spaces at child care centers and homes. Visit the ECHO website for more training opportunities!
Family Child Care Homes | Qualifications and Guidelines for Substitutes
Summary of Licensing Changes | January 2020
- Substitutes for Infant/Toddler Family Child Care Homes and Large Family Child Care homes must be equally qualified (same qualifications as the primary provider).
Per the 7.707.31 B clarification, – only Infant Toddler Home Substitutes are required to have taken EQIT: Equally qualified means that the provider, employee, or substitute provide has the same required training and qualifications as the primary provider as specified in Family Child Care rules. Each provider must have completed Expanding Quality for Infants & Toddlers training (EQIT).
Licensing Specialist Caseload List
IREE Website | More Licensing Resources HERE
IREE Caseload Assignment List by ZIP Code
For Specialist contact information, click HERE.
Background Check Rules - Effective September 2018
Background check requirements align with Federal Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Regulations.
REVIEW THE RULES HERE or visit the Office of Early Childhood website for more information.
All background checks are fingerprint-based:
- All fingerprinting is processed through two vendors, IdentoGO and Colorado Fingerprinting. For instructions to help navigate the IdentoGO site, click here. For IdentoGO FAQs, click here.
Start Preparing Now!
- Review notable changes (below) as well as the full rule document (linked above).
- Ensure all current employees are aware of the potential changes.
- Inform all current employees who have not had a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background check in the last five (5) years they will likely need to have a new background check completed.
- Inform all staff eighteen (18) years of age and over they will likely need to complete all background checks.
- Be prepared to ensure new staff who start on or after September 30, 2018 have all required background checks on file before caring for children.
- Requirements for current employees:
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background checks required every five (5) years.
- All background checks required for staff under the age of 18.
- Requirements for staff employed starting on September 30, 2018:
- Individuals who care or supervise children or who have unsupervised access to children must successfully complete all required background checks before caring for, or being allowed unsupervised access to children.
- Individuals with cleared CBI or FBI record checks may care for children while supervised for a period no longer than 90 days.
- Requirements for Family Child Care Homes and Qualified Exempt Child Care Homes:
- Residents of child care homes, ages 18 years and older, must complete all required background checks.
- New residents of child care homes, ages 18 years and older, must submit all required background checks within five (5) calendar days. Unsupervised access to children in care is not to be allowed until all required background checks have been successfully completed.
- Residents of the home turning 18 must submit a CBI and FBI background check within fourteen (14) days of turning 18.
- Requirements for volunteers:
- Volunteers who care or supervise children or who have unsupervised access to children must complete all required background checks.
- Volunteers who provide infrequent and irregular supervised care or supervised parent volunteers do not need to comply with background checks.
Results of the CBI, FBI and Abuse and Neglect checks must be kept on file and be available for review upon request.
Specific questions regarding the new rules may be directed to the Office of Early Childhood’s Background Investigation Unit at cdhs_oec_backgroundinvestigation@state.co.us
Licensed Child Care Provider Training Requirement Tool
In order to help child care professionals meet new and ongoing training requirements, the Office of Early Childhood (OEC) has developed a licensed child care provider required training tool. This tool covers all training requirements for professionals working in licensed child care centers and family child care homes, and provides information on which requirements each training meets and where the training is offered. The OEC is working hard to offer all required training for free online through the Professional Development Information System.
McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership
The L.E.A.D. Early Childhood™ Clearinghouse is a comprehensive resource focused on early childhood leadership—birth through age eight. Data gathered from hundreds of sources are accessible through this interactive website. Links to specific resources make this an especially useful tool. The clearinghouse includes
- National and state level data about the status of the early childhood leadership workforce;
- Higher education programs and academies designed to develop leaders; and
- A comparison of states’ policies to ensure quality leadership.
Resources to Support Family Partnerships | Bright by Three
Earn 1 point in Colorado Shines under Family Partnerships/Sensitivity to Diversity
Indicator 2.2 states: “The program provides materials and resources (information about community-based programs, community mental health, child nutrition, physical fitness, food banks, Child Find, medical/dental resources) in a way that is accessible to all families, including families with high needs. Bright by Three can help you receive a point in Colorado Shines for providing Bright by Text materials to families since the program contains information for families about community-based programs, community mental health, child nutrition, physical fitness, and medical/dental resources.
What do you need to do for the evidence? Find an area that is visible to families, for example a parent board near sign-in/out. Remember more than one accessible “material” must be observed on-site. “Materials” include children’s and/or parenting books available in a lending library; “resources” could include flyers, brochures, and posted announcements for services delivered on or off-site.
If your program reaches families that could use the resources provided by Bright by Three and Bright by Text, you can partner with them and order visitation kits and Bright by Text materials at no charge to share the research-based program with your families.
To learn more, visit: https://brightbythree.org/partners
Mandatory Reporter Information for Colorado
Colorado law states the mandatory reporter shall immediately upon receiving such information report or cause a report to be made of such fact to the county department, the local law enforcement agency, or through the child abuse reporting hotline system. Knowingly making a false report is also punishable under law.
A mandatory reporter is defined as a professional who is obligated by law to report known or suspected incidents of child abuse and/or neglect. Mandatory reporters are part of the safety net that protects children and youth and have the ability to provide lifesaving help to child victims in our community. Any person specified in C.R.S. 19-3-304 is by law a mandatory reporter in Colorado. If a mandated reporter has reasonable cause to know or suspect that a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect, or observed the child being subjected to circumstances or conditions that would reasonably result in abuse or neglect, the mandatory reporter shall immediately upon receiving such information report or cause a report to be made of such fact to the county department, the local law enforcement agency, or through the child abuse reporting hotline system.
Child Abuse and Neglect Resources
Click below for an online toolkit providing informational materials and resources about prevention of child abuse and neglect. We greatly appreciate the public’s help in using these materials to continue to work together to build thriving communities that support healthy kids and strong families.
Colorado Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline – 1.800.264.5437 (CO-4-KIDS)
Are you a mandatory reporter of child abuse and neglect?
The Colorado Department of Human Services has created a web-based training for mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect. Click here to take the free online training.
SafeCare Colorado is a carefully designed, voluntary, child abuse and neglect prevention program being implemented by the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) in partnership with the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect. To date, the program has been implemented with two cohorts of sites across the state and the lessons we have learned from these sites continue to inform our implementation plan with Cohort 3 sites. Provider agencies interested in implementing SafeCare Colorado must be committed to supporting the implementation process, including the willingness to problem solve issues that may arise within the initial period until the program is fully sustainable.
Reverse 9-1-1 Emergency Notification System
Visit ElPasoTeller911.org for details.
View Flyer HERE.
Sign up for notifications HERE.
Don’t get caught off guard if an EMERGENCY arises!
To access the State Disaster Plan and be prepared, click here.
Guidance and sample forms are a great resource to consolidate important information for your site.
The FEMA Emergency Management Institute offers a great online course:
IS-36: Multi-Hazard Planning for Childcare
There are five sessions to the course and you must allow time to complete the entire course – closing out will require you to begin a session again.
Session 1: 2 hours
Session 2: 30 minutes
Session 3: 40 minutes
Session 4: 20 minutes
Session 5: 10 minutes
There is final exam that will allow you to receive credit for taking the course.
Disaster Response and Recovery | Free Webinar Series
Child Care Aware of America’s Emergency Preparedness team is launching an all new Disaster Response and Recovery Webinar Recordings for Child Care Resource & Referral organizations.
The goal of this series is to introduce Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (CCR&Rs) to partnering organizations who serve in a response/recovery capacity and to provide an overview on some of the resources available to help them better understand their role after disasters.
- Webinar 1: Coordination of Emergency and Respite Care Post Disasters
- Webinar 2: Helping Children and Families After Disasters
- Webinar 3: Supporting Social/Emotional Needs of Children Following Disasters
- Webinar 4: Addressing Post Disaster Financial and Resource Needs of Child Care Programs
For additional resources on Disaster Preparation please click here.
- New Radon Requirements for Child Care Facilities
- Rules for School and Child Care Immunizations
- Resources for Providers Regarding School Shootings and Violence
- Kids Count in Colorado: KIDS COUNT in Colorado! is an annual publication of the Children’s Campaign, providing state and county level data on child well-being factors including child health, education and economic status. Since its first release 21 years ago, KIDS COUNT in Colorado! has become the most trusted source for data and information on Colorado children and is relied upon by lawmakers, community leaders and child advocates to inform policy debates and community discussions on issues impacting kids.
- Guides to the Colorado Academic Standards: The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) in partnership with the Colorado PTA has created family guides to the Colorado Academic Standards. The guides are in English and Spanish and are helpful tools for communities across Colorado to better understand the goals and outcomes of the Colorado Academic Standards. The guides also provide overviews of the learning expectations for each grade and content area – providing examples of educational experiences that students can engage in during the school year with the support of their families and communities.
- Colorado Department of Education: Through setting a clear vision for increasing student and overall system performance, CDE continually supports the advancement and improvement of the state’s education system to prepare all learners for success in a rapidly changing global workplace. We have clear goals related to student achievement, educator effectiveness, school/district performance and state agency operations – all aimed at preparing students for success after high school. The Expanded CDE Resource Bank provides quick and easy access to resources for Colorado educators that are designed to advance student learning through a focus on standards, assessments and educator effectiveness.
- Cyber Bullying and Parents Guide: Elementary school bullying and high school harassment have been around for ages. Today, a new online crime is making itself more and more prevalent. More than 80% of teenagers use mobile phones, roughly 93% of college students engage on Facebook — and more than 50% of teenagers and adolescents have been bullied by others through cellular technologies and the Internet. Recent studies show that the distance created by the Internet might pose a threat to the development of in-person social skills and many adolescents use the Internet to make the lives of others miserable. Cyberbullying occurs when someone uses mobile technologies or the Web to deliberately embarrass, harass or hurt someone else. Grabel & Associates provides this guide detailing cyber-bullying along with resources for more information. (Providing this link does not imply any endorsement of their legal services.) You can visit their website below, and we have some additional links on this topic:
