The Universal Preschool (UPK) Colorado family application portal is open! Get more info here.

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Support, Resources and Guides

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Child Care Licensing and Administration Unit

Please contact your Licensing Specialist with any questions, concerns or requests for assistance for your program. You may also contact the Colorado Department of Early Childhood  at 1-800-799-5876 or email cdec_communications@state.co.us.

How are we doing?

Following your licensing inspections, please complete the Child Care Licensing Inspection Feedback Survey to help us continue to improve the process. 

File a complaint about Division of Early Care and Learning staff

It is Division policy not to accept anonymous complaints. To make a complaint, call 303-866-5958 or write and mail a description of the complaint including name, telephone number and mailing address. 

Mail written complaints to:
Complaint Intake, Division of Early Care and Learning
Colorado Department of Early Childhood
710 S. Ash Street
Denver, CO 80246​
 
Licensed Substitute Placement Agency Facilities

Click here to find a Substitute Placement Agency.

 Early Childhood Councils

Early Childhood Councils are available to providers to improve the quality of early learning, increase access for children to comprehensive health care and mental health services, provide families with meaningful community and parenting supports, and deliver resources to early childhood professionals.

Early Childhood Councils focus on advancing programs, resources and support around early learning, family support and parent education, and social, emotional and mental health. They work to bring together local partners to improve the quality and availability of early childhood services for children and families in their communities.
 
Early Childhood Councils support the implementation of Colorado Shines and distribution of quality incentives to licensed early care and learning programs.

Currently, 31 Early Childhood Councils in Colorado represent almost all of the counties in Colorado. Contact your Early Childhood Council.

Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies

Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies strengthen the child care delivery system through community-specific solutions that make the system more responsive to family needs.

They create and update databases of resources, developing a high quality collection of options for families. CCR&R agencies build connections by collaborating with a range of partners to improve and shape the child care system, based on each community’s needs.

Contact a CCR&R through the Colorado Shines Child Care Referral Line at Mile High United Way at 1-877-338-2273.

Early Childhood Mental Health Consultants

The Colorado Early Childhood Mental Health (ECMH) Consultation is a free program that helps early care and learning providers create nurturing environments and relationships that support mental health and well-being among children and families.

The ECMH Consultation program builds the knowledge and skills of early care and learning providers to support children’s social-emotional development and early mental health. The program seeks to identify children with mental health concerns early in life and connect them to the appropriate support and follow up.

View current Early Childhood Mental Health Consultants and learn more about the ECMH Consultation program at MentalHealthStartsEarly.com. Learn how ECMH Consultation can benefit the children and families in your program by viewing our Overview Flyer (Spanish) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) (Spanish).

Early Childhood Workforce Opportunities

TEACH Colorado

Want to become a Colorado early childhood educator ASAP?

You can find a pathway that allows you to teach in a classroom tomorrow. There are tons of accessible options for becoming an early childhood educator.

We’re offering a virtual info session alongside TEACH Colorado on Tuesday, July 25 at 4 p.m. REGISTER HERE

Learn more about how to select and apply a pathway to teaching early childhood, and get your questions answered by experts. TEACH Colorado offers $100 application fee reimbursements, stipends, 1:1 coaching from experts, scholarships, and more.

Register to learn more about these great opportunities!

Can’t make it? Subscribe to TEACH Colorado and get all of the support you need.

Child Care Resource Packet and General Resource Materials

Child Care License - Application Guides

Child Care Resource Packet

General Resource Materials

Child Care Business Guides
Health, Mental Health and Safety Resources

General Health and Safety Resources

Early Childhood Mental Health Resources

Inclusion Supports

Project Include provides training, support, and equipment to assist licensed Colorado family child care homes, child care centers, and preschools in developing learning environments and curriculums that are more inclusive for all children, including those with delays and disabilities.

The Inclusion and Universal Design Project provides training and support to help child care providers meet the needs of children with delays and disabilities in an inclusive child care setting. 

Support Transitions to Kindergarten

Children and families make the transition to kindergarten every year, however the unprecedented circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic make this fall different. Across Colorado, there was a dramatic drop in kindergarten enrollment in 2020, signaling that many children will be experiencing a delayed start to kindergarten this year. The key to successful transitions is that both “sides” of the transition are engaged—early care and education (ECE) programs (the “sending” side) and elementary schools (the “receiving” side). Given the circumstances, it is especially critical this year that both sides work together to help children and families experience a smooth transition to kindergarten. 

Two recently developed resources can help in this effort. This brief authored by the Colorado Department of Education describes key policies and research about kindergarten enrollment. This tool developed by the National P-3 Center (en español) provides a timeline and checklist of activities for ECE programs and elementary schools to support transitions.

The following resources address transitions supports specific to the children and families you may work with:

Questions? Contact the Child Care Licensing & Administration Unit:

Child Care Licensing and Administration
Division of Early Care and Learning, CDEC
710 S. Ash Street
Denver, CO 80246
Phone: 1-800-799-5876 or 303-866-5948
Fax: 303-866-4453
cdec_communications@state.co.us
 
Contact your Licensing Specialist for information regarding your facility or technical assistance.