Skip to main content
Colorado General AssemblyToggle Main Menu
Agency NameToggle Agency Menu

I_I_SchoolReadiness_2019A 08/28/2019 09:02:47 AM Committee Summary

PUBLIC
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING
INTERIM COMMITTEE  EARLY CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL READINESS
Date 08/28/2019
Attendance
Hill A
McCluskie X
Pettersen E
Wilson X
Sirota X
Story X
X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call
Time 09:02:47 AM to 03:57:27 PM
Place SCR 357
This Meeting was called to order by Senator Story
This Report was prepared by Rachel Kurtz-Phelan
Hearing Items Action Taken
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) Committee Discussion Only
Child Maltreatment Fatality Report Recommendations Committee Discussion Only
Early Childhood Mental Health (ECMH) State Efforts Committee Discussion Only
Lunch Break Committee Discussion Only
Family Resource Center Association Committee Discussion Only
Early Childhood Council Leadership Association (ECCLA) Committee Discussion Only
Raise Colorado Prenatal, Infant, and Toddler Coalition Committee Discussion Only
Break Committee Discussion Only
Family First Prevention Service Act Committee Discussion Only

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) - Committee Discussion Only


09:03:01 AM  
Senator Story called the meeting to order
and invited the first presenter to the table.  Mandy Bakulski, Maternal
Wellness and Early Childhood Section Manager for the Colorado Department
of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), introduced herself to the committee
and distributed her presentation, which can be found as Attachment A.  She
discussed CDPHE's population health initiatives, which include: early childhood
obesity prevention; the I am Moving, I am Learning program; the 9 Ways
to Grow Healthy Colorado Kids initiative; breastfeeding recommendations;
and developmental screenings.
09:14:52 AM  
Ms. Bakulski discussed the Colorado Pediatric
Psychiatry Consultation and Access Program (CoPPCAP) which seeks to improve
access to child mental health care, serve as a central source of training
and information, provide in-person or telehealth patient consultation,
and support identification of local resources.  She spoke to the commission
about maternal mental health and work to develop and implement a public
awareness initiative to reduce stigma and strengthen referral networks
for providers to address pregnancy-related depression.  She talked
about maternal mortality prevention and said that the majority of maternal
deaths are caused by substance abuse issues and depression.
09:24:20 AM  
Ms. Bakulski discussed the Maternal Mortality
Review Committee established during the 2019 legislative session.  She
spoke about recommendations from the Child Fatality Prevention System,
which include the need to strengthen maternal mental health programs; focus
on access to quality, affordable, safe housing and child care for families;
increase home visiting program enrollment; implement graduated driver's
license requirements; strenghten primary seat belt laws; spearhead additional
firearm death prevention research; and implement delayed school start times.
 She discussed the Child Abuse Response and Evaluation Network (CARENetwork)
established by House Bill 19-1133 and stated that it is essential to focus
on the following areas to prevent child abuse and neglect: food security
and access, help-seeking norms, collective prosperity norms, family-friendly
work policies, and paid family leave policies.
09:43:21 AM  
Ms. Bakulski discussed additional programs
and services supported by CDPHE, including the federal special supplemental
nutrition program for women, infants and children (WIC) and the Child and
Adult Care Food Program.  Ms. Bakulsi answered questions from the
committee.  She discussed the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger, school-based
health centers, and the Colorado Family Planning program.



Child Maltreatment Fatality Report Recommendations - Committee Discussion Only


09:55:45 AM  
Senator Story invited Kate Jankovsky, Child
Fatality Prevention System Manager, CDPHE, and Marc Mackert, Director,
Administrative Review Division, Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS),
to come to the table to begin their presentation.  They distributed
a copy of the 2019 Colorado Child Fatality Prevention System Annual Legislative
Report (Attachment B) and explained that the 2019 joint recommendation
from the two child fatality systems is to support policies that support
access to quality, affordable child care especially for infants and young
children.  The presenters stated that studies show that access to
affordable, quality child care prevents child deaths, child abuse, and
neglect.  They answered questions from the members and talked about
the need to get information to Family, Friends, and Neighbor (FFN) networks
on nutrition and infant safe sleep habits, and the need for further research
regarding child fatality by firearms.  They discussed including information
about safe storage for firearms during child welfare training and home
visits.  The commission took a brief recess.



Break - Committee Discussion Only




Early Childhood Mental Health (ECMH) State Efforts - Committee Discussion Only

10:36:41 AM  
Senator Story called the meeting back to
order.  Mary Alice Cohen, Director, Community and Family Support,
CDHS, Connie Fixsen, Early Childhood Mental Health Program Coordinator,
CDHS, Lisa Schlueter, Early Childhood Mental Health Lead Specialist, CDHS,
Elly Miles, Office of Early Childhood, CDHS, and Lisa Jansen Thompsen,
Early Childhood Partnership of Adams County, came to the table to begin
their presentation, which can be found as Attachment C.  The panel
discussed Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation, a service partnering
early childhood and mental health consultants to improve the overall development
and mental health of children in schools.  Ms. Cohen spoke about early
childhood mental health delivery, and stated that there are three levels
of partnership, child, classroom, and program, and that working with a
mental health consultant leads to strong outcomes for the providers, parents,
and children and helps every child start school being ready to learn.
10:48:03 AM  
Ms. Cohen discussed the Incredible Years
program, which is a suite of prevention programs to increase a child's
success at school and home by improving positive relationships between
child and teacher and child and parent.  The Incredible Years is comprised
of the following components: Teacher Classroom Management program, Dinosaur
School Social Skills Curriculum, and the pre-school BASIC Parent program.
 Ms. Cohen spoke about suspensions and expulsions in early care learning
settings, explaining that research shows children ages zero to five are
being expelled at three times the rate of those in the K-12 system.  Ms.
Miles shared information about the methodology and findings of the study
conducted by the Office of Early Childhood on early child care suspensions
and expulsion rates.  She explained the main reasons for explusions
and suspensions are hurting other students or staff and destroying property
such as furniture or equipment.  She stated that early child care
centers that used a mental health consultant in the past year had a lower
rate of suspensions and expulsions.  She concluded by speaking about
the study's key findings, which include: providers desire more in-class
support and coaching around challenging behaviors; 65 percent of providers
are aware of the mental health consultation program; and 86 percent found
it easy to access, but only 1 in 4 providers have used the program due
to a lack of consultants.
11:12:05 AM  
Ms. Schlueter answered questions about
the Preschool Development Grant (PDG).  Ms. Cohen answered questions
about funding for early childhood mental health consultants.  Ms.
Schlueter spoke more about the PDG and the prospect of piloting a home
visiting expansion to Friends, Family, and Neighbor Care networks.
11:21:25 AM  
The panel members discussed action steps
to focus on, including increasing awareness and knowledge of positive and
preventative early childhood mental health practices, increasing the ECMH
workforce, and directing in-class supports and resources to settings and
populations at highest risk for suspension and expulsions.  Ms. Jansen
Thompsen began her presentation on Project LAUNCH, which can be found as
Attachment D.  She explained that Project LAUNCH is a five year federal
grant with six required strategies: screening and assessment, integrated
behavioral health, early child mental health consultation, enhanced home
visiting, strengthening families, and system improvements.  She explained
that all screening and assessments are being conducted through local entities
that have already exist in communities and are being supported by the project.
 She talked about integrated behavioral health care to support three
health clinics through professional development opportunities to increase
use of best practices in serving young children and families.  The
panel answered questions about family stressors that can lead to mental
and behavioral health issues for children and families.  

11:38:38 AM  
Ms. Jansen Thompsen answered questions
regarding the relationship between Project LAUNCH and Launch Together.
 She said that the next steps for Project LAUNCH are to focus on Family
Resource Center hubs.
11:43:27 AM  
The next panel on ECMH came to the table:
Sarah Davidon, Research Director and Director of Child and Adolescent Strategy
for Mental Health Colorado, Bill Jaeger, Vice President of Early Childhood
and Policy Initiatives, Colorado Children's Campaign, and Ellen Stern,
Senior Policy Coordinator for Children's Hospital Colorado, introduced
themselves to the committee.  Dr. Davidon discussed the history of
ECMH consultation, and talked about how home visiting programs and ECMH
consultation lower suspensions and expulsions.  She distributed a
handout to the committee (Attachment E) and talked about the need to utilize
ECMH consultation as one part of a variety of tools and strategies.  Dr.
Davidon outlined what have been determined to be the essential elements
necessary for a stable and sustainable ECMH consultation system.  She
said the three most important elements for a consultation system to focus
on and support in order to be sustainable are: program infrastructure (ie.
dedicated and sustained funding), quality consultants, and quality services.
11:57:02 AM  
Ms. Stern spoke about the Children's Hospital's
involvement in ECMH consultation.  Mr. Jaeger spoke about what the
Colorado Children's Campaign has learned from conversations with their
early child care network about the biggest challenges they are facing,
the top two of which are the challenges facing the early child care and
education workforce and access to mental health services for providers.
 The commission broke for lunch.



Lunch Break - Committee Discussion Only




Family Resource Center Association - Committee Discussion Only


01:05:48 PM  
The commission came back to order.  Senator
Story invited Mark Kling, Executive Director of the Family Resource Center
Association (FRCA), to come to the table to begin his presentation, which
can be found as Attachment F.  He provided background information
about FRCs, which are community-driven local entities that are tailored
to the needs and culture of that community and use a two-generation approach.
 He discussed the services provided by FRCs, which include early childhood
programs, parenting programs, health care enrollment, healthy living programs,
comprehensive coordinated case management, system navigation and resource
referral, workforce development/job readiness, youth development, adult
education and life skills, financial literacy, basic needs (housing, food,
etc), and emergency assistance.
01:16:38 PM  
Mr. Kling answered questions from the commission
regarding funding for FRCs, and spoke about the Colorado Family Strengthening
Network within the Office of Early Childhood.



Early Childhood Council Leadership Association (ECCLA) - Committee Discussion Only

01:29:16 PM  
The next group of presenters came to the
table to begin their presentation.  Jennifer Sanchez McDonald, Interim
Executive Director of the Early Childhood Councils Leadership Association
(ECCLA), Heather Hanna,  Director of Membership and Communication,
ECCLA, Stacy Petty, Council Coordinator, Rocky Mountain Early Childhood
Council, and Jackie Florendo, Executive Director, Alliance for Kids, introduced
themselves to the committee.  A copy of their presentation can be
found as Attachment G.  Ms. Hanna told the committee about the background,
mission, and purpose of ECCLA.  She explained that councils are locally
organized and locally governed, and that there are 34 councils serving
63 of the 64 counties in Colorado.  She said that federal Child Care
and Development Funds are used to fund the councils, in addition to some
local and state funds.  She said that councils support all areas of
children and families, including early learning, health and mental health,
family support, and parent education.
01:36:55 PM  
Ms. Petty spoke about the successes and
challenges faced by the Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Council, Ms. Florendo
told the committee about her council in El Paso County, and Ms. Sanchez
McDonald spoke about the Huerfano and Las Animas councils.  Ms. Sanchez
McDonald discussed legislative considerations, including restoring and
continuing state general fund dollars to support the councils and ensuring
that stakeholders from various state agencies and early childhood organizations
convene to build a consensus on the role, value, and long-term funding
of councils.  The panelists answered questions from the commission.



Raise Colorado Prenatal, Infant, and Toddler Coalition - Committee Discussion Only


02:08:05 PM  
Christina Walker, Director of Policy and
Advocacy for Clayton Early Learning, and Crystal Munoz, Exectuive Director
of Roots Family Center, came to the table to speak about the Raise Colorado
Prenatal, Infant, and Toddler Coalition.  The presentation and several
additional handouts can be found as Attachments H, I, J, and K.  Ms.
Munoz explained that Raise Colorado is a statewide coalition that takes
collective action to promote bold public policy and change public perception
regarding the health and well-being of pregnant people, new families, infants,
and toddler.  She said the coalition focuses on quality, affordable
child care, time for parents to bond with their babies, healthy emotional
development, and strong physical health and nutrition.  Ms. Walker
reviewed several pieces of legislation passed during the 2019 legislative
session that impact the areas on which the coalition focuses.  The
commission took a brief recess.



Break - Committee Discussion Only




Family First Prevention Service Act - Committee Discussion Only

02:42:57 PM  
Senator Story called the meeting back to
order and invited the final presenters to the table.  Tyler Allen,
Title IV-E Waiver Administrator, CDHS, and Angela Lytle, Deputy Director
for the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services, introduced themselves
to the committee.  Their presentation and additional handouts can
be found as Attachments L, M, and N.  Mr. Allen explained the federal
funding and reimbursement structure for child welfare services, in particular
out-of-home placement, and stated that the Families First Prevention Service
Act changes the way the reimbursement structure works.  Ms. Lytle
spoke about the need to move from talking about "rescuing children"
to "supporting families," as well as from talking about "individual
responsibility" to "environmental conditions."  She
spoke about the 2015 Federal Child Maltreatment Report.
03:06:57 PM  
Mr. Allen told the committee that in order
for prevention services to be reimbursable, the services must be evidence-based
and focused either on substance abuse, mental health, or parenting skill
building/parenting support.  Mr. Allen and Ms. Lytle answered questions
about what the legislature can do to support the implementation of Families
First Prevention Service Act.
03:37:21 PM  
The presenters continued to answer questions from the committee.


03:57:27 PM   The committee adjourned.






Colorado legislature email addresses ending in @state.co.us are no longer active. Please replace @state.co.us with @coleg.gov for Colorado legislature email addresses.  Details