3F452791D9ABD99C872582C6005468F4 Hearing Summary CLICS/CLICS2018A/commsumm.nsf PUBLICBILL SUMMARY For UPDATE FROM THE EARLY CHILDHOOD LEADERSHIP COMMISSIONINTERIM COMMITTEE EARLY CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL READINESSDate Jul 10, 2018 Location HCR 0112 Update from the Early Childhood Leadership Commission - Committee Discussion Only Attachment Tag File Name Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2018A/commsumm.nsf/0/A4734E96E392...$File/180710 AttachC.pdf?OpenElement 180710 AttachC.pdf 09:22:00 AM Kristina Heyl, Director of the Early Childhood Leadership Commission (ECLC), came to the table to begin her presentation [Attachment C]. She discussed the four previous ECSRLC bills that passed during the 2018 legislative session. She provided an overview of the ECLC, which she explained is a statutory commission charged with ensuring and advancing a comprehensive service delivery system to help pregnant women and children from birth to age eight. She stated that the ECLC's mission is to advise and make recommendations to the General Assembly, state agencies, and the ECSRLC, and to monitor and advance strategies that increase access, quality, and equity of early childhood services and supports across the state. Ms. Heyl discussed in further detail the ECLC subcommittees and working groups. 09:27:59 AM Ms. Heyl spoke about several of the ECLC's latest accomplishments, such as the Colorado Early Childhood Workforce 2020 Plan. She stated that nationally over half of early childhood workforce members are on public assistance, and explained the need to discuss recruitment, retention, and compensation strategies for this population across multiple agencies that support this workforce. Ms. Heyl discussed the 11 recommendations given by the ECLC's Early Childhood Communications Collaborative. She answered questions about how the ECLC is communicating with parents and caregivers and about the need to involve health care providers in the communications process. She talked further about the Early Childhood Colorado Framework. 09:37:20 AM Ms. Heyl stated that the ECLC's priorities going forward include expanding early childhood awareness; communicating statewide the importance of early childhood education; preparing and helping to support new state leadership; supporting the early childhood workforce; and continuing to align and coordinate to make sure families have the most seamless transition from early childhood to K-12 schooling. She answered questions about how to make access to early childhood more equitable across the state, and about the need to reach across multiple state agencies and local organizations to help promote and ensure access. 09:43:04 AM Ms. Heyl answered questions about why early childhood providers struggle to find qualified staff, and explained that the 2020 Workforce Plan lays out six goals to help remedy the problem. Senator Martinez Humenik spoke about the importance of all stakeholders coming together to figure out a solution to the lack of available workforce in a variety of industries, including early childhood. 09:48:20 AM Representative Buckner spoke about the need for strong parental involvement in early childhood education. Ms. Heyl stated that there is an ECLC working group looking at innovative strategies to increase the number of early childhood educators in Colorado.