I_I_SchoolReadiness_2019A 08/28/2019 09:02:47 AM Committee Summary PUBLICSTAFF SUMMARY OF MEETINGINTERIM 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 hColorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) Committee Discussion Only hChild Maltreatment Fatality Report Recommendations Committee Discussion Only hEarly Childhood Mental Health (ECMH) State Efforts Committee Discussion Only hLunch Break Committee Discussion Only hFamily Resource Center Association Committee Discussion Only hEarly Childhood Council Leadership Association (ECCLA) Committee Discussion Only hRaise Colorado Prenatal, Infant, and Toddler Coalition Committee Discussion Only hBreak Committee Discussion Only hFamily First Prevention Service Act Committee Discussion Only Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) - Committee Discussion Only Attachment Tag File Name Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/CDB37D8740DB...$File/190828 AttachA.pdf?OpenElement 190828 AttachA.pdf 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 Attachment Tag File Name Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/435299F12414...$File/190828 AttachB.pdf?OpenElement 190828 AttachB.pdf 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 Attachment Tag File Name Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/322CDEF0291B...$File/190828 AttachD.pdf?OpenElement 190828 AttachD.pdf Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/5E957185DE2E...$File/190828 AttachE.pdf?OpenElement 190828 AttachE.pdf Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/883BE1E75D6F...$File/190828 AttachC.pdf?OpenElement 190828 AttachC.pdf 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 Attachment Tag File Name Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/E76D8DAB6CFA...$File/190828 AttachF.pdf?OpenElement 190828 AttachF.pdf 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 Attachment Tag File Name Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/0FCBDC40BF23...$File/190828 AttachH.pdf?OpenElement 190828 AttachH.pdf Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/1472429550A7...$File/190828 AttachG.pdf?OpenElement 190828 AttachG.pdf Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/784CA9826AC5...$File/190828 AttachK.pdf?OpenElement 190828 AttachK.pdf Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/97F85C36D56E...$File/190828 AttachJ.pdf?OpenElement 190828 AttachJ.pdf Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/B9736244B67A...$File/190828 AttachI.pdf?OpenElement 190828 AttachI.pdf 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 Attachment Tag File Name Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/5A5B9E8C3F78...$File/190828 AttachM.pdf?OpenElement 190828 AttachM.pdf Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/6782143E9DD7...$File/190828 AttachL.pdf?OpenElement 190828 AttachL.pdf Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/7CF56F5F1F21...$File/190828 AttachN.pdf?OpenElement 190828 AttachN.pdf 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.