Newsworthy

Redesigning Colorado's Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) Network

Updates as of September 23, 2009

The Colorado Division of Human Services issued a letter on September 23 announcing its decision to postpone redrawing the CCR&R regional boundaries until it has reviewed all the statewide quality initiatives the department funds (click on "CDHS Letter about CCR&R Redesign" in box, below right).

Updates as of September 17, 2009

Rosemarie Allen, Director of the Division of Child Care at the Colorado Department of Human Services, has announced no changes to the CCR&R regions at this time. At the second of two stakeholder forums on September 16, Rosemarie stated that, largely as a result of feedback on the redesign from CCR&Rs and other key partners, the Department has decided to step back and take a comprehensive look at all the quality initiatives it funds.

One major rationale for the postponement of the CCR&R redesign is the Department's recognition of the many interrelationships between the CCR&R network and the larger early childhood system. Simply put, any changes to the CCR&R regional structure would have a cascading effect on the overall system. As a result, the Department has decided to keep the current CCR&R regional boundaries intact while it assesses its programs at the state level.

At the September 16 stakeholder meeting, Rosemarie reinforced her commitment to providing opportunities for input as that exploration takes place. Within the next few days, Qualistar and the Department of Human Services will be issuing more communications on the plans. We encourage you to share all such communications with your colleagues.

Innovative possibilities and conversations

We would like to thank our CCR&R partners for being open to change, for holding important conversations in their local communities and for living with ambiguity over the past several months.

We also applaud the CCR&R network for looking at this as an opportunity. Though the regions themselves won't be changing, many CCR&R partners have created new momentum, closer partnerships and innovative possibilities with colleagues. We truly hope these efforts will continue so that we can join together to better support Colorado's providers, children and families.

As of September 2, 2009

Colorado’s network of Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies has been an important resource for families and child care providers for nearly 20 years. Under the management and coordination of Qualistar Early Learning, Colorado’s CCR&R agencies share their expertise and experience in early childhood, particularly early learning, with parents, child care providers and the communities they serve.

An Evolving System

In spring 2008, Qualistar Early Learning began assessing the effectiveness of the CCR&R system in meeting the ever-changing needs of Colorado’s early learning field through the delivery of parent and provider services. In conversations with the Colorado Department of Human Services, the Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (CCR&R), Colorado’s Early Childhood Councils (Councils) and other early childhood stakeholders, Qualistar has explored how well the current regional CCR&R network is serving families and children and how it might be redesigned to improve services.

Stakeholder Participation

These conversations have included both informal dialogues and formal facilitated meetings of representatives from the CCR&Rs and the Councils. Following the most recent of the two facilitated stakeholder meetings, Qualistar released an advisory brief that details the results of those meetings and the conclusions that Qualistar staff reached regarding the intersection of the roles of regional CCR&Rs and local Councils. Shortly after the release of the advisory brief, Qualistar finalized and presented a redesigned structure for the CCR&R network based on a four-region hub model. The September 2 and September 16 forums are focused on discussing the current CCR&R structure, presenting the rationale for the redesign, presenting the proposed changes, answering questions and gathering stakeholder feedback. Important documents regarding the CCR&R redesign and the process for developing and implementing the proposed changes are available as downloads (see yellow box on right). We will add documents as they become available in the coming weeks.