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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 3/15/2022 - Memorandum From Teresa Roche Re: Council Priority: Exploration Of Child Care For City Employees (12)Human Resources Department 215 N. Mason, 2nd Floor Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6535 DATE: March 10, 2022 TO: Mayor and City Councilmembers FROM: Teresa Roche, Human Resources RE: Council Priority: Exploration of Child Care for City Employees _____________________________________________________________________ Attached are Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC) full and executive summaries prepared for the City on Council’s priority to explore childcare strategies for City employees. In January, EPIC consultants Kate Kalstein and Leah Weatherman presented highlights to the Council Compensation Committee. The City selected the non-profit EPIC organization as a leading organization in the state, and Larimer County worked with EPIC on their plan to host an onsite or near-site childcare center for their employees. The county has paused its work on this strategy for several reasons. Our approach in the City was different as we asked EPIC to understand the double lens of Council— affordable and accessible childcare for the community and the talent in our organization. To that end, we worked closely with our colleagues in Social Sustainability and Recreation. We also approached the employee exploration survey with no hypothesis of their specific caregiving needs. The following are identified as top priorities: 1.City employees who are parents and caregivers prefer continued access to a mixed delivery system offering choice to each family to identify the best option for their individual needs and preferences. 2.City employees require schedule flexibility as available in their work and the childcare available for their young children. 3.There are greater needs and gaps in the currently available services and programs for families with special needs and unique situations. 4.This is a complex issue with no easy solution to address the challenge of finding affordable, high- quality childcare. This issue poses a significant challenge to City employees and the community. Ongoing citywide collaboration will be required to continue to bring significant impact, and the City has unique opportunities both as a collaborative community partner and an employer. 5.All partners within the community emphasize the desire to continue to enhance childcare resources within the community while also elevating the quality of childcare across the spectrum of providers and settings available to City employees and the community at large. Kate Kalstein has begun to share the executive summary with community partners and internal staff. She and others in the City will work through the recommendations, including the possibility of specific BFO offers for the Council to consider. If you have any questions, please let me know. TR CHILD CARE BENEFIT FULL EXPLORATIONREPORTJanuary 2022 City of Fort Collins Child Care Benefit Exploration Report Intro 2 Child Care Landscape 3 Child Care Settings in Colorado 3 Child Care Models 4 Early Childhood Professional Workforce 4 Local Licensed Capacity for Child Care 4 Impact of COVID-19 on Licensed Capacity for Child Care 5 City of Fort Collins 6 City of Fort Collins Employees 6 Employee Benefits 6 Residential Locations of City Employees with Dependents 7 Settings Used by City of Fort Collins Employees 7 Partners and Resources 7 Cast of Partners 7 Support for Caregivers of Young Children and Growing Families 10 Other Resources to Caregivers 11 City Support of Child Care in the Community 11 Resources on the Horizon 12 Real Estate 13 Child Care Models of Promise for Enhanced Support to Employees 13 Priority Considerations 13 Framework for Identifying Models of Promise 15 Menu of Opportunities: Increased Access to Child Care 15 Supports for Home Based Child Care 17 Menu of Opportunities: Support to Ensure Child Care Affordability 18 Advocacy to Ensure Sustainable, Equitable Child Care Affordability 18 Support Existing Providers to Strengthen Their Business Models 19 Menu of Opportunities: Policy to Cultivate Family Friendly Employment 19 Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual Recommendations 19 Conclusion 21 Collective Impact 21 Recommended Next Steps 22 Appendix 23 A Maps of Where City of Fort Collins Employees Live 23 City of Fort Collins 25 1 Intro In fall 2021, the City of Fort Collins partnered with Executives Partnering to Invest in Children1 (EPIC) to provide research, planning, and facilitation support in order to explore and identify child care opportunities to provide targeted support to city employees that enhance community wellbeing. The City of Fort Collins recognizes that benefits that provide child care support are crucial to attracting and retaining talent. This report includes a comprehensive analysis of feedback and specific models to consider that would provide support to city employees for enhanced child care resources. The Fort Collins City Council elevated child care affordability and accessibility as a key priority for the community in 2019-2021, and specifically relative to City employees in 2020. Additionally, the COVID pandemic has intensified these issues and reinforced the importance of child care as a vital community resource. Today, partners across Larimer County are examining opportunities to bolster child care resources including the anticipated development of a new employee child care center for Larimer County employees. Given the complexity of the issues surrounding child care resources within the community, this report contains a broad spectrum of information including: ●A demographic overview of the community including a brief snapshot of key information relative to City employees and current community child care capacity ●An early childhood overview including information on the range of child care settings available within the community, summary of key early childhood professional roles and workforce development pathways, and information on current resources for school aged children outside of school hours (before/after care and summer/school break programming) ●A summary of community partners and other projects currently addressing the need for enhanced child care capacity and other supports to the early childhood ecosystem ●An outline of current benefit options for City employees with caregiving responsibilities for young children and early childhood support resources ●Finally the report contains a menu of child care support models of promise or opportunities to consider including a summary of currently available supplemental resources (funding and programming) to support City employees with young children Consistent feedback during development of this report emphasized the following priorities: 1.City employees who are parents and caregivers prefer continued access to a mixed delivery system offering choice to each family to identify the best option for their individual needs and preferences. 2.City employees require schedule flexibility as available in both their work as well as in the child care available for their young children. 3.Greater needs and gaps in current services/programs impact families with special needs and unique situations. 1 Primary project support to the City of Fort Collins provided by Kate Kalstein and Leah Weatherman from August 2021 - January 2022. 2 4.Throughout the community individuals recognize this is a complex issue with no easy solution to address the challenge of finding affordable high-quality child care to support the needs of each family. Ongoing systems level collaboration will be required to continue to bring significant impact to the community, including to City employees. 5.All partners within the community emphasize the desire to continue to enhance child care resources within the community while also elevating the quality of child care across the spectrum of providers and settings available to City employees and the community at large. Child Care Landscape Child Care Settings in Colorado There are a variety of settings where child care is provided and high quality care can be found in each type of care setting. Many child care settings are licensed by the state and participate in Colorado Shines, the state’s quality rating and improvement system. Centers, schools, and Family Child Care Homes are licensed settings in Colorado. Family, Friend, or Neighbor (FFN) care is informal care and can be considered unlicensed or license exempt. FFN care is licensed exempt when the provider is caring for children related to them and for one additional family or when the provider is caring for 4 children or less and no more than 2 of the children are under the age of 2. Family, Friend or Neighbor (FFN): informal child care provided by a family member, friend or neighbor because it is convenient, affordable and available when and where they need it. Family Child Care Homes (FCCHs) or in-home providers:licensed family providers who care for a small group of children in a private residential setting. Child Care Centers: larger settings where children are cared for in a group away from their homes for all or part of the day. There are many different types of centers including preschools, co-ops, church based, private, and nonprofit. School District Provided Early Childhood Education:typically, preschool programs for children ages 3 to 5 including Head Start and other early learning classes. Before/After Care: programs offering early morning and late afternoon/early evening care to both younger and school-age children. These programs may be at the same site as other child care or children may have to travel between programs. Summer Camp: typically one week programs offered for school-age children (and sometimes for younger children receiving care in a program with a school year schedule, closed during the summer months) during June, July and August. These programs are offered by school districts as well as community organizations tailored to a variety of interests and models. 3 Child Care Models Child care can also be provided using a variety of models. There are structured programs like Montessori or direct instruction, which emphasize academics and life skills while also including support to developing senses and character. Alternatively, there are also child-led programs, like Reggio Emilia, which is project-based. These models often focus on social and emotional learning along with expression and communication. In play-based programs, like Waldorf, the focus is on creative play and academic subjects are introduced at a later age. Some providers choose to use a blend of methods from multiple models. Early Childhood Professional Workforce The early childhood professional workforce includes a range of positions and specialties to support the full range of needs for young children including Early Childhood Teacher,Director, and child care provider (licensed homes and non-home child care). These three roles each have different credential/licensing processes. Additionally, separate competencies have been established for those providing coaching to early childhood professionals or classrooms. Early childhood classrooms and child care settings are also supported by Preschool Special Education Services,early interventionists, therapists,and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultants. Additional programs target infant and toddler care to cultivate highest quality practices. As with most other sectors of the economy, the early childhood sector faces considerable workforce challenges today. The Colorado Department of Education offers specific initiatives focused on Early Childhood Workforce Development and other statewide nonprofit partners target support to address the critical needs to recruit,train and retain early childhood professionals. Locally the Early Childhood Council of Larimer County offers specific early childhood workforce support through Provisional Early Childhood Teacher (P-ECT) waiver in Larimer County to provide additional time for lead teachers to become fully certified.Broader early childhood support is also provided by a range of partners through family resource centers, home visitation programs, child maltreatment prevention programs, and other social-emotional support programs. The Office of Early Childhood provided specific care workforce resources along with the December 1, 2021 update to child care licensing regulations. These resources include a number of grant programs made possible with federal stimulus funds to support specific retention, recruitment and compensation initiatives. Local Licensed Capacity for Child Care In Fort Collins, there are 53 child care centers, 20 preschool program locations, 75 Family Child Care Homes and 38 school age child care centers that are open and operating.2 Census data shows that Larimer County is home to around 17,600 children under the age of 5 and more than 8,000 of those children live in Fort Collins. According to the most recent list of licensed child 2 From Colorado Office of Early Childhood facilities lists for October 2021 4 care facilities from the Colorado Office of Early Childhood, Larimer County and Fort Collins have licensed slots for 48% and 70% of children under 5, respectively.3 Neighboring Weld County has 22,000 children under the age of five and has a licensed capacity for 27% of those children. These numbers do not reflect the reduced capacity available for children under two, whose slots are frequently loss leaders for providers. It is also important to note that out of the Larimer County providers who participate in the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP), the majority (57%) are located in Fort Collins. Impact of COVID-19 on Licensed Capacity for Child Care The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on licensed capacity has varied across Colorado. The Office of Early Childhood recorded a loss of 28,861 slots in Colorado, or 19% of licensed capacity, from January 2020 to January 2021. While Fort Collins gained 26 slots, the greater Larimer County area lost 558 licensed slots, 7% of licensed capacity. Larimer County had a significantly lower reduction in capacity than neighboring Weld County, where 1,434 slots were lost in the same time period, reducing licensed capacity by 23%. Over the course of 2021, Larimer County’s licensed capacity has recovered to and surpassed January 2020 numbers. Changes in licensed capacity does not give a full picture of what has occurred during the pandemic. While many centers and Family Child Care Homes were closed only temporarily during 2020 and were able to reopen, they were not always able to operate at capacity due to the complexities of providing child care during a pandemic. According to a survey conducted by Early Milestones Colorado, there were many factors that made it difficult for facilities to reopen or remain open including limits on group sizes, lower enrollment, loss of workforce, increased costs of operations, and an inability to find necessary supplies.4 Providers continued to struggle at the end of 2021. A survey of 400 providers conducted by the Early Childhood Education Association of Colorado (ECEA) revealed that providers are relying on business and personal debt to remain open while waiting for delayed sustainability funds from the state.5 In addition to taking on new debt,respondents reported reducing pay, hours of operation and capacity. Providers also struggled to find funds to attract and retain staff. 5 Early Childhood Education Association of Colorado’s survey overview and comments 4 Early Milestones Colorado report 3 From Colorado Office of Early Childhood facilities lists for October 2021 5 City of Fort Collins City of Fort Collins Employees The City of Fort Collins has over 2,500 total employees.6 1,794 of these employees are classified, 692 are hourly, 23 are contractual, and 68 are unclassified management. There are 834 employees with dependents from ages 0 to 25 who are participating in medical, dental or vision plans. The total number of dependents for these employees is 1,596. Below is the breakdown of the number of dependents by age: ●Dependents ages 0-3: 204 ●Dependents ages 4-8: 302 ●Dependents ages 9-13: 352 ●Dependents ages 14-18: 320 ●Dependents ages 19-25: 378 Employee Benefits The City’s Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual outlines the benefits provided by the City to employees. These include medical, dental and vision insurance, retirement plans, paid holidays, vacation and sick leave, long-term and short-term disability, life insurance, flexible spending accounts, and an employee assistance program. The City also offers an employee wellness program, access to on-site fitness rooms and the City’s recreation centers, free Transfort bus passes, ergonomic adjustments to work stations, and development opportunities. Specific benefit plans depend on the classification of the employee’s position. The child care related benefits offered by the City are back-up care and access to referral services for employees. One challenge of offering these types of benefits is that the City is dependent on the local child care ecosystem and early childhood workforce for the benefits to be broadly successful. In 2019, the Talent 2.0 Child Care Task Force reported that an additional 1,000 early childhood teachers would be needed to serve the population of young children in Larimer County who do not have access to care when their parents are working.7 Survey and interview responses from employees indicated that the limited workforce also creates challenges when it comes to informal unlicensed care such as babysitting or nannying. This highlights that the City, as well as other employers, are dependent on the existence of a robust local early childhood education and care system. The City also offers scholarships to employees for the Recreation Department’s summer programming. Another resource for employees in caregiving roles is the Caregivers’ Alliance. The Caregivers’ Alliance is an employee resource group for caregivers and allies that meets for monthly discussions on issues impacting caregivers. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City examined other options for supporting employees whose children were without care. On-site child care was explored but did not fit the 7 The Talent 2.0 Child Care Task Force’s Child Care in Larimer County report 6 This number includes those who are employed with the city as part of an intergovernmental agreement. 6 specific needs of the earlier stages of the pandemic. The City provides first-come, first-served back up child care through partnership with Family Care Connection. Employees pay $7 per hour for up to 100 hours annually, with the copay waived for essential on-site staff. Residential Locations of City Employees with Dependents Of the City of Fort Collins employees who responded to the survey conducted for this report, 300 had dependents under the age of 19 (just under half of all employees with dependents).8 Around half of these respondents provided an address. The majority live in Fort Collins (66%), followed by Loveland (8%), Windsor (6%), Wellington (6%), Timnath (5%), and Severance (4%). Greeley, Laporte, Johnstown, Pierce, Bellvue, and Milliken were each reported as being home to 3 respondents or less. The majority of respondents with dependents ages 0-6 live in Fort Collins (60%), followed by Windsor (9%), Loveland (6%), Wellington (6%), Severance (6%), and Timnath (6%). Greeley, Laporte, Pierce, Bellvue, and Johnstown were each reported as being home to 2 respondents or less. Settings Used by City of Fort Collins Employees According to survey responses, home-based care settings were common for employees. When asked about what types of care they currently use 31% of respondents said that care is provided by another member of the household, 24% responded that care is provided in a Family Child Care Home, and 23% in Family, Friend or Neighbor care. Center-based care is used by 24% and school district-based care is used by 20% of respondents. Before and after-school care had the lowest use at 18%. When employees were asked about their ideal care setting, Family, Friend or Neighbor care was the ideal setting for 31% of employees followed by childcare centers (25%), before and after-school care (20%), Family Child Care Homes (14%), and school district provided early childhood education (11%). Two questions were also asked about what factors are important when choosing a childcare provider, both in general and specifically for their current provider. Respondents ranked safety and cost as the two highest ranking factors for both questions. Partners and Resources Cast of Partners In recognition of the complexity of local child care ecosystems, below is an outline of the roles and strengths of local organizations that the City of Fort Collins could partner with in future child care initiatives. 8 The survey was sent to City of Fort Collins employees, not including the Police Department or organizations with intergovernmental agreements (Downtown District Association, Metropolitan Planning Organization, Poudre Fire Authority, Poudre River Public Library District) 7 There are several local organizations that offer support to child care providers. The scope of these organizations can vary. Some work with a broad range of child care providers, from centers to Family, Friend, or Neighbor (FFN) providers, while others specialize in supporting a specific type of provider. Partnership with these organizations allows the City to understand what the specific needs of providers are, where funding could have the most impact, and how city policies affect the broad spectrum of providers. The City currently has a working relationship with some organizations on this list. ●Child Care Provider Support Organizations ○Early Childhood Council of Larimer County ■Resources, information, training and advocacy for the broad spectrum of providers ○Fort Collins Partners in Child Care (FCPIC) ■Information, training and support for Family Child Care Home providers ○Licensed Family Child Care Association (LFCCA) ■Information, training and support for Family Child Care Home providers ○La Cocina - FAVAS program ■Information, training and support for Family, Friend, or Neighbor (FFN) providers In Fort Collins, there are 53 child care centers, 20 preschool program locations, 75 Family Child Care Homes and 38 school age child care centers that are open and operating.9 The city has partnered with child care providers in the past to provide funding and support including the Teaching Tree Early Childhood Learning Center expansion project, where a City-owned building was leased to the center at a below-market rate. Overhead costs related to facilities are usually a challenge to the financial operations of child care centers. One opportunity for partnership would be to continue searching for innovative ways to use existing City-owned real estate to support local child care providers. Other opportunities for partnership include initiatives to support and grow the early childhood workforce, projects targeted at increasing capacity of existing providers, creating systems to facilitate the opening of new facilities, and advocacy to ensure that policies at the state and local level do not create unnecessary barriers for providers. ●Local Non-Profit Child Care Providers ○Teaching Tree Early Childhood Learning Center ■Child care for infants through preschool and a summer program for children up to age 13 ■Financial assistance is available on a sliding fee basis ○El Nidito run by The Family Center - La Familia ■Child care for infants through preschool in a bilingual environment ■Financial assistance is available on a sliding fee basis ■Participates in Early Head Start 9 From Colorado Office of Early Childhood facilities lists for October 2021 8 ○Boys & Girls Club of Larimer County ■After-school and summer program for school age children ■$20 fee for the school year and $100 fee for the summer In addition to the local housing authority, there are a number of organizations that offer affordable housing to Fort Collins residents. While current federal affordable housing policies do not allow for Family Child Care Homes to be run in affordable housing units, these organizations have community spaces that could be used to support the child care ecosystem and other types of support to families. The City has established relationships with these organizations and can provide funding and guidance for new child care related projects. Since housing remains another priority issue for the community (affordability and access considerations), alignment of projects to consider the range of community need in housing development would be a strong opportunity to serve at the intersection of child care need and affordable housing. ●Affordable Housing Organizations ○Housing Catalyst ■Public Housing Authority serving Fort Collins and Larimer County ○Neighbor to Neighbor ■Affordable housing, homeshare and homeownership education ○CARE Housing ■Public, private & faith based sponsored affordable housing partnership ○Mercy Housing ■National nonprofit affordable housing organization Partnerships with higher education institutions are important to support the early childhood workforce pipeline and to ensure that the workforce supply can meet local child care needs. The City could work with these institutions to explore funding opportunities, internship programs in the City’s Recreation Department, and providing incentives to work in early childhood education. ●Higher Education Institutions ○Colorado State University ■B.S. degree in early childhood education ○Front Range Community College ■A.A. and A.A.S. degrees in in early childhood education ■Multiple early childhood education certificates ○Aims Community College ■A.A. and A.A.S. degrees in in early childhood education ■Multiple early childhood education certificates Many early childhood initiatives will require significant funding. The City of Fort Collins has relationships with organizations that fund child care projects and can coordinate efforts with these partners to ensure that funding is creating maximum impact. ●Financial Partners ○United Way of Larimer County 9 ■Philanthropy focused on youth and education, financial stability, community engagement, and nonprofit excellence ○The Bohemian Foundation ■Philanthropy focused on ensuring all youth thrive, promoting economic stability and mobility, and cultivating a vibrant, engaged, connected, and resilient community. It is important that the city also partners with other local governments to coordinate on child care initiatives and policy issues. Larimer County is currently exploring an employer- sponsored child care benefit for its employees and ways to support the early childhood workforce pipeline. The County would also like to include a care coordinator as part of this project, whose services would be available to community child care providers as well as the county-sponsored center. As more opportunities develop, the City and County can work together to ensure that child care projects and initiatives are carried out efficiently and with an understanding of the greater regional child care ecosystem. Faith centers have traditionally formed part of the child care landscape. As the City explores new child care initiatives, it could partner with faith organizations to find ways to use existing facilities and land to support community child care needs. Support for Caregivers of Young Children and Growing Families There are many organizations in the Fort Collins area that offer programs, services, resources or other support to caregivers of young children. These organizations include: ●Early Childhood Council of Larimer County Child care information and a referral website ●Larimer County Nurse Family Partnership Service for first-time mothers ●A Friend 4U Confidential volunteer-based support during pregnancy ●Foothills Gateway Early Intervention birth through age 2 ●Poudre School District Early childhood evaluations ages 3-5 ●Children's Speech & Reading Center Free screenings and pre-literacy programs ●Poudre River Public Library District Early literacy support and resources ●The Mathew’s House Programs for young families ●The Family Center La Familia Variety of services in Spanish and English ●La Cocina Spanish-language mental health support ●Summitstone Early childhood mental health services ●AlphaBEST Before- and after-school care for Poudre School District students ●Boys & Girls Club of Larimer County Low-cost after-school and summer care for school-age children ●United Way of Larimer County Scholarships for mothers going back to school ●Larimer County Department of Human Services Various services and public benefits: ○Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) ○Food assistance (SNAP) ○Health First Colorado (Medicaid) ○Cash assistance programs (Colorado Works/TANF) ○Emergency rent assistance 10 ○Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) Other Resources to Caregivers Another resource to caregivers is the Child and Dependent Care Credit, a federal tax credit calculated based on income and the percentage of expenses for care. It provides credit to allow the caregiver to go to work, look for work, or attend school. Caregivers are able to claim up to 50% of expenses, with a limit of $8,000 total expenses for one dependent and $16,000 for two or more dependents. This tax credit can help individuals with tax identification numbers and income within the established limits to pay for dependent care. Caregivers may also be eligible for other financial support opportunities. The Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP)provides child care assistance to eligible families who meet income guidelines and families who are enrolled in the Colorado Works program. Families may qualify for free early childhood education services and programs through Head Start and Early Head Start, the Colorado Preschool Program, or Preschool Special Education Services. United Way of Larimer County’s program WomenGive provides child care scholarships to single mothers pursuing post-secondary education. Undergraduate and graduate student parents enrolled at CSU in Fort Collins that meet income eligibility requirements may be eligible for child care tuition assistance at the CSU Early Childhood Center or Sunshine House at CSU. City Support of Child Care in the Community Accessible and affordable child care was identified as a 2019-2021 priority by the Fort Collins City Council. The City is currently taking action to address barriers to child care in the community, focusing on access, affordability and the child care workforce.10 It has also begun the work of examining its role and scope in addressing these barriers.11 The exploration of child care benefits for employees with an awareness of the existing child care ecosystem is consistent with this work. One of the City’s efforts to reduce barriers to child care was in collaboration with Teaching Tree Early Childhood Learning Center, a local non-profit provider, and United Way of Larimer County to expand Teaching Tree’s facilities. In 2018, City Council authorized the lease of City-owned property at 424 Pine Street, previously leased to United Way of Larimer County, to Teaching Tree at a less-than-market rate of $600 per year for an initial term of 20 years.The City also contributed to early project development. Teaching Tree was assisted by United Way in fundraising for the needed remodeling and repairs. This joint effort led to Teaching Tree doubling its capacity in March 2020, a crucial time for the community. The City has also provided grant funding to local non-profit organizations that increase access to child care for low-income individuals and families including Boys & Girls Club of Larimer 11 City of Fort Collins’scope and role in child care 10 City of Fort Collins’ Social Sustainability Department’s information on Child Care 11 County, The Family Center - La Familia, Poudre School District and Teaching Tree.12 The City Council is also considering using ARPA funds in the 2022 budget to support the local childcare system. Finally, the Recreation Department offers a year-round preschool for ages 3-5, school break and summer camp programs for ages 5-16, and early learning and enrichment programs.13 Resources on the Horizon Funding to expand early childhood education and increase accessibility has become a common topic of discourse in the US and Colorado over recent years. This is in part due to the spotlight that has been shone on the child care crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding situation is evolving, with many emergency COVID-19 funds sunsetting in 2021 and emergent opportunities like the federal Build Back Better act being developed. In 2020, Proposition EE passed in Colorado, providing funding to enhance and expand the Colorado Preschool Program. Scheduled to launch in 2023, the universal preschool program will provide access to 10 hours of high-quality early care and education per week to all children in Colorado in the year prior to the child entering kindergarten. A draft of key recommendations to shape this program has been released for public feedback by the Polis administration. These recommendations include leveraging local partnerships and a mixed-delivery system that would include both public schools and community-based organizations. In 2021, House Bill 21-1304 created a new Colorado Department of Early Childhood which is scheduled to begin operations in July 2022.14 This department is being created to address the complications that a fragmented system causes for Colorado families and providers. It will consolidate statewide early childhood programs under one department, streamlining administrative processes and ensuring consistent alignment of standards.15 The universal preschool program will be overseen by this new cabinet-level department. Locally, United Way of Larimer County and the Early Childhood Council of Larimer County are partnering to incorporate child care subsidies into the Larimer Child Care Connect platform. This initiative, the Larimer Child Care Fund, will allow families to find both child care providers and subsidies in one place.16 Real Estate One important resource to consider as part of the child care benefit exploration is real estate or the property where child care is provided as well as the physical requirements for the entire child care ecosystem. Real estate and personnel often account for the primary expenses for a 16 United Way of Larimer County’s information on Larimer Child Care Fund. Update anticipated spring 2022. 15 EPIC’s HB 21-1304 Factsheet 14 Department of Early Childhood Transition Plan 13 City of Fort Collins Recreation Department’s youth programs 12 City of Fort Collins Social Sustainability Department -Agencies We Serve 12 child care business operator. Space is an often cited need for development gatherings, parent or caregiver trainings, and other youth focused activities. It is important to note that while the City of Fort Collins does own significant real estate inventory that could be considered for possible expansion to community child care capacity - at this time real estate within the City of Fort Collins does not appear to be the primary challenge or need to address the issues facing city employees17. Child Care Models of Promise for Enhanced Support to Employees The opportunity to enhance child care benefits for City of Fort Collins employees can take many forms. City employees, partner organizations and City leadership all noted that ideally the new offering will respond to a well understood and specific need while balancing sustainability (the solution will be long-term if not permanent). Opportunities are needed for a broad spectrum of child care ages as well: infants, toddlers, preschool, elementary ages and beyond. As the following broad range of opportunities are explored, it should be noted that several priority considerations were noted by both employees and external partners. Priority Considerations Any enhancements or new child care benefits should offer mixed delivery or otherwise incorporate parent choice as an element of the offering. For example, rather than exclusively providing benefits to support center-based child care, benefits should also be available for families who prefer home-based child care options. Recognition that high-quality child care can be provided across the spectrum of child care settings is an important message to amplify. Employees most frequently noted child care needs for younger children (infants, toddlers, and preschool), but school aged opportunities for before, after and summer care would also benefit the employee community. City provided support and benefit opportunities should also be available to support schedule flexibility. Within the community of City employees many different schedules are represented: traditional business hours (M-F 9a-5p), shift workers, evening and weekend responsibilities and on-call staff. Practical realities have also presented over the last 18 months relative to the need for enhanced schedule flexibility including unplanned remote school, quarantines, and increased caregiving responsibilities. Many city employees depend on child care outside of traditional child care hours (before 8:00 a.m., after 6:00 p.m., or during weekends). Many city employees are unable to maintain a consistent child care schedule from one week to the next. Schedule flexibility should be a high priority including blending funds to enable child care providers to extend the hours care is available, ensuring across the community there are child care programs with early morning, late evening and weekend availability as well as emergency child care where on-demand child care can be obtained when community members are unable to commit to specific times/schedules in advance. 17 In the future, if center based child care becomes a priority,land use studies may be considered to identify ideal locations. 13 Another priority emerged relative to high need children and a strong desire to ensure that child care capacity is available for those who may also require specialized services or professional competencies to support the child. Whether it be additional mental health or social-emotional supports, therapy or early intervention, or culturally responsive care including language accessibility; both families and community partners noted that in many individual circumstances specific child care needs are intensified if the family also has unique needs or circumstances. Finally, the fourth priority that emerged from employee and partner feedback noted the desire to ensure that any and all efforts to enhance the child care benefits available to City employees support the highest quality early childhood services across the community. Parents, caregivers, City leadership, and partners alike seek to ensure that child care available across the spectrum of child care settings is of the highest quality to support child development, build strong family connections within the community and overall strengthen the wellbeing of the community. Opportunities to further enhance the quality of child care opportunities within the community should be prioritized over opportunities that may add slots or capacity within the community without intentional support to enhance the quality of child care available to City employees. The EPIC Employer Toolkit outlines the following opportunities to support child care access for employees. Additional information can be found in the Toolkit. 1.Increase access to quality child care a.On/near site program b.Partner with other employers c.Family Child Care Network/Co-op d.Back up Care e.Nontraditional/shift work child care f.Purchase child care space/discount program 2.Support affordable child care a.Cafeteria Plans (“basket” of benefits, choice b.Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) c.Dependent Care Assistance Plans (DCAPs) d.Employer contribution to dependent care through FSAs e.Support child care with subsidy 3.Develop Family Friendly Policies and Procedures a.Flex time options b.Leave policies c.Benefits d.Culture 4.Federal Tax Supports for Employees with Child Care Expenses Opportunities to enhance child care benefits for City of Fort Collins employees fall into a few broad categories:increased access to quality child care, support to ensure affordability, and policy/process measures to cultivate family friendly employment.The menu of opportunities below includes various models and case studies that could be explored to provide enhanced child care benefits to City employees. 14 Framework for Identifying Models of Promise As each opportunity is explored, the following framework can serve as a guide to exploration and identification of opportunities of promise. 1.First the cost of the opportunity should be identified,including all expenses as well as any income related to the opportunity. The City may wish to specify the number of children served, families supported or early childhood professionals involved with the opportunity but at a minimum the total cost should be specified18. 2.Next City leadership should identify the number of employees served by the opportunity under consideration, and the number of additional community members served as well if applicable. With well over 2,200 employees at the City of Fort Collins it will be important to identify the number of employees supported by the opportunity. The City may want to additionally specify which types of employees (classified, hourly, contract, management) or other groups of employees with individualized needs (shift workers, those unable to work from home, or those who work evenings or weekends). 3.The opportunity should also be examined for whether any high need groups are supported through the offering: underserved communities,gaps in service/providers, or other historically marginalized or under-resourced beneficiaries. 4.The sustainability of the opportunity should also be identified: is this a one time offering/expense with time limited benefit, a self-sustaining opportunity or does the opportunity fall somewhere between those two extremes. Employees and leadership both express a strong desire for long-lasting and sustainable benefits as the current child care crisis is not believed to be time limited. 5.Finally all opportunities should be examined to identify alignment and/or conflict with other City of Fort Collins projects, programs and priorities. Given the complexity and interconnectedness of child care with a range of other community issues, mental health, education, and economic stability just to name a few, opportunities with alignment should be prioritized while those in conflict with existing projects, programs and priorities should be avoided. Menu of Opportunities: Increased Access to Child Care In order to increase the amount of child care (slots) available to City employees, there are a number of specific strategies to consider. The range of strategies should be considered relative to the Framework for Identifying Models of Promise with Priority Considerations in mind (see above). Increased access opportunities include on/near site program offered exclusively to City employees, on/near site offered in partnership with other organizations/ employers, child care co-op or Family Child Care Network models, back up child care, nontraditional hours/extended hours programming, and contracted slots (purchase child care space for designated number of children) to guarantee access/affordability for employees. 18 Most recent Heckman paper on the return on investment of early childhood education programs 15 The City of Fort Collins has explored and offered many of these models, both in the past and at present day, including support for emergency or back up child care, investment in child care community providers to increase the amount of child care, and programming offered through the Parks and Recreation Department (both early childhood care and summer camp programming for school age children). It should be noted many community partners reflected that workforce shortages provided the primary challenge to expanding the number of child care slots available. This challenge was noted for center based early childhood providers as well as community providers who support school aged children. On-Site/Near Site Programs Child Care Partnership with Other Organizations/Employers As described above, consideration of current community child care capacity (available slots and wait lists) and employee feedback regarding preferred child care setting does not suggest that additional benefits of on or near site child care programs are a priority need for City employees. Similarly partnership with other organizations or employers to provide on or near site child care does not address a priority need for City employees. While a few employees who live within the City of Fort Collins would likely consider a new on or near site program offered to City employees, these are likely to be employees with higher family income ranges who already have access and resources for high quality child care options. This opportunity would likely carry a high cost (greater expenses than income opportunity for a number of years before a sustainable operating model could be established), benefit a relatively small number of employees/children, the employees who would likely take advantage of this opportunity are not likely to be underserved. There are existing child care programs in proximity to current City campuses and alignment to City priorities is mixed (current resources and capacity within the City of Fort Collins are strained due to impacts from COVID including workforce/turnover, increased workloads, and increased needs in some areas but child care remains a strong City priority). While on or near site child care does not seem to be an opportunity strongly aligned to the needs of employees or gaps within the spectrum of community providers, there may be situations for the City of Fort Collins to identify other settings and advocate for on/near site child care in specific contexts.One opportunity for on-site care that would support employees as well as encourage community engagement would be for the City to provide child care at afternoon and evening meetings where both City employees and community members attend. The care providers could be contracted and existing spaces within the facility where the meeting is held could be used to provide care for all ages (infant through school age). Additionally the opportunity to explore partnership with another organization or employer to provide priority registration, dedicated slots or other priority access to child care could provide other strategic benefits to the City of Fort Collins and its employees. For example, if the partnership for enhanced child care access were targeted to a specific employee population with unique needs (extreme schedule flexibility, seasonal needs or specific services to support a 16 high need population) the child care partnership might rise in priority. Additionally if the partnership supports other City projects, initiatives, or programs it should be considered as a model of opportunity. Supports for Home Based Child Care Since most employees prefer their children to receive care in a home based setting, either Family, Friend, Neighbor (FFN) or Family Child Care Home (FCCH), a strong model of opportunity is support for a Family Child Care Network or other models to support home based child care. The City of Fort Collins is encouraged to explore this strategy in partnership with community organizations already deeply connected with home based child care providers including those noted above in the Cast of Partners section. Additionally,Home Grown, a national collaborative of funders who support improved quality and access to home based care, has documented at least nine network models including: 1.Dedicated staffed family child care networks 2.Child care resource and referral agencies 3.Head Start and Early Head Start grantees that may include child care partnerships 4.Shared services alliances 5.Associations or provider-led groups 6.Nonprofit organizations 7.Labor unions 8.Development and coaching organizations 9.Franchising networks Exploration of enhanced support to home based child care providers could serve to ensure continued operation of existing providers, pave the way for aspiring child care home providers to create their child care business (and expand available child care slots within the community), and strengthen home based care to support highest quality services to meet the needs of all community members.Existing community organizations provide support to the home based provider community and can provide collaborative partnership to explore this model of promise. Explore Opportunities to Support Rural Innovation & Multigenerational Engagement While only a few employees live in more rural areas of the community, it is worth noting that often these employees are faced with the fewest child care alternatives, especially if their child has needs for specialized services or support. Rural models of innovation have been created in other communities and may warrant exploration by the City for development. Pod models, utilization of congregational spaces, and targeted care for before and after school as well as summer (and holiday) breaks have been developed through rural innovation models to support high need situations. 17 It should be noted that pod models could also be employed within the City of Fort Collins. In a family child care pod, a group of family based child care providers operate in separate rooms within a shared facility. Another area of great opportunity to support access to high-quality child care experiences can be found in multigenerational engagement. Several models19 have been developed to pair older community members to tutor, read or otherwise connect with young children. Significant research shows benefits for both the young and older participants in these partnerships.AARP Foundation offers Experience Corps to empower people over 50 to tutor students so they can become better readers by the end of third grade.Community developed reading programs and AmeriCorps Seniors programming. Exploration with Volunteers of America Colorado might be ideal given they already support AmeriCorps Seniors - RSVP in the community. Ultimately these partnerships would strengthen the quality of the child care or educational experience for the youth as well as providing a rewarding experience for the older community member. These partnerships would strengthen the quality of the child care program partner and increase wellbeing for a group of the community (children, providers and the older participant). Menu of Opportunities: Support to Ensure Child Care Affordability Advocacy to Ensure Sustainable, Equitable Child Care Affordability While the issue of child care affordability has been raised, explored and strategized within many contexts, the community has not been able to identify a sustainable, equitable child care affordability solution to date. Many parents still note that child care costs are a significant household expense, many providers note that tuition does not provide adequate income (with some providers closing as a result or operating at a financial loss), and attempts to address the issue often fail. Additionally the market rate of child care often is lower than the actual cost of care compounding efforts to ensure affordability. Market rate is the average actual monthly amount paid for child care in the community.Cost of care refers to the real cost to provide high-quality, developmentally appropriate, safe and reliable child care staffed by a professional compensated workforce. While parents struggle to find child care that meets their needs and their budget, child care providers struggle to make ends meet. Many child care providers do not earn a living wage and rely on other family members, public benefits, and resource programs. Thriving communities rely on both family affordability and professional compensated early childhood and child care professionals. The City of Fort Collins has a powerful community voice to raise both issues and advocate to ensure sustainable, equitable child care affordability.Other Colorado communities have established child care tuition assistance programs and serve as models for exploration. 19 Encore is dedicated to innovation to bring generations together for change, problem solving, and community wellbeing including specific programs to support early childhood initiatives. 18 Investment by a coalition of partners will be required for the scale of the opportunity: programs for high need families, equitable support for all families, direct to provider funding allocations, and grants to provide for capital improvements and wage increases are all strategies to consider. Ballot initiatives, line item allocations, and pooled philanthropic grant funds are all sources to support child care affordability. Strategic and comprehensive funding models to support a cross-community mixed-delivery system will strengthen the child care ecosystem meet the needs for a thriving economy and community wellbeing. Support Existing Providers to Strengthen Their Business Models Another opportunity to explore focused on supporting home based child care providers to strengthen their business model. There are existing programs offered by some organizations in this area including Energize Colorado and the Office of Early Childhood in partnership with Small Business Development Centers. Yet, often home based child care providers are unaware of these opportunities or reluctant to work with unknown organizations. The City is encouraged to work with local partner organizations to strengthen the local opportunities for business model related support for the home based child care provider community. Existing supports are provided through the City Planning Department that could be promoted and expanded to ensure each provider is maximizing their income opportunities, reducing costs as possible and ensuring sustainability to support highest quality home based care. Menu of Opportunities: Policy to Cultivate Family Friendly Employment Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual Recommendations The City’s Personnel Policies and Procedure Manual includes information on policies that affect employees in caregiving roles. It is important to note that the City is in the process of finalizing its Future of Work initiatives related to adaptive work arrangement and recommendations for employees who work on-site. Policies are important tools in creating an optimal work environment for employees who are caregivers. Flexible scheduling, for example, can help caregivers manage drop-off and pick-up schedules or coordinate with those with whom they share caregiving responsibilities. Below, specific city policies that directly affect caregivers are reviewed through a lens of best practices for family-friendly workplaces. According to section 4.2, city employees may be permitted or required by their manager to attend conferences, workshops, and other training courses or seminars. Currently, eligible employees who would like to receive reimbursement for tuition must obtain the approval of the department head before beginning the course. This policy could be amended to include child care as a reimbursable cost, when additional child care is necessary for the employee to be able to attend the course or training opportunity. 19 Section 5.3.1 outlines Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Employees. The language in this section clearly states the obligations of a manager who supervises a nursing employee but could be updated to reflect more inclusive language and current best practices.20 The Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual uses two distinct definitions for the term “family member” in sections 6.5.3 and 6.8. The city could simplify its policies by using a single definition for “family member” in the Leave Policies sections. When deciding on a definition, consideration should be given to definitions that provide comprehensive support to employees in caregiving roles and that allow employees to easily identify if the person they care for is included under this term. Additionally, an inclusive definition of “child” could be added to the city’s leave policies to further increase clarity for employees. One policy that was cited as being employee-centered and practical was the Taking Home City Vehicles policy in section 8.17.2. There may be other opportunities for the city to adopt similar practical policies that remove barriers for employees who are caregivers. Exploration is also encouraged to identify across all departments the degree of flexibility available to each employee through a consistent framework. Research suggested that while some departments have clearly articulated the degree of flexibility available for each staff member, other departments have not made this information clear or consistent. Additionally in this exploration all leadership would explore providing the maximum degree of flexibility available to each staff member in order to create an environment to cultivate family friendly employment conditions. It appears that to some extent vacant positions and understaffing create pressure for staff to avoid leave, exercising flexibility, and contribute to overwork (and in some rare cases burnout). There are likely opportunities to examine staffing models across all departments to recognize ideal staffing, vacancies, and how to ensure flexibility can be practiced when needed. For example, is the department understaffed resulting in denial of leave requests or other consequences because no short term support is available when leave is needed for a member of the team. Overall it appears that the City provides many indications that leadership strives to cultivate a human centered approach to support all staff with employee wellbeing first, followed by job responsibilities and finally accountability. In order to enhance the ability of employees who are parents and caregivers to meet needs as they arise all opportunities to reinforce these values should be explored: respect for “out of office” notations on calendars, supporting flexibility in times of work and work from home when possible, and relationship building to understand the unique needs of each employee (within professional boundaries and employee choice to share). 20 An example of nine key best practices and inclusive language from Harvard Business Review 20 Explore How Real Estate (Space) Can Support Child Care Needs It may be appropriate for City of Fort Collins leadership to explore allocation of real estate space to increase available child care capacity within the community at a future date, but at this time employee feedback does not suggest that center based child care within the City of Fort Collins is an unmet need. Many employees, including employees who live outside the City of Fort Collins, prefer home based child care and additionally many employees prefer child care close to home. Finally additional child care capacity is being planned through both the Larimer County child care center project as well as an expansion of Boys & Girls Club services in Loveland. It is unknown whether allocation of real estate space could provide other support to child care providers, for example whether space may benefit home based child care providers to come together for group activities for children or training classes to enhance their skills and expertise. The City of Fort Collins could adopt a policy to explore utilization of real estate resources to maximum community benefit including whether meeting space can be made available to community partners who provide child care services. During this exploration community partners can help identify the ideal characteristics of spaces needed and how City policy could be developed to support space needs for child care providers. In the future if center based child care need shifts or if real estate space could provide other support to child care providers, the City of Fort Collins may want to explore whether any unused state owned properties are within the community or complete an audit of City owned assets that meet the ideal characteristics to provide community supportive child care facilities21. Other communities22 have also recently completed inventories of space to identify sites for child care operators to expand center based child care offerings within the community, and these inventories could help guide future explorations. Conclusion Collective Impact As the City of Fort Collins moves forward with the exploration of enhanced child care benefits for City employees, one additional concept should be considered to increase the impact to children, families and the community as a whole.Collective Impact refers to a collaborative of organizations (or partners) working together to solve a specific social problem through focus on an agreed key measure of success. Five critical elements support the framework of collective impact: a common agenda, shared measurement, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and backbone support organizations. Current collective impact approaches in Colorado include Aspen Community Foundations support of kindergarten readiness and Rocky 22 As of December 2021, Denver, Eagle and Summit counties have all completed space inventories and partner to provide low-cost lease to partner organizations for child care centers. 21 In 2021 passage of House Bill 21-1274 directed the Colorado Department of Personnel & Administration (DPA) to produce and maintain an inventory of State-owned land and buildings to promote affordable housing, child care, public schools, residential mental and behavioral health care, and renewable energy development. 21 Mountain Partnership (formerly Adams County Youth Initiative) support of economic and social mobility/vitality in their region. Given the complexity of the ecosystem, the child care needs across the region, and the interconnectedness of so many organizations seeking to support the community to provide access to high-quality and affordable child care for every family; the City of Fort Collins may want to explore the collective impact framework. A possible collective approach might include: ●Common Agenda: Access to high-quality and affordable child care for each child in Larimer and Weld counties ●Shared Measurement: Consistent regional data collection by all preschool and kindergarten providers to identify kinder readiness (might include social and emotional development, language, academic - literacy/math, and motor development) ●Mutually reinforcing activities: community outreach, classes for parents, development for child care and early childhood professionals, enhanced screening and referral for support services, access to medical and mental health care for all, sustainable funding for child care providers, and more ●Continuous communication: enhanced connection and communication for a broad spectrum of organizations and the general community ●Backbone support: one organization to coordinate efforts toward the common agenda Recommended Next Steps In order to bring the opportunities to life, the City of Fort Collins is encouraged to: 1.Widely share this report to provide a common foundation of knowledge for exploration: including City employees, partner organizations and child care professionals. 2.Confirm the elements of the Framework for Identifying Models of Promise.The Framework provided here reflects the research and feedback received during preparation of the report, but should be confirmed by leadership to ensure a clear and consistent path to action. 3.Explore the three most promising opportunities noted above and the collective impact model. a.Discuss with City stakeholders as well as the relevant community partners engaged with the opportunity/issue b.Gather additional information and insight to apply the Framework c.Set a timeline for exploration and identify the decision makers relative to the opportunity d.Explore and determine the best opportunities to meet City of Fort Collins goals e.Allocate resources to implement the selected models of promise and take action! 4.Explore additional opportunities from the report as well as new opportunities likely to emerge through continued collaborative action. 22 Appendix A Maps of Where City of Fort Collins Employees Live All employees who responded to the survey 23 All employees who responded to the survey with dependents ages 0-6 24 City of Fort Collins Fort Collins is a growing community and was estimated to be home to 169,810 people by the 2020 US Census23. The majority of residents identify as White (88.3%), with 11.3% of this group identifying as Hispanic or Latino. They are followed by those who identify by two or more races (4%), those who identify as Asian (3.5%), as Black or African American (1.6%), as American Indian and Alaskan Native (1%), and as Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders (0.1%). The city is also home to Colorado State University, which enrolled 32,908 students in Fall 2021.24 Major public sector employers include Colorado State University, Poudre School District, the City of Fort Collins and Larimer County. Other major employers include UC Health, Hewlett Packard and Woodward. These organizations attract employees that live in Fort Collins as well as in surrounding communities. 24 CSU enrollment figures 23 US Census Bureau data for Fort Collins 25 CHILD CARE BENEFIT EXPLORATION REPORT Executive SummaryJanuary 2022 Table ofContentsINTRODUCTION CHILD CARE LANDSCAPE CITY OF FORT COLLINS PARTNERS AND RESOURCES CHILD CARE MODELS OF PROMISEFOR ENHANCED SUPPORT TOEMPLOYEES CONCLUSION 2 3 4 5 6 8In fall 2021, Executives Partnering to Invest inChildren (EPIC) provided research, planning, andfacilitation support to the CIty of Fort Collins toexplore and identify child care opportunities totarget support to city employees and enhancecommunity wellbeing. The City of Fort Collinsrecognizes that benefits that provide child caresupport are crucial to attracting and retaining talentin addition to supporting economic growth and avibrant community. The complete report includes acomprehensive analysis of feedback and specificmodels to consider. This is the Executive Summary. INTRODUCTION 2The Fort Collins City Council elevated child careaffordability and accessibility as a key priority for2019-2021. Additionally, the COVID pandemic hasonly intensified these issues and reinforced theimportance of child care as a vital communityresource. In Fort Collins, there are 53 child carecenters, 20 preschool program locations, 75 FamilyChild Care Homes and 38 school age child care centersthat are open and operating. Today, partners acrossLarimer County are examining opportunities to bolsterchild care resources including the anticipateddevelopment of a new employee child care center forLarimer County employees. Given the complexity of the issues surrounding childcare resources within the community, this reportcontains a broad spectrum of information:A demographic overview including a brief snapshotof information relative to City employees andcommunity child care capacityAn early childhood overview including informationon the range of child care settings available withinthe community, summary of key early childhoodprofessional roles and workforce developmentpathways, and information on current resources forschool aged children outside of school hours(before/after care and summer/school breakprogramming)A summary of community partners and otherprojects currently addressing the need forenhanced child care capacity and other supports tothe early childhood ecosystemAn outline of current benefit options for Cityemployees with caregiving responsibilities for young children and early childhood support resources Finally, the report contains a menu of child caresupport models of promise or opportunities toconsider including a summary of currently availablesupplemental resources (funding andprogramming) to support City employees withyoung children Consistent feedback during development of thisreport emphasized the following priorities:1. City employees who are parents and caregiversprefer continued access to a mixed delivery systemoffering choice to each family to identify the bestoption for their individual needs and preferences.2. City employees require schedule flexibility asavailable in both their work as well as in the childcare available for their young children.3. There are greater needs and gaps in the currentlyavailable services and programs for families withspecial needs and unique situations.4. This is a complex issue with no easy solution toaddress the challenge of finding affordable high-quality child care, and this issue poses significantchallenge to City employees (along with thecommunity as a whole). Ongoing city-wide collaboration will be required to continue tobring significant impact, and the City has uniqueopportunities both as a community collaborativepartner and an employer.5. All partners within the community emphasize thedesire to continue to enhance child care resourceswithin the community while also elevating thequality of child care across the spectrum ofproviders and settings available to City employeesand the community at large. 3CHILD CARELANDSCAPE Photo by Ben White on UnsplashColorado communities rely on a variety of child caresettings. High quality care can be found in each type ofcare setting and a variety of models (play based,Montessori, direct instruction) can also be found. Family, Friend or Neighbor (FFN): informal child careprovided by a family member, friend or neighborbecause it is convenient, affordable and available whenand where they need it. Family Child Care Homes (FCCHs) or in-homeproviders: licensed family providers who care for asmall group of children in a private residential setting. Child Care Centers: larger settings where children arecared for in a group away from their homes for all orpart of the day. There are many different types ofcenters including preschools, co-ops, church based,private, and nonprofit. School District Provided Early Childhood Education:typically, preschool programs for children ages 3 to 5including Head Start and other early learning classes. Before/After Care: programs offering early morningand late afternoon/early evening care to both youngerand school-age children. These programs may be at thesame site as other child care or children may have totravel between programs. Summer Camp: typically one week programs offeredfor school-age children (and sometimes for youngerchildren receiving care in a program with a school yearschedule, closed during the summer months) duringJune, July and August. These programs are offered byschool districts as well as community organizationstailored to a variety of interests and models.The early childhood professional workforce includes arange of positions and specialties to support the fullrange of needs for young children including EarlyChildhood Teacher, Director, and child care provider(licensed homes and non-home child care). These threeroles each have different credential/licensingprocesses. Additionally, separate competencies havebeen established for those providing coaching to earlychildhood professionals or classrooms. Early childhoodclassrooms and child care settings are also supportedby Preschool Special Education Services, earlyinterventionists, therapists, and Early ChildhoodMental Health Consultants. Additional programstarget infant and toddler care to cultivate highestquality practices. As with most other sectors of the economy, the earlychildhood sector faces considerable workforcechallenges today. The Colorado Department ofEducation offers specific initiatives focused on EarlyChildhood Workforce Development and otherstatewide nonprofit partners target support toaddress the critical needs to recruit, train and retainearly childhood professionals. Locally the EarlyChildhood Council of Larimer County offers specificearly childhood workforce support throughProvisional Early Childhood Teacher (P-ECT) waiver inLarimer County to provide additional time for leadteachers to become fully certified. The Office of Early Childhood provided specific careworkforce resources along with the December 1, 2021update to child care licensing regulations. Theseresources include a number of grant programs madepossible with federal stimulus funds to support specificretention, recruitment and compensation initiatives. Twice as many employeesprefer home-based care tocenter-based care for theiryoung children.4CITY OF FORT COLLINS Of the City of Fort Collins employees who respondedto the survey conducted for this report, 300 haddependents under the age of 19 (just under half of allemployees with dependents).The City of Fort Collins has over 2,500 totalemployees. 1,794 of these employees are classified,692 are hourly, 23 are contractual, and 68 areunclassified management. There are 834 employeeswith dependents from ages 0 to 25 who areparticipating in medical, dental or vision plans. Thetotal number of dependents for these employees is1,596. Below is the breakdown of the number ofparticipating dependents by age:Dependents ages 0-3: 204Dependents ages 4-8: 302Dependents ages 9-13: 352Dependents ages 14-18: 320Dependents ages 19-25: 378 The child care related benefits offered by the Cityinclude back-up care, scholarships to Recreation Dept.programming, and access to referral services foremployees. One challenge regarding child carebenefits is that the City is dependent on the local childcare ecosystem and specifically the early childhoodworkforce for the benefits to be broadly successful. In2019, the Talent 2.0 Child Care Task Force reportedthat an additional 1,000 early childhood teacherswould be needed to serve the population of youngchildren in Larimer County who do not have access tocare when their parents are working. Survey andinterview responses from employees indicated thatthe limited workforce also creates challenges when itcomes to informal unlicensed care such as babysitting or nannying. Home-based care settings were common foremployees. When asked about their current caresituation 31% of respondents said that care isprovided by another member of the household, 24%responded that care is provided in a Family Child CareHome, and 23% in Family, Friend or Neighbor care.Center based care is used by 24% and school district-based care is used by 20% of respondents. Before andafter-school care use was 18%. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on licensedcapacity varies across Colorado. Changes in licensedcapacity does not give a full picture. While manycenters and Family Child Care Homes were closedonly temporarily during 2020 and were able to reopen,they were not always able to operate at capacity dueto the complexities of providing child care during a pandemic. 5Resource Links Childcare System& Educator Support Larimer Child Care Fund Early ChildhoodCouncil of LarimerCounty CO Early ChildhoodStimulus Funding CO Universal PreK New Colorado  Department of EarlyChildhood willlaunch July 1, 2022PARTNERS &RESOURCESThe child care ecosystem is complex. Exploration of child care benefitopportunities is likely to be most impactful when considered throughexisting and new partnerships. Collaboration and partnership can ensurethat child care projects and initiatives are carried out efficiently and with anunderstanding of the greater regional child care ecosystem. Many resources are available to parents and child care providers, butunderstanding each offering and qualification requirements can be difficult:COVID response programs, the Child and Dependent Care Credit,scholarship funds, financial assistance, and special services.Child Care Support Organizations While the scope of services and programs vary among theseorganizations may vary, partnership allows the City to understandthe needs of child care providers, where funding could have thegreatest impact, and how opportunities will ripple the greater childcare ecosystem. Local Non-Profit Child Care Providers & Higher Education These partnerships would provide strong opportunities to exploreinitiatives to support the early childhood workforce, targetincreasing capacity for existing providers, create systems to supportopening new facilities, and advocate for policies to avoid or removeunnecessary barriers to providers. Partnerships with highereducation institutions will be important to ensure that theworkforce supply can meet local child care needs includingexploration of internship programs (perhaps in the City’s RecreationDept.), and provide incentives to explore the field. Financial PartnersMany early childhood initiatives will require significant funding. TheCity of Fort Collins has relationships with philanthropic and otherpublic sector partners can ensure that funding is creating maximumimpact.Photo by Vardan Papikyan on UnsplashResources should be considered very broadly: allocation of funding, realestate or property, materials, training, expertise, time, transportation,information and services. Many elements are important to bring support to families and caregivers to ease challenges related to child care. 6CHILD CARE MODELS OFPROMISE  For Enhanced Support to Employees Photo by Steven Abraham on UnsplashFramework for Identifying Models of Promise As each opportunity is explored, the followingframework can serve as a guide: 1. Cost should be identified, all expenses aswell as an income related to the opportunity.2. Identify the number of employees andtypes of employees served, as well as thenumber of additional community membersserved if applicable.3. Whether any high-need groups aresupported through the opportunity.4. The sustainability of the opportunity shouldbe identified (one time, self-sustaining, orother).5. Alignment and/or conflict with other City ofFort Collins projects, programs and priorities.The opportunity to enhance child care benefits for Cityof Fort Collins employees can take many forms. Cityemployees, partner organizations and City leadershipall noted that ideally the new offering will respond to awell understood and specific need while balancingsustainability (the solution will be long-term if notpermanent). Opportunities are needed for a broadspectrum of child care ages as well: infants, toddlers,preschool, elementary ages and beyond. As thefollowing broad range of opportunities are explored, itshould be noted that several priority considerationswere noted by both employees and external partners. Priority ConsiderationsAny enhancements or new child care benefitsshould offer mixed delivery or incorporate parentchoice as an element of the offering.City provided support and benefit opportunitiesshould be available to support schedule flexibility.Another priority emerged relative to high needchildren and a strong desire to ensure that childcare capacity is available for those who may alsorequire specialized services or professionalcompetencies to support the child.Desire to prioritize opportunities to enhance thequality of child care should be prioritized overothers that may add slots or capacity within thecommunity without intentional support to enhancethe quality of child care available to Cityemployees. 7MENU OF OPPORTUNITIES Increased Access to Child CareSupport to Ensure Child Care AffordabilityPolicy to Cultivate Family Friendly EnvironmentThe report provides a full menu of opportunities to consider that willincrease access to child care, support affordability and cultivate familyfriendly policies for the City of Fort Collins employees. The range ofopportunities should be considered relative to the Framework noted abovewith Priority Considerations in mind in collaboration with communityorganizations deeply connected to these stakeholders.Research Highlights Community partnersnoted shortage of childcare providers andearly childhoodprofessionals is a keychallenge. Care forschool age children(before and afterschool, summer camp)is also limited byavailable staff. Most employees prefer full or extendedday child care foryoung children close tohome in home basedchild care settings. Top priorities for Cityemployees whenselecting a child care provider:Cost, Safety andLocationINCREASED ACCESS:  Supports for Home Based Child Care Since most employees prefer their children to receive care in a homebased setting, either Family, Friend, Neighbor (FFN) or Family ChildCare Home (FCCH), a strong model of opportunity is support for aFamily Child Care Network or other models to support home basedchild care. The City is also encouraged to explore enhanced offeringsto provide services to strengthen business models for home basedproviders within the community and identify unused real estateassets to benefit the community. SUPPORT TO ENSURE AFFORDABILITY:  Advocacy to Ensure Sustainable, Equitable Child Care Affordability The City should continue collaborative efforts with other communitypartners to explore strategic and comprehensive funding models tosupport a cross-community, mixed-delivery system to support athriving economy and community wellbeing. These efforts shouldfocus on cost of care (rather than market rates) to address the realcost to provide high-quality, developmental appropriate, safe andreliable child care staffed by a professional compensated workforce. POLICY TO CULTIVATE FAMILY FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENTPolicies are important tools in creating an optimal work environmentfor employees who are caregivers. Flexible scheduling, for example,can help caregivers manage drop-off and pick-up schedules orcoordinate with those with whom they share caregivingresponsibilities. The City should explore consistent and clear policyto enhance clarity, flexibility, and support for all employees includinguniversal identification of flexibility for each staff position (based ona consistent framework), examination of staffing models to ensureflexibility can be exercised when needed, and other human centeredapproaches. 8Photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on UnsplashCONCLUSIONRecommended Next Steps In order to bring the opportunities to life, the City ofFort Collins is encouraged to: 1. Widely share this report 2. Confirm the elements of the Framework forIdentifying Models of Promise.3. Explore the three most promising opportunitiesnoted above and the collective impact model.1. Discuss with City stakeholders as well as therelevant community partners engaged with theopportunity/issue2. Gather additional information and insight toapply the Framework3. Set a timeline for exploration and identify thedecision makers relative to the opportunity4. Explore and determine the best opportunities tomeet City of Fort Collins goals5. Allocate resources to implement the selectedmodels of promise and take action!4. Explore additional opportunities from the report aswell as new opportunities likely to emerge throughcontinued collaborative action.Collective Impact As the City of Fort Collins moves forward with theexploration of enhanced child care benefits for Cityemployees, one additional concept should beconsidered to increase the impact to children, familiesand the community as a whole. The communitysupport for action to increase available child careresources and readiness for partnership support thisapproach. Collective Impact refers to a collaborative oforganizations (or partners) working together to solve aspecific social problem through focus on an agreed keymeasure of success. Five critical elements support the framework ofcollective impact: a common agenda, sharedmeasurement, mutually reinforcing activities,continuous communication, and backbone supportorganizations. A possible collective approach might include:Common Agenda: Access to high-quality andaffordable child care for each Larimer county childShared Measurement: Consistent regional datacollection by all preschool and kindergartenproviders to identify kinder readiness (mightinclude social and emotional development,language, academic - literacy/math, and motordevelopment)Mutually reinforcing activities including communityoutreach, classes for parents, development for childcare and early childhood professionals, enhancedscreening and referral for support services, accessto medical and mental health care for all,and sustainable funding for child care providersContinuous communication: enhanced connectionand communication for a broad spectrum oforganizations and the general communityBackbone support: one organization to coordinateefforts toward the common agenda