The Impacts of Colorado’s Child Care Crisis on Families with Low Incomes: Understanding the Consequences of Inadequate Access to Subsidies in Local Communities
College of Health and Human Sciences
Human Development and Family Studies
Statewide
- Community & Economic Development
- Equal time spent on-campus and in the field
Primary Topic:
Community & Economic Development
Other Topics:
4-H & Youth, DEI
Internship Overview:
The Colorado Child Care and Assistance Program (CCCAP) helps working families with low incomes pay for the cost of care. Only 9% of income-eligible families were served by CCCAP in 2023 (Bell Policy Center, 2023). CCCAP is administered by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood to county Department of Social or Human Services. Each county sets their own eligibility criteria and manages the application process. In the past few months, several counties in Colorado (e.g., El Paso, Larimer, Jefferson, Adams, Boulder) have been forced to freeze their CCCAP enrollment because of budget cuts. Colorado received an additional $286.2 million in federal child care stabilization funds through ARPA, which allowed counties to expand their services. This federal stimulus expired on September 30th, and there is no additional funding for subsidies in the current state budget. The consequences of this funding cliff for families are not yet known. According to a recent news story, “The feedback that we’re getting from families is that they either can’t go into the workforce, that they’re dropping out of the workforce when they have a child, or that they have to settle for less than the quality options that they would really want for their children” (NPR, 2024). Better data on this crisis is needed to understand the choices and families must make when care is out of reach. The internship location is flexible, but may be best utilized in a county (or counties) where CCCAP enrollment is currently suspended or with lower child care access.
Goals, Scope and Objectives:
There are three primary goals of this internship: 1) establishing a long-standing partnership with extension offices and local stakeholders who share an interest in supporting families with young children in accessing high-quality child care, 2) generating knowledge regarding the impact of inadequate child care subsidies on families, and 3) developing potential policy and programmatic solutions for filling gaps in service. To meet these goals, the intern will assist with developing and administering a survey to families on waitlists for CCAP, conducting interviews with county CCAP staff and other local stakeholders working in the child care space (e.g., community coalitions, grassroots alliances, child care directors, etc.), analyzing quantitative and qualitative results, and generating a clear set of recommendations for addressing community needs. Therefore, the intern will split their time between field-based work and on-campus activities.
With which stakeholder group(s) will the intern work?
The intern may work with a variety of stakeholder groups including (but not limited to):
• CCAP agency staff
• County coalitions and councils
• Child care programs
• Families with young children
• County extension specialist
Additional local key players are expected to be identified in collaboration with extension.
• CCAP agency staff
• County coalitions and councils
• Child care programs
• Families with young children
• County extension specialist
Additional local key players are expected to be identified in collaboration with extension.
What student learning outcomes do you anticipate and what are the opportunities for professional development?
At the end of the program, the intern will be able to: 1) demonstrate competency of child care policy issues, 2) apply best practices to engage with a diverse group of local stakeholders, 3) design and conduct mixed-methods empirical research, 4) analyze and interpret quantitative and qualitative data, 5) effectively translate research to practical recommendations, and 6) successfully fulfill individual development plan goals.
