Colorado’s new Universal Preschool program begins in the coming weeks. The state will pay up to 15 hours a week for preschool for children in the year before they are eligible to start kindergarten. There have been concerns about whether enough preschool places are available in the state.
In Montrose County which has been described as a childcare desert, Matt Jenkins with the Montrose County School District says that while the new state program will make preschool more accessible for many families, it doesn’t solve the childcare crisis.
"I often get asked the question, 'you know, I thought now that this legislation's passed, the preschool problem is solved, right?' And my response to that is, well, anytime you take a state initiative, a new state program, a new state resource, you know, it's not going to be flipping a switch and the problem's going to be solved," said Jenkins.
"There'll be efficiencies that have to be figured out. You know, there are processes that have to be learned, and relearned, we're finding, and I often get the question, 'you know, we're seeing that some of these spots aren't getting taken, right?' Reporters will ask, 'well, you know, if the state is now funding this, then why are our parents not, you know, applying in droves?' And one answer to that question is, the process is complicated. I mean, this is the first time the state has ever done this. The state's still figuring out, you know, how this is going to work, much less Montrose County."
Penny Harris, Director for MCSD’s Early Childhood Centers, says there are also other programs that support families in paying for preschool.
"CCCAP also does the same thing, Colorado Child Care Assistance Program, that program may pay a private daycare or home care provider to provide a full day of childcare for a family, and so they don't have to dip into the UPK funding sources. So that could be why it looks like that there's vacancies," said Harris.
Additionally, Harris notes that not all preschool and childcare providers are participating in the program.
"Well, when the governor's office stood up the Colorado Department of Early Childhood to organize the universal preschool program, one of the big things was parent choice. They wanted parents to be able to have the choice where to send their children. Whether it be to my program or to a private provider, small center, wherever the providers that were opting into being in the UPK system were," said Harris.
"I think that some private homes have just found it more simple to say, 'I'll keep your kids, let's just keep the same arrangements.' And then they're not having to struggle with the complicated application process. The kind of changing the rules as they go because they figure out the systems didn't work, and I don't think in our community it's having the impact that it's having in other communities because we just don't have that many providers in our community."
Some 3-year-olds are also eligible and could receive up to 10 hours a week of preschool if they qualify.
Jenkins says they will help all families with children three to four find a preschool place and navigate the different programs that are available to help pay for it.
"Regardless of the way that it's funded, whether it's Head Start, Universal Pre-K, we're going to make sure the kids have the resources that will get them ready for success in kindergarten," he said.
"We know research tells us the benefit of early childhood instruction, ages three through five, make you that much more successful as a student later in elementary school and middle school and high school and beyond. And so that's a valuable resource that we're going to make sure families can take advantage of."
The state recently announced that due to a lack of funding, students who had been eligible for extra preschool hours, on top of the up to 15 hours available to every child, must now have additional qualifying factors.
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