By Carolyn Romero
This week, the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) and the Early Childhood Leadership Commission (ECLC) lauched “Pathways to Success: Colorado’s Comprehensive Early Childhood Workforce Plan.”
By taking a broader view of the workforce to include home visitors, mental health providers, classroom teachers, family child care home educators, early interventionists, and others, this plan is a first-in-the-nation comprehensive vision for addressing challenges and opportunities facing the early childhood workforce. Drawing from listening sessions, advisory groups, expert contributions, and research initiatives, this plan brings together the goals, strategies, and recommendations from hundreds of partners from across the early childhood system.
“We know that Colorado’s children, families, and local communities value the rich diversity, competency, and dedication evident in the early learning workforce,” said Dr. Lisa Roy, CDEC Executive Director. “We intend to ensure that the statewide system of support for early childhood professionals includes an ongoing focus on the critical strategies outlined in this plan, which creates deeper cross-agency partnerships, suggests new research and cost modeling, and pursues new ways of thinking in support of the field.”
The Comprehensive Early Childhood Workforce Plan is strategically designed to:
Enhance Professional Development
By investing in continuous learning opportunities, scholarships, and training programs to empower early childhood professionals with the latest information and best practices around early childhood development and well-being.
Increase Workforce Diversity
By promoting diversity within the early childhood workforce to better reflect the rich tapestry of our communities and provide culturally and linguistically responsive services and supports.
Improve Compensation
By understanding the critical role that compensation plays in attracting and retaining top talent. Our plan includes action-oriented strategies to advance fair wages and benefits for all early childhood professionals.
Foster Collaboration
By including provisions for increased collaboration among government agencies, educational institutions, community organizations, providers, and parents to create a cohesive network of support for the comprehensive early childhood system.
Address Data Gaps
By recognizing strategic improvements that require timely and accurate data. More information is needed about all roles across the early childhood system.
The Early Childhood Workforce Development Subcommittee of the Early Childhood Leadership Commission will oversee the plan’s implementation and updates.
Individuals from around the state are invited to learn more about this work and get involved. For more information, please visit our website.
Carolyn Romero is Director of Communications for Colorado Department of Early Childhood.
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