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The West Steps explores the issues that matter for Colorado kids and families. The West Steps is a production of the Colorado Children's Campaign.
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In this episode of The West Steps, we’re discussing efforts to improve language access and language justice in Colorado by making sure that critical resources and information are available in languages that are prevalent in our state. Earlier this year, Colorado’s legislature passed a bill to make sure that child care licensing resources in our state are available in Spanish as well as English. Lauren Corboy, Senior Policy Analyst at the Colorado Children’s Campaign and Angelica Priscil...
In this episode of The West Steps, we’re discussing maternal health and maternal mortality in Colorado. Unfortunately, large regions of the state have been dubbed maternal care deserts because of their very limited access to perinatal health care. Pregnancy-associated deaths in our state are becoming more common. And many of these deaths are preventable. But Colorado has taken steps to address this situation in recent years – and in the 2024 legislative session, there are new efforts to...
In this episode of The West Steps, we’re discussing Colorado’s school funding formula, which is used to allocate billions of dollars annually to educate kids across the state’s 178 school districts. For the first time in 30 years, the state legislature is seriously considering updating this formula. If they can pull it off, Colorado will have a more equitable, student-centered approach to funding its schools. Madi Ashour, Director of Youth Success at the Colorado Children’s Campaign; Lor...
In this episode of The West Steps, we’re discussing the Family Affordability Tax Credit (HB24-1311), a new proposal in the Colorado legislature that has the potential to reduce child poverty in Colorado by half. Sarah Barnes, Senior Director of Policy at the Colorado Children’s Campaign and Reilly Pharo Carter, Director of Policy & Advocacy at Gary Community Ventures join us to talk about how this credit, which is projected to reach 45% of Colorado families, could make a particularl...
Since May 2023, more than 100,000 kids and nearly 550,000 Coloradans have lost Medicaid coverage. In this episode of The West Steps, we’re exploring why so many Coloradans are losing health coverage and why it matters. Hunter Nelson, Senior Policy Analyst at the Colorado Children’s Campaign; Bethany Pray, Deputy Director at the Colorado Center on Law and Policy; and Shoshi Preuss, Policy Manager at Colorado Community Health Network join us to talk about how people who are still eligible ...
In this episode, we’re diving into an effort to create a State Income Tax Credit for Careworkers, which would credit $1,500 to child care workers and caregivers, direct care workers, home health aides, and other people who work in the caring economy. Melissa Mares, Director of Early Childhood at the Colorado Children’s Campaign; Perrine Monnet, Policy Analyst at the Bell Policy Center; and Emily Sirota, Colorado State Representative join us to talk about how this tax credit would ...
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Colorado invested about $20 million relief dollars in out-of-school time programming, which supported 45 grantees and 60 programs across the state. But those dollars are running out, and many programs face uncertain futures. And even with this investment, the supply isn’t meeting the demand – by one estimate, nearly 400,000 Colorado kids are on a wait list for out-of-school time programming. Kaycee Headrick, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Clubs i...
National research shows that families with children are more likely to experience an eviction – and that evictions can be extremely disruptive for kids’ education, health, and overall well-being. But data about what is happening across Colorado is inconsistent and hard to access. The Colorado Children’s Campaign and Enterprise Community Partners join us to talk about a new bill that would improve our state’s eviction data collection – an important step toward creating policies to prevent unne...
The second part of our legislative preview focuses on early childhood and child and family health. Melissa Mares, Director of Early Childhood, explains why preschool and infant and toddler care are so important to child development. Then, Toni Sarge, Director of Child and Family Health, talks about trends in health coverage and how supporting maternal care makes a big impact on kids. You can contact Melissa at melissa@coloradokids.org and Toni at toni@coloradokids.org. Learn more about o...
Welcome to The West Steps! We’re excited to return as your resource for all things kids and families during the 2024 Colorado legislative session. In the inaugural episode of Season 6, Colorado Children’s Campaign policy directors discuss what they’re anticipating and prioritizing at the capitol this year. Part 1 of our legislative preview features Sarah Barnes, Senior Director of Policy and Director of Family Economic Prosperity, with a brief overview of the economic challenges cu...
The Colorado General Assembly has officially adjourned! On our final episode of the 2023 legislative session, we hear from some of the Children's Campaign policy staff about how our priority bills landed this session. Senior Policy Analyst Megan Ives, Policy Analysts Lauren Corboy and Hunter Nelson, and Director of Family Economic Prosperity Initiatives Sarah Barnes join us to share how their work this session will have an impact on kids and families across the state for years to come. ...
Recent incidents of gun violence in Colorado have once again called into light the need for a more comprehensive approach to school safety. By creating systems in our schools that address the root causes of violence, we can ultimately improve the long-term safety and social-emotional well-being of our students and teachers. Episode 9 of The West Steps explores school safety with Dr. Beverly Kingston, Director and Senior Research Associate at the Center for the Study and Prev...
For more than a decade, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has required that health insurance plans cover a wide range of preventive health care services at no cost to patients. However, access to some of those services is at risk after a federal court ruled last month that the ACA’s preventive services mandate is unconstitutional in a case called Braidwood v. Becerra. The Children’s Campaign has been working alongside partners for years to help guarantee coverage of critical preventive serv...
We are now more than halfway through the 2023 legislative session! With only a few weeks remaining, the Children's Campaign is working hard to ensure that our policy priorities make their way to the governor’s desk. We continue to push for the renewal of the Child Care Contribution Tax Credit, increased access to the judicial system for evictions proceedings, equitable changes to our school finance formula, and expanded coverage for people enrolled in our public health insurance programs. Thi...
Play has benefits for people of all ages, but it is particularly important during early childhood. Play time, and unstructured play time in particular, is correlated with improved language skills, problem solving skills, and math skills. It also has been shown to increase physical health and alleviate stress. As Colorado develops quality standards for its new universal preschool program, set to launch in fall 2023, there is an opportunity to ensure that those standards incorporate clear...
Last fall, Colorado voters approved Proposition FF to establish the Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA) program. This made our state one of three in the nation to provide universal, free school meals to all public school students. By reducing tax deductions at higher income levels, HSMA creates a fund to reimburse participating school districts for every meal served. HSMA also establishes additional programs that support schools in purchasing local food, paying cafeteria workers higher wages,...
At both the ballot box and the Capitol, Coloradans have reaffirmed their commitment to reproductive justice in the past several years. In a post-Roe landscape, Colorado has positioned itself as a national leader in supporting policies and programs that allow people to access comprehensive family planning services, including abortion care, at low- to no-cost. However, the federal funds that support a critical reproductive health program have remained stagnant in recent years. While our provide...
Hundreds of thousands of Coloradans are at risk of losing their health coverage over the course of the next year as the pandemic-era policy that has indefinitely kept people enrolled in Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) is set to come to an end. Since early 2020, the complex, burdensome processes required to stay enrolled in public health coverage have been paused, resulting in a reduction to the state’s uninsured rate. The impact of this pause was especially significant for our kids...
This week on The West Steps, we discuss Colorado’s eviction process with Jack Regenbogen, Deputy Executive Director at the Colorado Poverty Law Project, and Sarah Barnes, Director of Family Economic Prosperity Initiatives at the Colorado Children’s Campaign. Sarah and Jack lay out a policy that would help keep families across the state in safe, stable housing if passed during the 2023 legislative session. Both Jack and Sarah have been working with their respective organizations to institution...
Welcome to The West Steps! We are so excited to be back again as your resource for all things kids and families during the 2023 Colorado legislative session. To kick off the inaugural episode of season 5, we are joined by Riley Kitts, Sr. Director of Policy and Government Affairs at the Colorado Children’s Campaign. Riley provides a brief overview of how our state’s legislative session works and a preview of what we can expect from this year’s general assembly. With new legislator...
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