The Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) provides financial assistance for child care to certain low-income families that are working, seeking employment, or participating in training or education. The program is administered by county departments of human services and supervised by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC). C.R.S. 26.5-4-101 — 26.5-4-120.
In Progress Changes to CCAP
Recent state legislation and federal rulemaking will significantly affect the functions of CCAP and very-well will result in serving fewer families.
HB24-1223, Improved Access to CCAP
The bill improves the accessibility of the Colorado Childcare Assistance Program (CCAP) for program participants in various ways, including:
- limits the application and redetermination process to only include items required to determine eligibility and other simplifications to the application process
- improves eligibility requirements for families, in accordance with federal rules
- requires counties to utilize grant/slot-based contracts for underserved populations
- allows outpatient, substance use disorder treatment as an eligible activity; and
- requires county performance contracts to provide quality customer service to clients.
CCI Position : Amend
CCI was able to secure amendments to remove various provisions that counties feared would limit the number of families served by CCAP. Many of these provisions also would have driven significant fiscal impact and would have jeopardized the bill.
Federal Rulemaking
Overview of Changes (some are codified in HB24-1223):
- Limiting family parent fees to 7 percent of family income, regardless of family size;
- Reimbursing child care providers prospectively based on child enrollment rather than attendance;
- Reimbursing child care providers for reasonable registration fees;
- Increasing system safeguards and data collection to ensure accurate payments;
- Utilizing some grants and contracts to increase access for underserved populations; and,
- Increase consumer education regarding eligibility and parent fees.
Timeline to implement:
- Implementation date of May 1, 2024
- CDEC is applying for 2-year waiver
State Materials on Implementation
SFY25-25 Budget Requests
Alternative Rate Methodology
As a result of a federal audit finding & to more accurately reflect the true cost of providing child care services, in October of 2025, Colorado moved from a Market Rate-based model to an Alternative Rate Methodology for setting reimbursement rates for child care providers.
The Alternative Rate Methodology considers the following factors:
- Geographic Factors
- Cost of Living Index
- Urban/Rural Status
- Child & Family Characteristics
- Number of children by age
- Number of eligible families/children
- Access to Child Care
- Number of licensed slots by age, quality, setting & county
- Number of children served and duration of program participation
- Facility Costs
- Mortgage, rent, in-kind contributions, grants
- Workforce & Quality
- Cost to ensure adequate workforce compensation, benefits, support, and retention
- Cost to provide workforce professional development
- Cost of turnover
- Staff/child ratios to meet Colorado Shines quality standards
- Regional wages
CCI hosted check-in meetings with CDEC
CCI has scheduled standing, quarterly check in meetings with CDEC to stay abridged of the implementation of these changes & efforts to mitigate unintended consequences.
Meeting Dates:
- February 18, 2025 – 11:00-12:00
- May 19, 2025 – 3:00-4:00
- August 21, 2025 – 1:00-2:00
- November 17, 2025 – 3:00-4:00
To receive zoom details for these meetings, please contact Katie First (kfirst@ccionline.org) or check eCounty Lines.