Colorado’s Early Childhood System Shows Robust Growth, Data Reveals

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Denver, CO – The newly released 2025 KIDS COUNT in Colorado! data book highlights significant progress in Colorado’s early childhood system. The report, published by the Colorado Children’s Campaign, reveals growth in areas such as preschool participation, licensed child care capacity, early intervention and evaluations, educator pay, and Head Start access, indicating positive trends in the well-being of Colorado’s children.

“These are more than just numbers,” said Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) Executive Director, Dr. Lisa Roy. “When we bolster the early childhood system in ways like increasing educator pay or child care slots, we are changing the life trajectory of Colorado families, giving young children a strong head start and giving families a greater chance to succeed both financially and in supporting their communities.”

The report showcases several key areas of progress, including:

• Colorado’s Universal Preschool Program Achieves Widespread Participation: In its inaugural year, the Universal Preschool Program successfully provided free, part-time preschool to over 40,000 children, representing approximately 70% of Colorado’s four-year-olds. This milestone ensured access to early education for a significant majority of the state’s young children. For the first year, 49.5% of participating children’s families lived below the federal poverty level, and 50.5% lived above it.
• Significant Expansion of Child Care Capacity Addresses Growing Needs: Colorado has seen a notable increase in child care slots. Between September 2023 and September 2024, approximately 4,000 new child care slots were added for children under six, and an additional 6,000 slots were created for school-age children, helping to meet the increasing demand for care.
• Dramatic Increase in Developmental Delay Evaluations and Support: Evaluations for young children with potential developmental delays nearly doubled between 2021 and 2023, rising from 5,876 to 11,562. This led to a significant rise in early intervention enrollments, from 14,117 to 17,890, ensuring more children receive necessary support services.
• Colorado Ranks Nationally for Progress in Raising Early Childhood Educator Pay: In May 2023, Colorado ranked fifth in the nation for the average salary of child care workers, showing a commitment to valuing and supporting early childhood educators.
• Head Start and Early Head Start Programs Experience Substantial Growth: During the 2023-24 fiscal year, Head Start and Early Head Start expanded their services, reaching 3,778 infants and toddlers through Early Head Start and 7,395 preschoolers through Head Start. This represents an overall increase of 15% in the number of children served compared to the previous year, extending crucial support to more families.

While the data book highlights these significant achievements, it also details additional focus areas for improvement, including continuing to lower child care costs for Colorado families, further increasing educator pay, and increasing the number of available child care spots.

CDEC Universal Preschool Director, Dawn Odean, emphasized, “The KIDS COUNT data book confirms what we strive for at the CDEC – our data-driven efforts, alongside our partners, providers, and communities, are making a real difference for Colorado’s children and families. There is more work to be done, and we’re committed to building on this momentum so every child can thrive.”

Gain a comprehensive understanding of Colorado’s evolving early childhood landscape by exploring the 2025 KIDS COUNT in Colorado! data book, which highlights vital findings on access and quality. The full report is available here.