§ 26.5-4-102 — Legislative declaration

(1) The general assembly hereby finds
and declares that:

(a) The state's policies in connection with the provision of child care
assistance and the effective delivery of such assistance are critical to the ultimate
success of any welfare reform program;

(b) Children in low-income families who receive services through a child care
assistance program need and deserve the same access to a broad range of child
care providers as do children in families who do not need assistance;

(c) It is critical to provide low- to moderate-income families with access to
high-quality, affordable child care that fosters healthy child development and
school readiness, while at the same time promotes family self-sufficiency and
attachment to the workforce; and

(d) Individual counties play a vital role in administering the child care
assistance program and have local knowledge of their individual community needs.

(2) Therefore, the general assembly hereby finds and declares that it is in the
best interests of the state to:

(a) Adopt the Colorado child care assistance program set forth in this part 1;

(b) Adopt a consistent, statewide plan for child care provider reimbursement
rates with a goal of payment rates that adequately cover the cost of quality child
care to facilitate and increase access to high-quality child care for low-income
families;

(c) Achieve parity across counties in the state with regard to the CCCAP
program and funding allocation.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2022: Entire article added with relocations, (HB 22-1295), ch. 123, p. 660, � 3, effective July 1.