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AGENDA
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
January 24, 2022
4:00 PM, City Council Chambers
130 S Galena Street, Aspen
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I.WORK SESSION
I.A.City Council Childcare Capacity Goal update
I.B.Council Board Reports & Council Updates
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MEMORANDUM
TO: Aspen City Council
FROM: Shirley Ritter, Director, Kids First
THRU: Sara Ott, City Manager,
Diane Foster, Assistant City Manager
Scott Miller, Assistant City Manager
MEETING DATE:January 24, 2022
RE:City Council’s Childcare Capacity Goal: A Roadmap
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this memo is to provide a high-level roadmap and initial update for achieving City
Council’s 2-year childcare capacity goal.
SUMMARY & BACKGROUND:
On August 10, 2021, City Council adopted Resolution #76_Series 2021, which directed staff to
increase the number of available childcare spaces.
This will be accomplished through:
1. Plan, design to repurpose or build new buildings to add physical capacity to increase
available childcare space.
2. Increase the recruitment and retention of qualified early childhood teachers
3.Generate funding to support the development of new childcare spaces
This goal runs for two years, with an expected completion date of July 2023. This is a short
timeframe to accomplish this overall goal, however, the next two years will include measurable
steps, with a timeline, to show accomplishments that are achievable. The need to expand
childcare capacity has been an ongoing part of Kids First’s mission. This City Council goal
provides added support and a clear path to achieve this goal.
Over the summer 2021, Kids First conducted a childcare needs survey using Aspen Community
Voice, we shared the survey questions with the Town of Snowmass Village and the Town of
Basalt. Below is a quick recap of what we learned from the responses.
City of Aspen - 115 responses,
Town of Basalt – 211 responses
Town of Snowmass Village – 125 responses
Overall most respondents used center based care. Biggest barriers were lack of space (overall
but specifically for infants and toddlers), and cost. This was followed by hours and location don’t
work for me. When asked what childcare they would prefer in the future, 62% responded with
year-round schedule, 52% prefer full-time care 5 days a week, 38% preferred full days but less
than 5 days a week. Other options received very low preferences.
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DISCUSSION:
This goal will include five key workplan areas with activities that will happen for the next two years.
These elements are: Planning and Design for a new childcare building, Recruitment and
Retention of early childhood workforce, Funding to meet the community need for early childhood,
Policy, and Long-range Planning.
Planning and Design for a new childcare building:
An infant childcare room at Colorado Mountain College (CMC)has reached a new step;
the City of Aspen and CMC have agreed to move forward using the classroom space to
provide childcare for infants. Permits have been approved –thank you to Pitkin County for
supporting this process. The timing for this was especially critical, it has allowed us to
purchase and install the playground fence before winter.
o The fence and a storage shed are in place and other materials are ordered.
Construction is continuing indoors.
o We have advertised and continue to hold conversations with qualified persons to
operate this program. Our hope is to work with CMC to create this room as an
incubator with training and experience working with infants. The Kids First Advisory
Board will approve the final selection and award a lease for the space.
o We plan to open this room this winter –as soon as work is completed,and a
childcare license is in place.
The City of Aspen applied for a grant and was awarded a place (one of 10 organizations
selected across Colorado)in the employer sponsored childcare design lab. This
opportunity is supported by stimulus funds and hosted by Executives Partnering to Invest
in Childcare (EPIC). The goal is to be better prepared to apply for funding and grants to
increase childcare capacity, and to gain valuable expertise and resources to support new
and existing childcare programs.
Shirley is leading this effort for the city; topics include:
City staff has developed and published an RFP for conceptual design work on the
Burlingame childcare site. The deadline for proposals was Dec 14. The review committee
has met and conducted interviews, we hope to award in February 2022, with contract
approval from city council.
Kids First staff wrote an application for state funding for employer sponsored childcare
capacity for the Burlingame site. The request is for $800,000 with a required city match of
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$200,000. The deadline for the application was November 12. We were not awarded the
funding, but may have a chance to re-apply early in 2022.
Recruitment and Retention of early childhood workforce:
Kids First continues to offer professional development funding for early childhood education
classes, incentives to individuals for successful completion of college classes, and continued
retention in their childcare program. Staff also provides quality improvement coaching, goal
setting, and incentives for individual staff.
New in 2021 is an Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) for childcare staff that are not part of a larger
organization. This program supports the mental health of early childhood caregivers as they face
challenges that range from Covid fatigue to child guidance struggles, to supporting family needs
that are often difficult and can be debilitating.
This is in addition to our efforts to give teachers skills to support the children’s mental health
needs. Much of our coaching work uses tools that emphasize emotional development and infant
and early childhood mental health (IECMH). Our senior coach, Megan Monaghan, recently earned
the Colorado Association for Infant Mental Health (CoAIMH) endorsement for culturally sensitive,
relationship-focused practice promoting infant and early childhood mental health.
Kids First staff have met with directors to understand their current situation and needs regarding
recruitment and retention. We have proposed re-allocation in 2022 of budget lines that have been
underspent, to provide stronger support for childcare recruitment and retention. This includes
individualized models of employee benefit planning for childcare programs; an area that is well
known to be under-resourced.
Kids First has hired an early childhood intern and will provide education and experience needed
for her to successfully move into a lead teacher position in a local childcare program.
Kids First continues to engage with CMC with plans to use the infant room space as a learning
lab to provide early childhood teachers with educational resources and hands-on experience. We
think of this as a form of “incubator” to support job progression for early childhood staff, whether
their goal is to be a director, early childhood teacher, or other early childhood expert.
Funding to meet the community need for early childhood
Staff has continued to strengthen relationships with potential funding partners, to better
understand their needs related to childcare. Kids First will use carry-forward savings to contract
with an organization that will create a plan for collaborative planning and fund development. This
plan will:
•Define a structure for the leadership group looking forward (clarified responsibilities,
authority, expectations for participation, etc)
•Develop a strategic vision for the project
•Identify of key messages for engaging the community
•Outline a project budget and develop of a strategic fund development plan to support the
design/development and launch of the childcare facility
•Provide the comprehensive set of information in a clear, practical and user-friendly report
for the group (and community at large)
We are monitoring federal stimulus funding that includes several supports for both existing
programs, expansion of capacity for childcare, as well as workforce supports, professional
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development, CCCAP rates, early childhood mental health services, indoor air quality, and access
to inclusive care for all children.
Policy
While the City of Aspen can implement bold programs and policy at the local level, much of
Aspen’s long-term success is impacted by state and federal legislation and policy. The state
legislative session began January 12, 2022 and will run until May. Throughout the year, staff relies
on networks and partner organizations to track and engage with relevant opportunities at the state
and federal level.
By 2023 we can expect to see state funding for universal (not required) preschool; in 2022 there
will be a transition to a newly created Department of Early Childhood Education, and we continue
to make programs aware of stimulus funding administered through the state. This funding will
support increased capacity, as well as sustainability grants that will open January 21, with funding
over 9 months to support workforce and families using childcare.
There have also been some recent changes to childcare licensing. These changes offer more
ways for people to access education and become early childhood teacher qualified in less time.
While we always have an eye to providing high quality, these changes support our efforts to recruit
and train people who would love to work with children.
Kids First staff participates with regional partners to provide a unified voice to support policy that
has a positive outcome for young children and families. Shirley chairs the policy committee for
the Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Council and is actively involved in the Rocky Mountain
Preschool Coalition advocacy meetings.
Long-range Planning
Kids First will include annual evaluation and re-assessment of the data concerning both physical
space needs and enrollment capacity, as well as staff capacity. Staff will compare progress with
future needs and consider our financial ability to support increased capacity and staffing
operationally. We will continue to participate with regional and state partners for technical support,
and opportunities to work regionally. Our goal is to support families much longer than the 2-year
council goal, making quality childcare the foundation for successful learning for all young children.
Kids First made a proposal to Roaring Fork Leadership this summer/fall for a project that would
gather data from families and childcare providers in order to create a better system for managing
waitlists. This project was accepted, and the team is working toward a goal of making
recommendation to Kids First for a way to make waitlists easier for childcare programs to manage,
and easier for families to access childcare. They expect to report on this by May 2022.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
Each of the areas listed above requires trained staff as the primary means of accomplishing this
work. Capital costs as well as consultants will be required in some cases.
Kids First has 2022 budget ($150,000 carried forward from 2021) to support the first steps of the
design and planning work.
As this goal work evolves, funding and staffing needs will be discussed with city management
and City Council, project budgets will be included and discussed.
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NEXT STEPS:
The first step is sharing this plan with Aspen City Council tonight and follow quickly with
subsequent meetings to begin discussing policy and getting direction from City Council.
Key Council Dates from the Timeline:
February 28, 2022 Work Session:
Immediate recommendations to support the success of this goal.
Updates from other organizations that are contributing to childcare capacity
February city council meeting
Contract approval for design of the childcare building at Burlingame.
April 18, 2022:
Work session to update and get direction from city council
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