Child care funding, availability, and turnover challenges in Boulder County

This is the lhvc.com/story/2025/01/15/news/boulder-countys-lack-of-affordable-and-available-child-care/10113.html">third article in a series on the Consortium of Cities which recently addressed child care challenges in Colorado and Boulder County.

The Boulder County Consortium of Cities (COC) convened on Dec. 4, 2024, to address the pressing child care challenges in Colorado and Boulder County. Participating municipalities shared their efforts and initiatives to tackle this critical issue, but no action was taken.

Child care challenges in Boulder County include affordability, availability, uncertainty about state and federal funding, and lack of financial support for unlicensed and licensed exempt providers, which represent 60% of child care.

The Left Hand Valley Courier interviewed Kaycee Headrick, Executive Director of the Early Childhood Council of Boulder County (ECC), to discuss these challenges. The ECC is an independent non-profit organization classified as a 501(c)(3) and is not affiliated with the Boulder County government.

According to the ECC, median household incomes allocate 34% of their income for infant care, 33% for toddler care, and 28% for preschool care. Those figures do not, however, reflect the substantial federal and Colorado income tax credits available to most families.

The oversaturation of child care providers for preschool children at 157% leaves a lack of child care providers for infants and toddlers, with families looking at six-month waiting lists. Boulder County Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), a subsidy program to help offset child care costs, is out of funding, with 388 families on a waiting list. There continues to be a lack of financial support for unlicensed and licensed exempt providers known as Friends, Family, and Neighbors (FFN).

In Boulder County, the average annual costs for child care are $25,064 for infants, $23,026 for toddlers, and $19,968 for preschool-aged children. Headrick said, "Child care costs and the expenses incurred by businesses are high. It is expensive to provide high-quality child care due to licensure regulation, salaries, operating costs, overhead, and insurance. Insurance for providers is expensive and increasing."

Headrick said, "It is an industry that chronically underpays providers and educators, but the costs increase because there are no subsidies. Child care providers have to make money as it is a private market, which has to be profitable. No public taxes are available like there are for K through 12 public schools."

Availability for infants and toddlers is another challenge that young families face. Headrick addressed this lack of availability for infants and toddlers in licensed care and said, "We are seeing this because of the universal preschool program. Providers can now get additional funding from the state. This has incentivized the providers to expand their preschool programs, and this is not the case for zero to three-year-olds."

The shortage of state and federal funding presents significant challenges, including the depletion of funds for CCAP, the expiration of COVID-19 relief dollars, and the uncertainty of future funding due to the current political climate. Headrick explained, "The situation feels bleak, as CCAP funds have been frozen since 2024 due to a lack of funding and state and federal regulations changes, contributing to this crisis."

She referenced the Colorado State Legislature's HB 19-1052, the Early Childhood Development Special District, which was passed in 2019. This legislation enables local municipalities to establish special taxing districts for early child care within or across the boundaries of existing municipalities, counties, or other taxing entities. Aspen supported the creation of such a district. Still, an effort to merge parts of school districts in Weld and Boulder counties to create a special taxing district to fund early childhood education failed in 2023 when two of the three Boulder County Commissioners rejected the proposal before it could reach voters. Commissioner Marta Loachamin favored the ballot issue, but commissioners Claire Levy and Ashley Stolzmann voted against it, even though Weld County had already approved it.

Financial support and resources are also lacking for the unlicensed and licensed exempt providers that play a significant role in Boulder County child care. These two groups provide 60% of child care in Boulder County and consist of friends, families, and neighbors (FFN). Licensed exempt providers are exempt from licensing requirements and do not need a formal license, but must still follow essential health and safety regulations.

Headrick mentioned that compounding these problems is the turnover rate for early childhood care providers. It is 30%, four times higher than that of a K-12 teacher. She said, "The turnover rate is high due to low wages and job skill requirements." According to ECC, the average salary for early childhood care providers in Boulder County is $35,850. Nearly one-third of these providers qualify for public benefits due to low wages.

In Headrick's opinion, child care costs are the first factor to consider: "Currently, no tapestry of community exists that wraps its arms around supporting parents raising children."

Headrick said she would love to see Boulder County develop local solutions for child care. She said, "We have to start talking to the right people: businesses, politicians, chambers, cities, and politicians." She wants to see something happen at the county level, perhaps utilizing the Colorado State Legislature's HB 19-1052 because she feels it would be best if this were a county-wide effort. She says the ECC is ready to roll up its sleeves to get this conversation going.

The first two articles in this series can be found at lhvc.com or here and here.