| Overview | Health and Nutrition |
State policies that promote health, education, and strong families can help the early development and school readiness of America's youngest citizens. This profile highlights Colorado's policy choices alongside other contextual data related to the well-being of young children.
Trends1
Colorado continues to expand access to health insurance for young children, but not working parents. In March 2009, eligibility will rise from 200 to 225 percent of the federal poverty level for children, but remains at 66 percent for working parents. Counties establish the income eligibility level for child care subsidies, which ranged from 126 to 218 percent of the federal poverty level in 2007. Counties will have the ability to raise rates to 285 percent of poverty in the next fiscal year.
Recent Developments1
Colorado’s 2008 legislative session expanded the Colorado Preschool Program by adding 6,254 new slots to serve 3- and 4-year olds (nearly $21 million in new funding) and invested nearly $32 million of new funding in full-day kindergarten. In addition, the legislature enhanced the Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) mental health benefit to equal the Medicaid mental health benefit, effective January 2009.
| Health and Nutrition |
Data Notes and Sources
Last Updated: July 23, 2008
Send us recent developments to update your state's profile.
- The trends and recent developments come from personal communications with state advocates, administrators, and policymakers. The following publications were also consulted:
Donna Cohen Ross, Aleya Horn, and Caryn Marks, Health Coverage for Children and Families in Medicaid and SCHIP: State Efforts Face New Hurdles: A 50-State Update on Eligibility Rules, Enrollment and Renewal Procedures, and Cost-Sharing Practices in Medicaid and SCHIP in 2008, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, January 2008 http://www.kff.org (accessed April 11, 2008).
W. Steven Barnett, Jason Hustedt, Allison Friedman, Judi Stevenson Boyd, and Pat Ainsworth, The State of Preschool 2007, National Institute for Early Education Research, 2007.
Karen Schulman and Helen Blank, State Child Care Assistance Policies 2007: Some Steps Forward, More Progress Needed, National Women's Law Center, September 2007.
National Center for Children in Poverty, Map and Track State Initiatives for Young Children and Families, 2000 Edition, 2000
National Conference of State Legislatures, Child Care and Early Education Legislation Highlights 2005, June 2006
National Conference of State Legislatures, Child Care and Early Education Legislation Highlights 2006, unpublished draft
National Governors Association, Front and Center education articles, 2006, http://www.nga.org
ZERO TO THREE, The Baby Monitor, 2006 Policy and Advocacy News Archive, http://www.zerotothree.org - State data were calculated from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (the March supplement) of the Current Population Survey from 2005, 2006, and 2007, representing information from calendar years 2004, 2005, and 2006. NCCP averaged three years of data because of small sample sizes in less populated states. The national data were calculated from the 2007 data, representing information from the previous calendar year.
- National and state data were calculated from the 2006 American Community Survey.