Colorado § 26.5-4-210 - Reporting.

§ 26.5-4-210. Reporting.

(1) As part of the annual hearing held pursuant to the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act", part 2 of article 7 of title 2, the department shall report on the implementation and effectiveness of the Colorado universal preschool program in the preceding fiscal year. At a minimum, the report must include:

(a) The number of eligible children served by preschool providers, specifying:

(I) The number of eligible children who received only universal preschool services;

(II) The number of eligible children with disabilities who received preschool services;

(III) The number of eligible children three years of age and younger who received preschool services;

(IV) The number of eligible children who received additional preschool services;

(V) The number and percentage of eligible children enrolled in the preschool program who were in low-income families and who met one or more qualifying factors, including identifying the qualifying factors that were met; and

(VI) The demographics of the eligible children enrolled in the preschool program, including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, disability, and income;

(b) The number of children who were eligible to receive funding for additional preschool services but did not due to insufficient funding and the amount that would have fully funded additional preschool services for all eligible children;

(c) The number of eligible children who did not enroll in preschool providers;

(d) The extent to which a mixed delivery system of preschool providers is available and the enrollment capacity of the mixed delivery system throughout the state;

(e) The amount of funding distributed to preschool providers through the preschool program, in total and disaggregated by communities with early childhood councils and areas of the state that do not have early childhood councils;

(f) The per-child rates established pursuant to section 26.5-4-208 (1) for universal preschool services, preschool services for children with disabilities, preschool services for eligible children who are three years of age or younger, and additional preschool services for the fiscal year with an explanation of the formulas for determining the per-child rates;

(g) Of the amount appropriated from the preschool programs cash fund, the amount, expressed as a dollar amount and a percentage of the total appropriation, that:

(I) Was distributed to fund universal preschool services;

(II) Was distributed to fund preschool services for children with disabilities;

(III) Was distributed to fund preschool services for eligible children three years of age and younger;

(IV) Was distributed to fund additional preschool services;

(V) Was distributed for specified purposes pursuant to section 26.5-4-208 (1)(d) with an explanation of each specified purpose and the preschool providers or communities that received the distributions;

(VI) Is attributable to each weighting factor, if any, included in the formulas created pursuant to section 26.5-4-208 (1); and

(VII) Was spent on administrative expenses of the department and each early childhood council;

(h) The number of eligible children for whom additional preschool services or other full-day preschool services were provided using resources other than the money distributed through the preschool program and the sources of those resources;

(i) Quantitative data, and qualitative data if available, including student outcomes to the extent they are available, demonstrating the effectiveness of the preschool program in improving the overall learning and school readiness of children who receive preschool services through the preschool program, including the results of the independent evaluation conducted pursuant to section 26.5-4-207 (2);

(j) The changes, if any, in the availability of child care for infants and toddlers, statewide and within communities or areas, following implementation of the preschool program;

(k) Any other information that indicates the effectiveness of the preschool program in serving eligible children throughout the state; and

(l) Any recommendations for legislative or regulatory changes to improve the effectiveness of the preschool program.

(2) The department may request and early childhood councils and preschool providers shall provide information as necessary for the department to prepare the report described in subsection (1) of this section.

(3) The department shall annually publish on the department website the information provided in the report described in subsection (1) of this section.

Source: L. 2022: Entire article added, (HB 22-1295), ch. 123, p. 707, § 3, effective July 1. L. 2026: IP(1), (1)(e), (1)(g)(VII), and (2) amended, (SB 26-019), ch. 104, p. 428, § 23, effective May 5.