Arapahoe County Early Childhood held its annual Partner Meeting this past October. The meeting included a presentation on the 2019 edition of KIDS COUNT in Colorado! by Sarah Hughes of the Colorado Children’s Campaign.

This past October, Arapahoe County Early Childhood Council held its annual Partner Meeting detailing the current state of early childhood in Arapahoe County. The meeting included a presentation by Sarah Hughes, Vice President of Research Initiatives for the Colorado Children’s Campaign, a non-profit dedicated toward advancing the education, health, and early childhood outcomes of children in Colorado. Hughes’ presented on the 2019 edition summarized findings from the 2019 edition of KIDS COUNT in Colorado!, a report detailing county-level data on demographics, health, early childhood, K-12 education, and economic security.

Drawing from data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), Hughes began by highlighting the decline in child poverty in Colorado from 2012-2017. Most recent estimates for the state have the percentage of children below the poverty rate at 12%, well below the national average of 18%. In Arapahoe County, the average is even lower at 9%, though pockets of poverty remain in parts of Aurora and near Englewood.

There is also a racial component to child poverty in the county, with poverty rates among black children in the county estimated to be around three times higher than white children. For Hispanic children in the county, the likelihood of experiencing childhood poverty was even more pronounced. Children of color and high poverty communities are often undercounted by the U.S. Census Bureau, meaning that disparities in child poverty be larger than what was found in the ACS data. Given that federal funding for programs, such as the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP+) and the Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP) depends on decennial census data, community leaders and early childhood organizations need to work together to ensure that children in Arapahoe County be counted correctly.

Hughes also discussed trends in child care. There are currently 96,000 children in Colorado without access to any licensed child care. Moreover, families with infants are finding are finding it particularly difficult to access care. From 2010-2018, Arapahoe County lost 896 licensed infant care slots. This reduction in supply mirrors statewide trends, where the total licensed capacity between home- and center-based care for infants decreased by 7,372 slots from 2010-2018.

For families that are able to access child care centers, cost of care can be burdensome. The annual cost of center-based child care in Colorado averages $14,950. Average annual costs for home-based child care, meanwhile, are estimated at $10,522. The cost of childcare forces families to make difficult financial decisions when weighing the costs of care to wages brought in from work.

Arapahoe County Early Childhood Council brought in a presentation on KIDS COUNT specifically to better understand the needs of families and children in Arapahoe County. We see the problems related to child care as well as other significant issues such as education and accessing healthcare and are committed to ensuring that resources are available for all families in the county.

 Arapahoe County Early Childhood is a collaborative promoting high quality programs and services which support a safe, smart, and healthy start for young children and their families. Learn more at www.acecc.org.

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