PRESIDENT’S LETTER
In 2024, the Colorado Children’s Campaign helped support serious investment and serious changes to the systems that serve kids in our state.
At the state capitol, our passionate team helped create a new tax credit that could cut our state’s child poverty rate in half. We supported a separate tax credit that will make a big difference for our state’s careworkers. We advocated for better data about evictions. We supported family planning and health coverage for children.
And – after many years of committed, creative, collaborative work, we helped Colorado make landmark progress in funding our state’s K-12 schools equitably and more adequately.
Outside the capitol, our annual KIDS COUNT report highlighted bright spots – like an increasing graduation rate – and challenges – like the rising cost of living – facing Colorado kids. We brought together a community that is passionate about making our state a great place to be a kid and raise a family at our advocacy events. And we helped tell the story of kids in our state through our work with the media and in our own communications and publications.
You can learn more in this annual report.
Work like this is a testament to the power of having an organization like the Children’s Campaign, which can step outside the fray, listening to our community and using data and research to help our state can take better care of children.
We can’t wait to continue our work for kids, together.
Thank you for your support!
Onward!
Heather Tritten
President and CEO
CHILD AND FAMILY HEALTH
Priority Bills
A better birth and postpartum care system: Health care before, during, and after birth can shape the future for babies and their families. HB24-1262 will improve data collection related to care during the perinatal period, identify ways to protect communities against health facility closures, create a map of maternal health care deserts, and build a process for reporting discrimination.
Support for reproductive health care: SJR24-008 highlights the importance of funding for health clinics that are part of Colorado’s Family Planning Program. It demonstrates Colorado’s support for making sure everyone has access to family planning and reproductive health care.
Healthy School Meals for All: In 2023-24, students across the state had access to free breakfast and lunch in schools through the Healthy School Meals for All program, which voters approved in 2022. The program faced funding challenges in its first year due to a combination of high enrollment, a change to the federal reimbursement rate, and the rising costs of food. The Joint Budget Committee identified a solution to fund universal school meals through the 2025-26 school year to make sure kids can continue to access healthy food at school.
EARLY CHILDHOOD
Priority Bills
Child care licensing resources in languages other than English: HB24-1009 will help Coloradans who speak Spanish access child care licensing resources so that young children and their families can access quality care in the language they speak at home.
An effective Colorado Department of Early Childhood: The Colorado Department of Early Childhood, which began operating in 2022, is growing and supporting a wide variety of programs to support early childhood. HB24-1332 extends the Department of Early Childhood’s executive rulemaking authority to allow it to run effectively.
FAMILY ECONOMIC PROSPERITY
Priority Bills
Cutting Colorado’s child poverty rate in half: The Family Affordability Tax Credit created through HB24-1311 will put more money into the hands of families and help cut the child poverty rate in Colorado in half. This refundable tax credit for families with children prioritizes low-income families with young children. When combined with the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, it has the potential to make Colorado’s child poverty rate the lowest in the country.
A tax credit for careworkers: Careworkers play a vital role in our communities, but their pay often does not reflect the value of their work. HB24-1312 provides a $1,200 refundable tax credit to certain child care and health care workers, helping support the people who provide children and families with the care they need.
Understanding evictions in Colorado: Babies and toddlers are more likely to be evicted from their homes than Americans of any other age. Colorado’s rates of eviction have soared in recent years. But the state does not have a thorough, accessible statewide data system that reports information about evictions. SB24-064 will improve the way Colorado collects and publishes data on eviction trends across the state, leading to better policy solutions to keep families housed.
YOUTH SUCCESS
Priority Bills
A fair school finance formula and more funding for education: Since 1994, Colorado has used a school finance formula that sends more funding per student to school districts in some of the state’s wealthiest areas. HB24-1448 creates a new formula that will instead send more state funds to students living in poverty, students learning English, and students who have special needs. Also in 2024, the Joint Budget Committee fully funded public schools for the first time in a decade. These two decisions made the 2024 legislative session a historic year for investment in public education.
Money for out-of-school programs: HB24-1331 creates a grant program for organizations to provide academic enrichment and other services when school is not in session, such as before or after school or during the summer break. The grant program will serve about 15,000 young people each year. It is the state’s first permanent investment in out-of-school programs and will support programs that would likely have shut down as pandemic-era funding ran out.
SPEAK UP FOR KIDS!
In 2024, we partnered with Clayton Early Learning to hold our annual Speak Up for Kids Day advocacy event. Hundreds of people from across Colorado gathered at the Colorado State Capitol to receive advocacy training from our policy experts, connect with legislators, and make their voices heard in support of kids.
CONNECTION RECEPTION
The 2024 Colorado Children’s Campaign’s Connection Reception brought together supporters,
partners, and policymakers from across the state who are working to create better outcomes for Colorado kids and families. The 2024 event celebrated Reilly Pharo Carter, Steffanie Clothier, and Zach Martinez at Gary Community Ventures as our Advocates of the Year and Rep. Julie McCluskie, Rep. Jennifer Bacon, Sen. Paul Lundeen, and Sen. Rachel Zenzinger as our Legislators of the Year.
