Early Childhood Council of Larimer County

Supporting child care providers- Early Childhood educators play a critical role in the Early learning, health and development of the children who will shape our future. To support high quality care, we connect providers to professional growth opportunities supporting quality care for all children, including college scholarships and trainings, career pathway support, coaching support on site at child care programs, and funding for classroom resources to support quality care.

Community/systems initiatives- we convene professionals, families and policy-makers to raise awareness about issues impacting children from birth to age eight. We facilitate or co-facilitate multiple community initiatives that focus on innovative solutions to support the health and development of the whole child. Our work increases community understanding of Early Childhood development, with an emphasis on the long-term societal impact of Early Childhood experiences. Current initiatives include promoting developmental screenings, supporting social emotional development and school readiness, and Early Childhood workforce initiatives. We provide Early Childhood resources to families and community members.

Early Childhood mental health- ecclc works to build and support a robust and well-connected Early Childhood workforce in Larimer County with specific expertise in infant and Early Childhood mental health (iecmh), and health equity. Ecclc supports a coordinated, multi-disciplinary approach to prevention, Early identification and intervention for mental health concerns in young children. Ecclc also offers Early Childhood mental health consultation to caregivers and Early educators to reduce burnout, increase retention of educators, and support families experiencing challenging behaviors in their children.

Child care resource services- we maintain a database with up-to-date information about all licensed child care programs in Larimer County, and track and analyze data about available licensed child care in our community. To address the shortage of licensed child care in Larimer County, we provide support, navigation and funding to new and emerging child care centers and family child care homes. In 2022, ecclc was chosen as the local coordinating organization (lco) for the statewide universal pre-k initiative (upk). Our role is supporting both families in accessing available spots and financial resources, and child care programs in participating in the upk program including enrollment, curriculum, and quality initiatives. As the lco, we also work to connect partners in County government, other non-profits, school districts, and family resource centers to ensure a strong mixed delivery system for families accessing other Early Childhood services and financial resources.