Invest in Kids

The incredible years (iy) encompasses three evidence-based prevention programs; teacher classroom management, dinosaur school, and preschool basic parent program. These programs promote social-emotional learning, academic skills, and positive behavioral outcomes for young children in partnership with their teachers and parents/caregivers. Iy serves children and their families in 20 counties in Colorado. During the 2023-2024 program year, the incredible years served 5,797 students, 470 teachers, 69 parent program facilitators, and had 470 parent program participants. --------------------- more detail on schedule o -------------------

Child first (cf) works with young children and their families in a two- generational model. This program provides intensive, home-based mental health services to help build stronger bonds between caregivers and children to help them heal from trauma. Each family works alongside a mental health clinician and family support partner to uncover sources of stress and identify the best resources for the families. Cf serves children and their families in 25 counties in Colorado. During the 2023-2024 program year, child first served 325 parents and caregivers and 292 children. --------------------- more detail on schedule o ---------------------

Nurse-family partnership (nfp) is an evidence-based, nursing program for families affected by economic inequality who are expecting their first child. Clients are partnered with a registered nurse early in their pregnancy and receive home visits until their child turns two. The nurse partners with families so they can build the confidence and the tools they need to assure a healthy start for their babies and set a vision and goals for the life they want for themselves and their families. . Nfp serves children and their families in all 64 counties in Colorado. During the 2023-2024 program year, nurse-family partnership served 4,100 clients and 3,402 children. --------------------- more detail on schedule o ---------------------

Finding opportunities in recruitment and retention for our Colorado experts (forrce) is an Invest in Kids (iik) initiative designed to address workforce challenges in the nurse-family partnership (nfp) and child first (cf) programs in Colorado. Forrce aims to increase awareness, facilitate state-level policy changes, and secure sustainable funding sources to create a diverse, skilled workforce for long-term program success. Iik has identified four key areas affecting workforce: recruitment, retention, compensation, and pipeline. in fy24, iik secured a behavioral health workforce recruitment and retention grant, which provided funding for two key strategies in recruitment and retention for child first. This grant allowed for iik to start the planning and execution of a state wide child first conference to support retention of current staff scheduled in early fy25. This grant also allowed for iik to hire a recruitment firm to pilot a targeted recruitment strategy focused on talent specifically for evidence based programs called evidence based associates. in fy24, iik partnered with a consultant to narrow focus of the broader organizational efforts for forrce through developing a phased approach to assist in identifying potential strategies and developing recommendations specific to pipeline: problem definition and impact goal, select priority pillars, research and validate, and develop recommendations and decisions. Given the impact iik can have on pipeline and iiks' status as an intermediary, the following strategies for each of the programs were selected: 1. Nfp: building partnerships with Colorado's post-secondary institutions to establish pipelines for nursing graduates. 2. Cf: advocating for medicaid reform, agency support for infant and early childhood mental health (iecmh), and integrating iecmh into educational curricula. With finalized strategies, iik worked to create an implementation plan that is inclusive of the following: scope, tasks and timeline, measures, resource plan, communication plan, and risk assessment and mitigation.