Office of Respondent Parents’ Counsel: Promoting Steps 1 and 2 of Building Evidence

The Colorado Lab is partnering with the Office of Respondent Parents’ Counsel (ORPC) to build evidence for their model of interdisciplinary team representation. Interdisciplinary team representation pairs an attorney with a social worker or parent advocate to address root causes of child welfare involvement, promote long-term family strengthening, and protect the fundamental right to parent. […]

Family First Annual Strategy Report

The aim of Family First in Colorado is to support child welfare-involved families receiving evidence-based services and support that help to keep children safe and more families together. Our new Evidence-building for Family First: Rigorous Evaluation Annual Report provides ongoing guidance to ensure strategic investments in evidence-building for services and programs positioned to meet the needs […]

Early Childhood Stabilization Grant

The Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) received over $465 million in American Rescue Plan Act and Child Care Development Fund funds to strengthen and expand the early childhood sector in Colorado and ensure all children have access to high-quality child care. CDEC is partnering with the Colorado Lab to build data collection and evaluation […]

Imagination Library Impact Evaluation

Cover photo: Dolly Parton reads to children at The Library of Congress. Photo courtesy of Jake Tate; CPR News Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is inspiring a love of reading for children in Colorado, across the U.S. and around the globe. The nonprofit provides books at no cost to families with young children (0-5 years old) […]

Colorado Prosecutorial Dashboards Newsletter: Issue 4

In this newsletter we’re sharing information and updates on the steps our pilot sites are taking towards developing their prosecutorial dashboards. We describe what the first version of each District Attorney (DA) Office’s public-facing dashboard will look like, as well as their plans to share information through data stories. We then review two recent efforts […]

2022 Legislative Session: Informing Key Legislation

Colorado Lab studies informed an array of legislation in this year’s session, including bills that were passed to strengthen care and learning for preschoolers and increase pathways to high school graduation. Our efforts included working with partners to conduct research studies, providing expert testimony, and evaluating the effectiveness of models. HB22-1295 – Department of Early […]

2021 Legislative Session: Building Evidence to Effectively Implement Policy Wins

SB21-194 – Maternal Health Provider A landmark bill that includes the requirement to assess use of research evidence in perinatal policymaking to reduce disparities in maternal care and reduce maternal mortality. The study seeks to understand what aids and what gets in the way of using research evidence in policy development and uptake related to […]

Colorado Prosecutorial Dashboards Newsletter: Issue 3

In this newsletter we’re sharing information and updates on the steps our pilot sites are taking to lay the groundwork for the development of their prosecutorial dashboards. We provide an example of the data review process and identify ideas for improving data quality. We then describe some community engagement strategies and how they add value […]

Learning from ARPA Investments

Through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), the federal government provided $3.8 billion to Colorado in support of pandemic-related recovery efforts across health, education, economic development, housing, and other public sectors. The Colorado Lab is supporting the state in identifying opportunities to learn from these investments. The goal is for evaluation processes and […]

Early Childhood Stimulus Funding Evaluation

The Office of Early Childhood (OEC) at the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) received a $119 million increase in Child Care and Development Fund grant funding, authorized through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. The funds will be used to help support the recovery and growth of the child care industry. Additionally, […]