The Colorado Lab is coordinating and overseeing the efforts of multiple teams evaluating stimulus-funded activities through the Early Childhood Evaluation Hub. The Hub approach offers a number of benefits, including reduced administrative/financial burdens for the state, aligned evaluations that are anchored to a shared vision, and findings that are translated into actionable insights for policy and practice.
The Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) helps families who are working in low-wage jobs, searching for work, in school, or experiencing homelessness to find child care assistance. The aim of the stimulus-funded CCCAP Teacher Wage Increase Pilot is to provide a livable wage to early childhood teachers in CCCAP-participating programs.
The Colorado Lab provided guidance and support to CDEC in creating two new videos about Early Childhood Mental Health (ECMH) Consultation. The videos aim to grow understanding about how ECMH Consultation helps early childhood professionals and families across the state promote the mental health and healthy social-emotional development of young children.
The Colorado Lab convened all of the evaluation teams participating in the Early Childhood Evaluation Hub. Each team shared information about the evaluations of the stimulus-funded activities they are conducting and collectively discussed cross-cutting themes.
The Colorado Lab partnered with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to study how research evidence can be best used in policymaking to drive equitable opportunities in perinatal health. Authorized by SB21-194 (Maternal Health Providers), the study used a mixed methods approach, including expert interviews with state government, policy, community, and family leaders.
The Colorado Lab periodically issues a call for statisticians to provide analytic support for various projects. Through our last open call in May 2023, we engaged Drs. Stephen Billings and Philip Pendergast.
Efforts are well underway in Southwest Colorado to strengthen career and college pathways for rural students. This work is critically important with a mere 19% of students who attended high school in a rural community in the United States holding a college degree
Three Colorado District Attorneys’ (DA) offices—the 12th, 17th, and 21st Judicial Districts—unveiled “data dashboards” last month. The dashboards are a publicly available resource designed to promote more effective, just, and transparent decision-making in prosecution.
More than one-third of college students report food insecurity, and evidence increasingly suggests this may be a barrier to degree and certificate completion. The Colorado Lab and LINC are supporting a study to inform Colorado state agencies and postsecondary institutions on ways to expand student participation in SNAP.
The Colorado Lab recently convened policy decision-makers and influencers to co-develop strategies that Colorado can adopt to support evidence-based decision-making and drive equitable outcomes in perinatal health for all families.