2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 26.5 - EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS AND SERVICES (§§ 26.5-1-101 — 26.5-6-103) › Article 3 - FAMILY AND CHILD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING (§§ 26.5-3-101 — 26.5-3-904) › Part 8 - EMERGENCY RELIEF GRANT PROGRAMS (§§ 26.5-3-801 — 26.5-3-808) › Section 26.5-3-804 - Employer-based child care facility grant program - created - timeline and criteria - eligibility - grant awards - reports - funding - definitions - repeal

(1)
As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a)
"Child care center" has the same meaning as set forth in section
26.5-5-303
.
(b)
"Child care desert" means a community or area in the state where there are more than three children less than five years of age for each available child care slot.
(c)
"Eligible entity" means a Colorado employer or multiple employers.
(d)
"Grant program" means the employer-based child care facility grant program created in subsection (2) of this section.
(2)
There is created in the department the employer-based child care facility grant program. The purpose of the grant program is to provide eligible entities with money to construct, remodel, renovate, or retrofit a child care center on the site or near to the site of the eligible entity's property to provide licensed child care services to the eligible entity's employees, thus supporting the eligible entity's workforce participation and providing safe, stable, and quality care for the eligible entity's employees' children.
(3)
The department shall solicit and review grant applications from eligible entities beginning on or before June 30, 2021, and every June 30 thereafter through June 30, 2024, and begin to award grants no later than September 1, 2021, and every September 1 thereafter through September 1, 2024. Each application must include, at a minimum:
(a)
A business plan that includes:
(I)
A description of the construction, renovation, remodeling, or retrofitting of a child care center on-site or near to the site of the eligible entity;
(II)
A commitment to provide a financial match, as described in subsection (4) of this section;
(III)
A description of how the eligible entity will address the particular child care needs among the eligible entity's employees, such as nontraditional-hour care or infant and toddler care;
(IV)
A description of how the eligible entity will financially sustain the child care center beyond the grant period;
(V)
The estimated total cost and budget for the construction, renovation, remodeling, or retrofitting of the child care center;
(VI)
If the eligible entity leases the space to be renovated, remodeled, retrofitted, or have a new facility constructed on the property, a copy of a current, valid lease that contains specific authorizations from the property owner to make the requested alterations to the property or a written statement from the landlord expressing consent to the requested alterations;
(VII)
Written assurance that the eligible entity will connect its employees to resources describing available public early childhood care and education assistance; and
(VIII)
Any other components the department requires to adequately assess the grant application, including a commitment regarding the duration of time the eligible entity seeks to occupy the space to be renovated, remodeled, retrofitted, or constructed;
(b)
Written assurance that the eligible entity will obtain a child care license pursuant to part 3 of article
5
of this title 26.5; and
(c)
Written assurance that the employees of the eligible entity will have first priority for open slots at the child care center before those slots are offered to nonemployees.
(4)
Eligible entities must provide a financial match to a grant award as follows:
(a)
A for-profit employer shall provide a fifty percent match; and
(b)
A nonprofit or government employer shall provide a twenty-five percent match.
(5)
In determining grant awards for the grant program, the department shall consider applicants that might require waiver of child care licensing rules in the following areas:
(a)
A location that prevents the applicant from offering child care programs on the ground floor; and
(b)
A location that prevents the applicant from providing an outdoor space.
(6)
In determining grant awards for the grant program, the department shall prioritize:
(a)
Applicants that serve a high percentage of employees with wages below the area's median income;
(b)
Applications with plans to meet the level four standard of the Colorado shines quality rating and improvement system, pursuant to section
26.5-5-101
;
(c)
Applications with a stated commitment to and a business plan for a well-compensated child care staff;
(d)
Applications with a plan for innovative models, such as co-ops, hubs, or microcenters;
(e)
Applicants with a plan to serve children in child care deserts or in regions with low child care capacity;
(f)
Applicants with staff that represent or reflect the linguistic and cultural diversity of the families living or working in their community, including dual-language learners; and
(g)
Applicants whose primary industry and area of business is other than child care.
(7)
The department shall provide grantees with information and referrals to services that support implementation of quality care, including:
(a)
Training for teachers and directors on quality child care, including linguistically and culturally competent care, child development, and program improvement; and
(b)
Public early childhood assistance programs for families, including, but not limited to:
(I)
Child care subsidies;
(II)
Preschool and early childhood education assistance; and
(III)
Child nutrition programs.
(8)
On or before January 30, 2023, and on or before January 30, 2025, the department shall report progress on the grant program as part of its "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" hearing required by section
2-7-203
. At a minimum, the report must include:
(a)
The number of eligible entities that received a grant through the grant program;
(b)
The number of children and families that received child care services as a result of the grants, reported in aggregate and by grantee;
(c)
The number of early childhood educators and staff hired as a result of the grant program;
(d)
The Colorado shines quality rating of each grantee;
(e)
Any innovative approaches that were used as a result of the grant program that may be replicated by other employers; and
(f)
Any other relevant information about the grant program, including the industry type of the entity and geographic region served by the entity.
(8.5)
(a)
For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the general assembly shall appropriate ten million dollars from the economic recovery and relief cash fund created in section
24-75-228
to the department for the purposes of implementing this section.
(b)
The use of money appropriated pursuant to this subsection (8.5) must conform with the allowable purposes set forth in the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021", Pub.L. 117-2, as amended. The department shall spend or obligate such appropriation In accordance with section 24-75-226 (4)(d).
(c)
The department shall comply with the compliance, reporting, record-keeping, and program evaluation requirements established by the office of state planning and budgeting and the state controller in accordance with section
24-75-226 (5)
.
(d)
This subsection (8.5) is repealed, effective September 1, 2027.
(9)
This section is repealed, effective September 1, 2027.
Amended by 2024 Ch. 429,§ 33, eff. 6/5/2024.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 345, §4, eff. 7/1/2022.
Renumbered from C.R.S. §
26-6-804
and amended by 2022 Ch. 123, §3, eff. 7/1/2022.