denver early childhood council fy 11-12 annual report
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2011-2012
Annual Report
Denver Early
Childhood Council
Serving as Denver’s Early Childhood Hub
The vision of the Denver Early Childhood Council is that every young child in
Denver enters school ready to succeed.
Our mission is to serve as Denver’s early childhood hub, leveraging resources,
opportunities, and connections to create a quality system that impacts the lives of
children and their families.
Our Team:
Emily Bustos
Executive Director
Sharon Prueitt Keiser
Director of Finance and
Operations
Nicole Riehl
Director of Quality
Improvement Initiatives
Adey Dimalanta
Manager of Professional
Development
Jenna Bannon Davis
Manager of Systems
Building
Liliana Flores Amaro
Technical Assistance
Consultant
Kelly Bowes
Assessment &
Evaluation Consultant
Lalania Carillo
Lead Program Assistant
Erin Gager
Program Assistant
Robin Mest
Database Coordinator Visit us at www.DenverEarlyChildhood.org!
Letter from the Executive Director
As I reflect back on our first year of operations as an independent nonprofit, I am amazed at how well our organization has navigated so many changes in such a short amount of time. When we settled into our new office in early July, we couldn’t have imagined how our team of 5 could grow to 10 in just a few short months.
I truly appreciate how our staff members have weathered the constantly changing environment not just with tolerance, but real enthusiasm. This unwavering dedication to bringing people
together to improve the early years of a child’s life embodies our team’s core values. Our new mission guides our work in the community to:
As you read through the Annual Report, you can see which aspects of our work reflect these core values by looking for these building blocks at the bottom of each page. We believe that focusing our efforts in these areas will help build and sustain the foundations for a thriving early childhood system capable of true and lasting impact on the lives of Denver’s children and families.
Our Board of Directors has played an integral role in developing a solid governance infrastructure that has allowed our organization to scale up with few growing pains. My heartfelt thanks for their many hours of service to the Council and those we serve.
Thanks must also be given to our committed network of community partners who inform our work and broaden our connection to community needs across the domains of early learning, family support & parent engagement, social-emotional & mental health, and health.
Best wishes to each and all of you for success in this New Year.
Emily Bustos, Executive Director Denver Early Childhood Council
Impact the Quality of Services for Young Children
Build the Foundations of an Early Childhood System
Create a Thriving Organization
Emily Bustos, Executive Director
Page 1 of 12
Internal capacity is at the core of leveraging
resources, opportunities and connections to positively impact services and the early childhood system.
Taking a Whole Child Approach
to School Readiness The effect of teaching
on student learning is
greater than student
ethnicity, family
income, school
attended, or class size
Comprehensive,
coordinated services for
young children will yield
cost savings to state
systems, community
resources, and families
Impact the Quality of Services for Young Children
Build the Foundations of an Early Childhood System
Create a Thriving Organization
Access to quality
early learning
materials helps
student achievement
and improves
reading skills.
Social Emotional
Development moved
to the forefront
of our child health
and wellness
integrated approach
Page 2 of 12
Quality Improvement Initiatives
Our Quality Improvement Initiatives include the
School Readiness Quality Improvement Program and the Denver Preschool Program.
These programs strive to enhance quality in early child-hood education and improve the school readiness of all Denver children five years of age and younger, by coordinating targeted resources to Early Childhood Education Providers including: coaching, training, quality learning materials, technology, and technical assistance.
In the 2011-2012 fiscal year, the Denver Early Childhood Council provided:
2,830 hours of coaching
218 hours of stand-alone training
102 hours of training paired with coaching
$60,331.47 toward ECE Coursework Reimbursement
$205,000 of qualified learning materials and technology
to 650 classrooms in 255
childcare provider sites in Denver.
All sites participating in our Quality
Improvement initiatives are required to be quality rated by an independent third-party.
Participating childcare providers have
recognized consistent and significant gains in quality
year over year as a result of the additional quality improvement supports and resources
we provided.
“...the School Readiness program has
made a difference for the children and families in our
community. They have been given choices for quality
programming that supports children’s learning and readiness to
enter school prepared.“
~Karen Enboden, VP of Programs at Mile High Montessori Early Learning Centers
Impact the Quality of Services for Young Children
Build the Foundations of an Early Childhood System Page 3 of 12
A Closer Look at Quality Improvement: Denver Preschool Program
253
Sites 586
Class- rooms
81% Of participating programs
received high
quality ratings of
3 or 4 stars
How Sites spent their credits:*
$94,307 1,721
Hours
$143,643
*DPP Sites receive Quality
Improvement credits based on how
many classrooms they have and
their overall Quality Rating
Programs are evaluated based on the Qualistar
Rating ™ of 0-4 stars.
In 2012-13 DPP is launching a pilot program to
include the CLASS evaluation tool, which takes a
closer look at teacher-child interactions.
Impact the Quality of Services for Young Children Page 4 of 12
= 20 licensed sites
= 25 classrooms
Passed by Denver voters in 2006, the Denver Preschool Program (DPP) provides tuition credits to all Denver families and quality improvement resources to licensed early childhood education (ECE) providers in Denver; to ensure that all Denver children have access to high
quality early education. DECC manages and coordinates DPP’s targeted quality improvement resources and activities for participating ECE providers.
A Closer Look at Quality Improvement: School Readiness Quality Improvement Program
30
Sites 120
Class- rooms
Made available
through Child Care &
Development Block
Grant funding, the
School Readiness
Quality Improvement
Program supports
quality ratings and
quality improvement
resources for early
childhood programs
serving children that
will likely attend
low-performing public
schools.
Since 2003, DECC has
been administering
the program for
Denver County which
has infused over $2
million dollars into our
ECE community.
of Quality
1,169 Hours
Improvement
Coaching
to
classrooms $27,719
to assist sites with
Assessment and
Evaluation
We Spent $124,953 on
Learning Materials
An average of $1,050
per classroom!
C
B
A
We purchased over 70 cribs for
ECE providers to meet new and improved federal safety standards.
Impact the Quality of Services for Young Children Page 5 of 12
We provided
And we
provided
Professional Development
Our Professional Development and Denver
Child Care Resource & Referral programs expand
access to high quality training and scholarship
programs that provide guidance on industry best
practices and evidence-based curriculums to help
early childhood professionals increase their
knowledge and apply it in the classroom.
Our professional development offerings are often paired with on-site coaching that
enhances the application and effectiveness of the delivered content.
DECC provided 336 hours of
Expanding Quality for Infants & Toddlers
(EQIT) training for more than 130 providers
in the 2011-2012 fiscal year—in addition to the
trainings mentioned under DECC’s Quality
Improvement Initiatives.
In order to expand access to high-quality
trainings and information sessions, DECC often
combines funding to offer additional
community slots available to all Denver early
childhood
education professionals, including family home
providers and broad-based early childhood
Impact the Quality of Services for Young Children
Before taking this course, I was not confident enough in work-ing with the infant and toddler population. Through the weeks I learned so many valuable things that I will carry with me while I work with
ch
Build the Foundations of an Early Childhood System Page 6 of 12
“Before taking this course, I was not confident enough in working with the infant and toddler population. Through the weeks I learned so many valuable things that I will carry with me while I work with children. This course has helped me very much to provide quality care. I’m grateful for this opportunity. “
-EQIT Training Attendee
A Closer Look at Professional Development: Expanding Quality for Infants & Toddlers
Child Care Resource & Referral
“This program has really been a credit to my childcare home... I have learned to do more quality activities and it has upgraded my child care. I learned a lot from the instruc-tors. It has made me more professional in my business.”
-Family Childcare Provider
EQIT is a 48-hour training for
teachers working directly with
infants and toddlers or their
Directors and Assistant
Directors. The hands-on
curriculum was developed for
adult learners by the Colorado
Department of Education and
is a favorite of participants.
This class is required for home
providers seeking an infant/
toddler license and can be used
in place of a college course
(ECE 111) for those seeking
Director's and Early Childhood
Teacher Qualifications.
As Denver’s Child Care Resource and
Referral Agency (CCR&R)
for providers in Denver, we support
potential and existing child care
programs and professionals by
providing technical assistance,
training and coaching services.
DECC offered
7 EQIT
classes throughout the
year
From which 138 Child Care
Professionals Graduated = 5 graduating students
DECC is contracted to provide
a minimum of
of training based on
Division of Child Care
Licensing’s Core
Content areas.
This year
we provided over hours!
hours
We answered over 50 Resource &
Referral questions! = 10 questions
Impact the Quality of Services for Young Children Page 7 of 12
Quality Improvement + Professional Development = Combined Impact
255 licensed sites in Denver County
over 650
Classrooms that implemented
significant Quality
Improvement
activities
And at least 400 additional classrooms indirectly benefit
from Quality Improvement & Professional Development activities
This year we served... = 20 licensed
sites
= 25 class-
rooms
= 50
children
That means, our programs collectively
impacted over 7,250 children
in Denver County!
Impact the Quality of Services for Young Children
Build the Foundations of an Early Childhood System Page 8 of 12
Child Health Integration
In the 2011-2012 fiscal year, DECC convened four community meetings and strategic learning opportunities featuring eight experts in issues impacting child health. Additionally, DECC has incorporated child health activities into our Strategic Plan to further integrate child health awareness and best practices into all of our programmatic offerings.
School
Readiness
Child Health Behavioral
Health
Early Learning Family Support
Early Childhood System of Care
Participation on the Health Integration & Program Committee has been incredibly valuable in sharing information on services available for families in Denver and getting the word out about the Nurse Family Partnership program. It has widened our program’s circle of influence. -Marti Potter, Denver Health
Build the Foundations of an Early Childhood System Page 9 of 12
implements cross-systems planning, coordination and collaboration opportunities between the
early childhood education, health, behavioral health, family support, and parent engagement partners.
The Early Childhood Health Integration Initiative
This initiative has brought partners together to examine what the barriers are in creating a systemic approach to child health and raised awareness of the critical importance of child health - from oral and mental health to nutrition and physical activity – in a child’s overall school readiness.
We have built strong
partnerships with Denver Health, Public Health, Nurse Family
Partnerships, Early Intervention, and Child Find in our joint efforts to impact child health.
Early Childhood Systems Building
Our Early Childhood Systems Building Initiative includes efforts around increasing availability,
quality, and accessibility of services for children and families and increasing the capacity of
early learning providers. This is accomplished through building public will, fostering strategic
learning and collaboration, and system-wide data analysis to build the foundations of a
thriving early childhood system in Denver.
Create a Thriving Organization Page 10 of 12
Did you know? As a result of the 2011-2012 Strategic Planning process, we hired two new coaches to ensure that childcare providers have access to high quality, lower cost coaching services. By doing so, we are leveraging existing resources, diversifying funding, and increasing our own financial stability.
Key Accomplishments:
DECC held an elected officials reception and Partner Network Open House with close to
100 people participating.
Organizational Capacity Building Milestones
Health Integration and Program Committees, comprised of twenty early childhood
community members and stakeholders, met regularly to guide systems building
and programmatic work.
July 1, 2011 - the DECC launches
officially as an independent 501c3
nonprofit and moves into new offices
in the Phillips Center (now Tramway
Nonprofit Center).
Staff, our Nonprofit Transition Work
Group, and the Finance Committee
immediately begin setting up all
operational, fiscal management, and
human resources systems from the
ground up.
July 7, 2011 - the Board of
Directors vote to amend the
bylaws to change the
Fall 2011 – Board approves operational
and governance policies and procedures.
These include: Employee Handbook,
Internal Fiscal Controls, Executive
Compensation, Document Retention and
Destruction, Capitalization, Budget
Modification, Information Sharing,
Conflict of Interest, Anti-discrimination, and
Letter of Support policies. Board also
approves our 2012-2015 Strategic Plan.
Spring 2012 – Our first
Director of Finance and
Operations is hired in March
2012. This greatly increases our
capacity to provide high quality oversight for both the operational
and fiscal sectors of our work while easing the administrative burden
for executive and program staff. Our financial systems and
internal culture have been set up in full alignment with our federal
A-133 audit requirements and general nonprofit best practices.
composition of the
Board of Directors to
foster
independent
members and
to further define their
role as
a “Working Board”.
Early Childhood Systems Building
Denver Early Childhood Council Committees & Work Groups
Impact the Quality of Services for Young Children
Build the Foundations of an Early Childhood System
Create a Thriving Organization Page 11 of 12
Our standing committees, comprised of experts and community members, provide
governance and oversight of our work. Our Executive, Finance & Audit, Nominating, and
Program Committees meet monthly with staff to review progress, approve policies and
procedures, and provide guidance. Committee check-ins, reports and status updates are
provided to the Executive Director, Board and Committees regularly to ensure accountability
for work performed and overall communication of progress to our internal stakeholders.
Additionally, DECC convened work groups in the following areas:
Community Assessment & Strategic Planning
As part of our Early Childhood Council Initiative Proposal process for 2012-15 we completed a Local
Systems Assessment process for our council area. This intensive and data-driven process included a com-
prehensive community profile. This participatory process also helped lay the groundwork for our Strategic
Planning process which was completed and approved by the board in early 2012. Resource Development
An environmental scan and series of donor and funder interviews was performed on behalf of the
Denver Early Childhood Council in late 2011. The primary goal of these interviews was to solicit
information regarding funding trends that may impact DECC as we transitioned into the nonprofit arena. The
specific action plan and recommendations have shaped DECC priorities around Resource
Development, Data, Analysis and Mapping and Strategic Communications for the coming year.
Strategic Communications/Resource Hub
Since moving into our new offices we have turned the large conference room into a community training room
that can be used for meetings of all sizes. As we become a “hub” for resources and information for our
partners, we have held several council trainings and events in our new space and make it available to our
Network Partners as well. We also send out E-mail Action and E-News Alerts to inform our partners regarding
emerging issues and opportunities for input, and have upgraded our website to make it more user-friendly.
Evaluation & Data Management
We assessed our data systems and identified recommended improvements and efficiencies that could be
created. We were able to create an in-house Data and Evaluation Coordinator position that is responsible
for administering, evaluating and modifying DECC’s databases in response to organizational needs and for
day-to-day system integrity.
As shown in the Income and Expense by Quarter graph, income increased steadily throughout the year, outperforming our original projections and allowing us to end the year with over $1.2 million in revenues.
We anticipate additional revenue growth as we strive to diversify funding in the areas of foundation grants, earned income, and individual donations.
Given our current funding makeup (90% reimbursable grants), we have set the goal of establishing an operating reserve equal to one month’s expenses within 3-5 years.
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Total Income $167,851 $230,929 $358,206 $465,766
Total Expense $176,512 $266,274 $377,731 $406,135
Total Net Assets $130,113 $94,768 $75,243 $134,874
$130,113$94,768
$75,243
$134,874
$0$50,000
$100,000$150,000$200,000$250,000$300,000$350,000$400,000$450,000$500,000
Denver Early Childhood CouncilIncome and Expense by Quarter
July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2012
Impact the Quality of Services for Young Children
Build the Foundations of an Early Childhood System
Create a Thriving Organization Page 12 of 12
We spent 90% of our expenses on our Quality Improvement, Systems Building, Professional Development, and Child Health programs!
Fiscal Year 2011-2012 Financial Overview Unqualified
Unqualified Unqualified audit opinion for
audit opinion for
audit opinion for FY11FY11FY11---12 12 12 AAA---133 audit!
133 audit!133 audit!
To view audited financial statements & Form 990 visit www.denverearlychildhood.org/about/governance/
2011-2012 Board:
Gerie Grimes Board Chair Hope Center
Lynn Andrews
Board Vice Chair Clayton Early Learning
David Cordova
Board Treasurer CPA
Susan Rider
Board Secretary Little Friends Learning Center
Anna Jo Haynes
Early Childhood Leadership Commission
Carol Edwards
Denver Public Library
Cheryl Caldwell Denver Public Schools
Devvy Altman
Kentwood City Properties
Diana Gadison Early Success Academy
Jennifer Draper Carson
Denver Parent
June Allen Denver Department of
Human Services
Lydia Prado, Ph.D. Mental Health Center of Denver
Marie Hueston
Family Flex Early Education Center
Pamela Harris, Ph.D.
Mile High Montessori Early Learning Center
Sonja O’Leary, MD
Denver Health
Susan Gallo, Ph.D. Denver Mayor’s Office for
Education and Children
Looking Forward New opportunities abound as we peek into the next fiscal year!
Shared Services to Reduce Overhead Denver Early Childhood Council and Civic Canopy are current tenants in the Urban Land Conservancy’s Tramway Nonprofit Center located in the Cole neighborhood in Denver. We plan to collaborate in order to tap programmatic synergies and administrative cost-savings by sharing services in the Tramway Nonprofit Center. Our complementary missions in strengthening neighborhoods, families and children will serve as a foundation for collaborative interactions and outcomes.
Expansion of Child Health Programs As our Phase I Early Childhood Health Integration work wraps up, we are excited to continue the work to better integrate health services and engage health practitioners in the development of local early childhood systems. We are now in the planning stages for our Social Emotional Early Development (SEED) Initiative, which utilizes the Pyramid Plus Approach and support services such as coaching, professional development trainings and mental health consultation to improve knowledge, access and availability of early childhood social-emotional development and mental health resources for early learning providers in Denver.
Spotlight on Early Childhood in Colorado Exciting developments are also on the horizon for the early childhood system in Colorado with national attention and several large changes being proposed that will impact the all elements of the system.
Special thanks to our founding individual donors that
donated throughout our first year as a nonprofit:
Thank you to our generous supporters that make the work of the Council possible.
Thank you for learning more about our work. Please consider supporting Denver Early Childhood Council by giving online:
www.givingfirst.org/denverearlychildhoodcouncil
June Allen Devvy Altman Lynn Andrews Alicia Biggs Cheryl Caldwell
Jessica Campbell David Cordova Carol Edwards Diana Gadison Susan Gallo, Ph.D.
Gerie Grimes Pamela Harris, Ph.D. Anna Jo Haynes Marie Hueston Susan Kay
Sonja O'Leary Lydia Prado Susan Rider Lisa Roy Rebecca Tankersley
Diana Romero-Campbell
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