For Parents/Families

early childhood la plata and durango colorado

For Parents & Families:

Incredible Years: Parenting Class

MISSION

To increase the availability, accessibility and reliability of affordable, high-quality comprehensive services for all young children and families

PURPOSE

The Early Childhood Council of La Plata County is a coaltion of community members and agencies working together to create a high quality comprehensive early childhood system to benefite all young children and their families.

Child Care

...helping families find the quality care they need for their children.

The local Southwest Office of Child Care Resource & Referral, keeps a thorough, up-to-date database of all childcare providers in the five county region (Archuleta, Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma and San Juan Counties). The Resource and Referral Coordinator is able to provide

guidance by phone, email, and in person providing parents referrals to local child care providers: including cost of care, philosophies of programs, and information on individual providers Qualistar Quality Ratings, and Environmental Rating Scale assessments.

Finding the right child care program for your kids can be an overwhelming process. To help, The Working Your Way through the Child Care Maze publication is a tool for parents to use when searching for quality child care. In partnership with Bright Beginnings Colorado, this publication includes information about types of child care, licensing information, why quality child care is important, questions to ask child care providers, and much more. It is emailed or mailed with every childcare referral. You can download the entire publication at www.qualistar.org/parents/maze.php.

For more information contact:
Shannon Bassett, Child Care Resource and Referral Coordinator
Southwest Colorado Office of Child Care Resource and Referral
Early Childhood Council of La Plata County
Phone-970-247-5960 X25
Email shannonb@ecclaplata.org or call toll free: 1-877-338-CARE

These services, all offered free of charge, also include:

- consultation and assistance for persons looking to become Colorado licensed home child care providers

- Information on State licensing requirements

Other agencies that help make this service possible - see links below:

Health Care For Families

Early Childhood Health Integration

The Early Childhood Council of La Plata County received a three year Health Integration grant from the Colorado Trust. The purpose of this grant is to increase the number of children who receive a Medical Home or coordinated care approach to their health care and to increase access to preventive oral and medical health care. The grant activities includes four projects:

1. Creating a comprehensive, bilingual database of early childhood services available in La Plata County for children 0-8 years of age called SWConnect.org;

2. Increasing collaboration among early childhood service providers through the development and support of the Pediatric Health Care Home Coalition;

3. Increasing access to preventive and primary care through a Sliding Scale Fee or Discounted Care program for uninsured and underinsured children of La Plata County called the CARES program (www.laplataCARES.org); and

4. Medical Access Voucher Program for children of La Plata County who are unable to afford needed care.

For more information on this program, contact Angela Atkinson, Health Integration Coordinator, aatkinson@centurytel.net, 970-946-5261 (cell).