Families in the Estes Valley are beginning to see the biggest expansion in child care availability in years, with new and more robust tuition assistance opportunities and new providers beginning to welcome children. A recently licensed home provider is already operating, a Montessori child care provider has secured a town grant to open a new facility, and additional providers have expressed interest in establishing care in the Estes Valley. Paired with a new tuition assistance program, working parents have more options and more financial support than ever before. These programs are a key part of the Town Board’s strategic goal to boost access to quality child care and early childhood education in the community.
The Estes Valley Childcare Fund (EVCF) was established to provide tuition assistance to middle-income families. The town’s partner, the Early Childhood Council of Larimer County (ECCLC), administers the program, using its BridgeCare system. It provides a simple and user-friendly process for families to apply for, renew, and monitor their tuition assistance. The streamlined process allows a household to apply annually for the program year, calculating their fee that they pay the provider of their choice, and the tuition assistance subsidy is directly transferred to the child care provider. On the program management side, the focus is on supporting families throughout the process, as well as strict data tracking and funding accountability for use of the 6E Lodging Tax, which is the primary source of revenue for the EVCF. There is a rolling application period, so families can apply as needs arise or as spaces become available.
The launch of this new tuition assistance program follows multiple years of research and intensive community engagement by the town. The program was designed based on cost-modelling data and the needs expressed in the community. Assistance can be combined with other programs like universal preschool, with an ultimate goal of keeping a family’s child care costs below 10% of its net monthly income…