Healthier Colorado, with the support of Healthy Child Care Colorado (HCCC) and Assuring Better Child Health and Development (ABCD), is excited to announce that SB25-017: Measures to Support Early Childhood Health was introduced on the first day of the 2025 Legislative Session! This bill advances early childhood health priorities in Colorado by codifying and strengthening two existing, essential, and community-based programs that support young children and their caregivers – Child Care Health Consultants (CCHCs) and HealthySteps. Codifying CCHCs and HealthySteps as state programs within the Colorado Department of Early Childhood will bolster Colorado’s comprehensive early childhood system by:
- Providing a key mechanism for federal, state, and local resource investment
- Supporting coordination and collaboration with other early childhood professionals
- Ensuring progress within the whole-child health and well-being domains of the Early Childhood Colorado Framework
This legislation directly aligns with Recommendation #1 from our 2023 CIRCLE grant work, which emphasized the importance of codifying community-based programs to sustain and strengthen early childhood health initiatives in Colorado.
For more information on this legislation, read the press release by Healthier Colorado and check out the accompanying Fact Sheet. If your organization would like to sign on in support of SB25-017 or stay informed, please complete this Google Form. For questions or feedback, contact Christina Walker, Senior Director of Policy at Healthier Colorado, at cwalker@healthiercolorado.org.