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Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Council
The Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Council (RMECC) is a coalition of community members and agencies working together to create a high quality, comprehensive early childhood system to benefit all young children, families and providers. Our mission is to “promote and support a system of quality, accessibility, and affordability of early childhood for families in the rural resort region.†We are a 4-county collaborative that covers Eagle, Garfield, Lake and Pitkin counties, and we are continually striving to build strong local partnerships to assure young children and their families have access to high quality health, mental health, early care and learning systems and family supports.
Early Intervention for Infants and Toddlers with Developmental Delays
The Early Intervention Colorado program provides developmental supports and services to families with children birth through 2 years of age who have developmental needs. Early Intervention (EI) services can help improve a child’s ability to develop and learn. The EI Colorado program provides services to help families support the developmental needs of their children.
Colorado’s Infant and Toddler Initiative under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Early Intervention Colorado is an interagency initiative led by the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Health First Colorado (Colorado’s Medicaid Program) is public health insurance for Coloradans who qualify. Health First Colorado is funded jointly by a federal-state partnership and is administered by the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing.
Colorado’s Colorado Shines system offers a reliable, consistent, statewide rating system to measure the quality of licensed early learning programs as well as showcase the qualifications of early childhood professionals. On an ongoing basis, the Councils partner with programs who want to prioritize continuous quality improvement and want to increase also helping -programs improve their quality level. Those programs work with highly trained, experienced and credentialed coaches on quality improvement efforts each year.
There are a couple of ways families can The Colorado Shines website (www.coloradoshines.com) helps connect programs with families looking for quality child care or preschools for their children. Families can search for licensed childcare programs on the website or reach out to the Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Council who is the regional Childcare Resource and Referral for support. To reach the Council, contact Kristin Sparkman, Early Childhood Specialist, at rmeccspecialist@mtnvalley.org or 719-293-2378.
Guide for Parents and Teachers with Special Needs Students!
If you have reached this page because you are in crisis, please call Colorado Crisis Services Statewide Hotline 1-844-493-8255 or Text TALK to 38255