Signature Report & Data

2012 Qualistar Colorado Signature Report

This second-annual report highlights critical issues facing the child care industry. It provides updated figures regarding the supply, demand and cost of child care, and highlights important facts and trends about the availability and quality of licensed care in our state.

Qualistar Colorado, with its network of child care resource and referral partners, maintains current and comprehensive data on child care programs and providers in the state. We know that child care is a significant cost for those families who use it and that child care prices have continued to rise during the economic downturn. And yet, child care is an industry with very low profit margins. Why is child care so unaffordable in Colorado compared to other states?

Other issues explored in this report include:

• There is a trend toward fewer licensed child care programs in the state
• Most child care programs are small businesses with few opportunities to reduce costs through economies of scale
• The quality of Colorado’s child care programs is largely unknown

Through further analysis of issues such as those explored in this report, we aim to encourage an ongoing dialogue among decision makers and stakeholders about next steps for strengthening the child care delivery system in our state

We would like to thank FirstBank and Kaplan Early Learning Company for generously sponsoring this year’s report.

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http://www.qualistar.org/uploads/file/Qualistar2012SignatureReport-WebReady.pdf

First-Annual Signature Report

http://www.qualistar.org/uploads/file/Qualistar%20Signature%20Report-WebReady.pdf