choosing quality child care matters
Colorado Shines is the state’s free search tool to help families find and research licensed child care programs in your community. It shows each program’s quality rating, licensing history, and monitoring reports to help you make the best decision for your family. It offers information including location, hours, licensing status and, most importantly, the Colorado Shines quality rating of eligible programs. By engaging in this free process, families like yours can find the best early learning fit to get your children off to a strong start. Colorado Shines will help you identify elements of high quality child care and the importance of choosing quality. When using the “search” feature, it will ask for your home or work address. However, ONLY enter your ZIP code.
Colorado Shines
- Visit ColoradoShines.com
- Call the Colorado Shines Child Care Resource & Referral Line: 877-338-2273
This FREE custom referral line is available to help find early care and education providers in El Paso, Teller, and Elbert Counties that meet your family’s needs. Individuals calling this number will be greeted by the Colorado Shines Child Care Referral at Mile High United Way. - Text childcarereferrals to 898-211.
- Mile High United Way now has an Intake Form available for families looking for child care.
- Early Childhood Question & Observation Worksheet
- Finding Quality Care Checklist
How to view licensing or rating details:
- Under For Families, click on How to find quality child care.
- From the menu on the left, click Search for a Program.
- In the blue area at the top, enter the program name for the site you area considering and click Search.
- If the program that appears is the one you are considering, click View Details. For example, some centers have multiple locations (e.g. KinderCare).
- The screen that appears will provide their license number, Colorado Shines rating, Colorado Child Care Assistance Program acceptance, and much more.
Joint Initiatives for Youth + Families, in partnership with Teller Park Early Childhood
Council and Elbert County Early Childhood Council, have collaborated with BridgeCare to
launch an innovative, new search tool making it easier for families to find
early childhood programs at PikesPeakEarlyChildhood.org.
This website gives families access to information about providers in their area. Find, choose, and enroll in a licensed early childhood program that meets the needs of your child and family.
View Pikes Peak Early Childhood FAQ Flyer HERE.
For more information, contact us HERE.
Financial Assistance + Military Resources
Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP)
Colorado’s Department of Early Childhood offers child care subsidies for families who need help affording quality child care. CCCAP is a subsidy to help families that are homeless, working, searching for work, or in school find low-income child care assistance. Families that are enrolled in the Colorado Works Program can also use CCCAP services.
Applying for CCCAP
For eligibility and applications, visit the Colorado PEAK website.
More Information
Visit the Colorado Shines website and learn more about assistance programs or read more below.
Military/DoD Child Care Assistance is offered through Child Care Aware.
Child Care Aware® of America serves more than 10,000 military children every year. When child care slots on post are full, military families may access their resources to find child care and receive assistance. Before you begin, learn more about what to look for when choosing child care and the importance of selecting a quality program. To get started, click here to access resources, checklists, and available supports.
Visit the Child Care Aware website for further information or select your branch of service for more information on eligible programs and assistance. Programs include Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN) and Operation Military Child Care (OMCC). Click here to learn more about each program.
You may also call Child Care Aware at 1-800-424-2246 and press option #3. You may also email Child Care Aware at info@childcareaware.org. They have a list of child care providers and centers that offer military discounts for off-post child care slots. To search for programs online, click here.
Share your story! Military parent experiences with child care may differ from that of civilian experiences, but they are just as impactful! Your stories can help policymakers understand that they need to work to make child care more affordable or that the quality of child care needs to be improved. Your voice makes a difference in the accessibility, quality and affordability of child care. Click here to provide your interest in sharing your story!
Colorado Shines Child Care Resource & Referral Line
Families that do not qualify for a military discount should call the Colorado Shines Child Care Resource & Referral Line: 1-877-338-2273
Child Development + Education
Visit EarlyLearningCO.org
The Colorado Early Learning and Development Guidelines describe the path of children’s learning and development from birth to eight years old. They’re designed so that everyone who cares for young children can play an important part in giving Colorado’s kids a healthy start.
Joint Initiatives offers a Community Resource Directory with a section devoted to Child Development + Education. This includes information about Head Start, kindergarten readiness, Universal Preschool, the Colorado Department of Education, early intervention services, and more.
Visit our Resources page to access the most recent directory.