UPK for FAMILIES
Click the icon for a FAQ page for families and see the Family section for more info. If you still don't see what you need, please contact us! We're here to help!I
UPK for providers
Click the icon for an FAQ page for providers and see the Provider section for more info. If you have additional questions, please contact us or attend Office Hours.
UPK for School Districts
Click the icon for an FAQ page and see the School District section for more info. If you have additional questions, please contact us or attend Office Hours.
UPK NEWS + EVENTS
KEY DATES FOR upk
- April 19: Final day for providers to increase or decrease seats before the first algorithm runs
- April 22: First algorithm runs*
- April 23: Providers receive their proposed matches as a result of the algorithm
- April 23–May 7: Provider review period
- May 9–15: Families receive their matches and must either accept or decline
- May 16–24: Providers may increase or decrease seats as needed
- July 5: The second and final DAA will run
TwO EXCITING Opportunities for UPK Providers!
- The Colorado Department of Early Childhood is providing a $2,000 one-time incentive bonus for child care providers participating in the Colorado Universal Preschool Program to join the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP). Licensed child care providers who have a signed Universal Preschool agreement for the 2024-25 school year and enter into a new CCCAP fiscal agreement between January 1, 2024, and June 15, 2024, are eligible. MetrixIQ will send a link directly to eligible providers to complete the application. For additional information on eligibility and how to become a CCCAP provider, please read the FAQ. Learn more HERE.
- In Spring 2024, a one-time bonus (estimated at $800 – $1,600) will be awarded to Universal Preschool providers who have maintained or increased their licensed capacity to serve infants and toddlers between April 1, 2022, and April 1, 2024. Once the bonus opportunity is open, MetrixIQ will contact eligible providers directly to apply for the funding.
UPDATED PROVIDER GUIDE
Pages 32-34 of the 2024-25 UPK Provider Guide include a breakdown of the required insurance, documentation, and affirmations needed to execute your Provider Agreement. Providers must submit their insurance information and other required documents prior to the April algorithm being run in order to receive matches. The provider agreement will then be sent to your designated signer via DocuSign and must be signed electronically. Click HERE to read the CDEC memo with details.
▶ NEW 2024-25 UPK Provider Guide
UPK Newsletters
Past newsletters are in our Resources section HERE.
2024-25 Universal Preschool Family Application IS OPEN
ALL FAMILIES WITH ELIGIBLE FOUR-YEAR-OLDS
All families with eligible children (the year before kindergarten) may register at upk.colorado.gov. All families must complete a new registration for the 2024-25 UPK year. If you have ANY questions about registering, have trouble logging in, or need to make changes at any point, please contact UPK@jointinitiatives.org. Please be sure to complete ONLY ONE application per eligible child. If the family registered as a 3-year-old, they may use the same login created for Year One and then will choose that they are registering for the 2024-25 year.
CHANGES TO APPLICATIONS
Families who need to make changes in their 2024-25 application must contact upk@jointinitiatives.org so the application can be unlocked. Unlike last year, JI UPK Team members are not permitted to make those changes — only families can do that — but we first have to unlock the application.
REGISTRATION TIMELINES + PROCESSES
See the blue box with expandable sections below for KEY dates!
Please remember that UPK is NOT a first-come, first-served program. Families with continuity of care – also known as priority status (child currently attending, sibling currently attending, or child of an employee of a UPK provider) will receive their matches on April 3 and will have until April 10 to accept or decline those priority matches. If a family misses this window, they can still apply but will be placed in the general UPK pool for a possible match in April when the first matching algorithm runs. Any family who is having an issue with accepting or declining should reach out to upk@jointinitiatives.org for assistance.
- April 19: Final day for providers to increase or decrease seats before the first algorithm runs
- April 22: First algorithm runs*
- April 23: Providers receive their proposed matches as a result of the algorithm
- April 23–May 7: Provider review period
- May 9–15: Families receive their matches and must either accept or decline
- May 16–24: Providers may increase or decrease seats as needed
- July 5: The second and final DAA will run
IEP REGISTRATION
- 3rd Week in March 2024: Matching for students with IEPs is occurring on a rolling basis beginning the third week in March 2024. As part of this process, Students are matched to programs based on the placement made by their AU (Administrative Unit). Please reach out to your AU for placement updates.
GENERAL FAMILY REGISTRATION
- Mid-April 2024: Providers will have an opportunity to make seat adjustments in mid April 2024, in advance of the initial family-to-provider matching round. Contact Noreen at nglt@mac.com to increase or decrease seats.
- April 20, 2024: Families who have registered and submitted an application by April 20, 2024 will be eligible for this initial round of matching.
- July 2024: A second round of matching is scheduled for July 2024 for any families not registered by April 20, 2024 or for families who were not successfully matched during the initial round.
FAQs
Please see the new FAQ pages at the end of the Provider and Family Handbooks in response to your great questions and feedback. These pages include the following new resources:
- UPK Age Eligibility Lookup Tool to better support families in understanding their eligibility based on their child’s birthday and their school districts cutoff date. With additional information about 3-year-old eligibility.
- Pre-registration | Continuity of Care: New “how to” video to show families how to navigate the pre-registration, continuity of care section of the registration form to ensure they match with their known provider.
- Families who have a child who will be 4 years old by October 1, 2024* (and not yet 5 by that date) and who are not currently attending with a UPK provider, may register their child in the UPK system beginning on February 29.
- Each family will choose up to 10 providers and programs based on their needs and will rank order their choices. Each child will be assigned a random lottery number.
- In April, the state will run the first matching algorithm which matches families to open seats at the providers of their choice. Any family who does not receive a match as part of the April algorithm will be given the opportunity to add additional choices prior to the algorithm being run again in July. Contact UPK@jointinitiatives.org to have your application unlocked to make any needed changes.
- Families who still do not have a match after July can go directly to the provider of their choice to determine if there is a seat available and if so, to be directly placed in that seat.
To increase or decrease seats, please contact Noreen at nglt@mac.com. If families need assistance with their applications, please ask them to contact UPK@jointinitiatives.com so that our family navigators can help.
ENROLLMENT FOR 3-YEAR-OLDS WITH IEP
In the coming school year, Special Education Administrative Units (AUs) will be responsible for the placement of children eligible for special education. Families of children with IEPs are not able to select a program or a site when submitting their application. The application goes directly to the school district or Pikes Peak BOCES to work with the family for placement. Please do not tell families to choose a specific location; BridgeCare does not allow that option. All children eligible for special education with an IEP will receive funding in accordance with their IEP and will have two ways to apply for state-funded preschool:
- Link sent to the family by their AU.
- Log into upk.colorado.gov
- Families who have a 3- or 4-year-old child (by October 1, 2024*) who has an IEP will register in the UPK system at upk.colorado.gov with the parent’s email tied to their child’s IEP. and mark that the child has an IEP.
- The school district or AU may send the family a link that will pre-populate in the UPK registration the location and program where the district/AU has a seat saved for the child.
- The registration will be sent directly to the School District or Administrative Unit (usually the school district) where the child lives for direct placement into a location and program so that the child may receive appropriate services beginning August 2024.
- The school district or AU may send the family a link that will pre-populate in the UPK registration the location and program where the district/AU has a seat saved for the child.
Families with children who will be three by October 1, 2024, (and not yet 4 by that date) who want to be served by their school district must go directly to their school district to register. These children will no longer register through the UPK system (the exception is 3-year-old children with IEPs – see above). Availability of seats varies by school district. Any family who is unsure as to their home school district may click HERE to determine their district. If you need a school district contact for preschool, view the contacts for your home school district HERE.
*Note: Some school districts have kindergarten eligibility dates that are different than October 1st. Eligibility for UPK is determined based on the kindergarten eligibility date of the child’s home school district. In El Paso County, the following school districts adhere to different eligibility dates:
- Manitou Springs School District 14 – September 1
- Edison School District 54JT – June 15
- Peyton School District – September 30
UNENROLLMENT GUIDANCE
- UNENROLLMENT: Per the provider agreement, “should a student cease enrollment or otherwise withdraw, Provider must notify the LCO within the same week of such withdrawal through the UPK Colorado Application Portal.” This includes withdrawing children who do not show up for care within one week.
- If a family is enrolled with a provider and does not show up, the provider should document communication attempts with the family and unenroll the child after one week of communication attempts.
- Providers are not able to backdate the unenrollment form but can list a future unenroll date. Providers may find it helpful to complete the unenrollment process directly after a conversation with the family, listing the future unenroll date so they don’t forget to unenroll on the last day that care is provided.
ENROLLMENT GUIDANCE FOR WALK-INS
- We understand that families may contact a provider directly (e.g., walk-in) that has not yet applied in the Universal Preschool Application Portal. In these cases, we ask the provider to work with the family to help them apply in the Application Portal the same day they contact the provider and complete the enrollment process simultaneously. The provider will email UPK@jointinitiatives.com when the application is complete, and JI will accept the match on behalf of the family on that day. Finally, the provider will complete the enrollment form for the child that same day in the Application Portal so we can ensure that the payment is correct based on the actual start date of the child.
- It is the provider’s responsibility to ensure there are enough seats available to serve walk-in students based on children in the matching queue in the Universal Preschool Application Portal. Providers must monitor declines and children in the queue before making a manual placement to ensure no children who apply through the Universal Preschool Application Portal are displaced due to manual entries.
PROVIDER PROFILE SETUP
PROVIDER PROFILE SETUP
Providers can still sign up for UPK for the 2024-25 year by completing the 2024-25 setup form available on their provider page at provider.upk.colorado.gov. View the Program Setup Form Guide HERE. Need more assistance? Contact JI’s UPK staff at UPK@jointinitiatives.org or Noreen at nglt@mac.com
▶ 2024-2025 UPK Provider Agreement
CDEC Provider Office Hours: Office hours have been scheduled every Friday in March from 3–4 pm through June 30th, with a focus on providing support needed to complete the Provider Agreement.
- Next meeting TBD.
Roundtables for Early Childhood Providers
Joint Initiatives offers Roundtables to keep early childhood providers informed about guidance from the Colorado Department of Education (CDEC), provide time for Q+A, and provide expert business consultation and training. Roundtables will be held monthly via a one-hour Zoom session. Roundtables for previous months are in the Resources section at the bottom of the page. You can also access all Roundtable videos for centers, family child care, and school districts on JI’s YouTube channel HERE.
▶ Register for the April 18th Roundtable HERE. (11 am for school districts, 1 pm for centers, and 6 pm for family child care)
UPK RESOURCES + SUPPORT
- 2024-25 UPK Provider Guide
- 2024-45 UPK Family Handbook
- Program Setup Form Guide HERE
- 2024-2025 UPK Provider Agreement
- CDEC Website: Click HERE to review the estimated enrollment timeline on the CDEC website.
- Need help determining what programs and seats you would like to offer? Contact the JI UPK staff at upk@jointinitiatives.com or Noreen at nglt@mac.com.
- Need additional support? Contact the JI UPK staff at UPK@jointinitiatives.org or Noreen at nglt@mac.com.
- Have more UPK questions? Contact the CDEC using this short form or call 303-866-5223
Qualtity Standards + Rulemaking
All information for Rulemaking, the Rules Advisory Committee, and DRAFT Quality Standards is available in our Resources section HERE.
family applications
Universal Pre-K (UPK) allows families to choose the right setting for their child, whether in a licensed community-based, school-based, or home-based preschool setting. Families of children in the year before they are eligible for kindergarten and qualifying 3-year-olds are able to apply for UPK for the 2024-25 school year.
IMPORTANT: Families only need to complete ONE UPK application per child for the 2024-25 year. If you need to make changes or are having trouble logging into your original application to make changes, please contact our Foundations team at UPK@jointinitiatives.org for assistance. It is very important that you do NOT create a second application.
THREE UPK CATEGORIES FOR CHILDREN REGISTERING:
- Continuity of Care (also known as pre-registration): Children who have Continuity of Care with a UPK provider (child currently attending, sibling currently attending, or has a family member currently employed with a UPK Provider).
- New to UPK: Child who are not currently attending at a UPK provider but would like to attend in the fall of 2024.
- Child with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
- If your child does not have an IEP and you need a school district contact for preschool, view the contacts for your home school district HERE.
- To find your home school district, here is a School Finder Search Tool.
ADDITIONAL provider resources:
- Learn more about the true cost of child care and managing finances, including revenue, monthly costs, and profit-and-loss calculations HERE.
upk for providers
Important Provider Updates
Early childhood programs act as the bridge between preschool and kindergarten and are an essential resource for families preparing to navigate this transition. Below are suggestions to help your program implement practices to ensure families have the information they need and that children are ready for this big transition. The most important thing is that children who believe in their own abilities have been found to be more successful in school.
▶ NEW! INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR UPK PROVIDERS
Infant/Toddler Bonus Grant:
- In Spring 2024, a one-time bonus (estimated at $800 – $1,600) will be awarded to Universal Preschool providers who have maintained or increased their licensed capacity to serve infants and toddlers between April 1, 2022, and April 1, 2024.
- Providers considering reallocating slots intended for four-year-olds to serve other age groups based on actual Universal Preschool enrollment levels, may be eligible to receive the one-time bonus if they convert these slots to maintain or expand their infant and toddler capacity
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The Colorado Department of Early Childhood is excited to share the updated versions of the Business Guides For Early Care And Education Providers:
- Business Guide for Family Child Care Homes (en español)
- Business Guide for Child Care Centers (en español)
Click HERE for the information below in Spanish.
The updated guides offer family child care home providers and child care centers, as well as those interested in expanding or starting new programs, a collection of resources to strengthen their small businesses. Early care and education providers are essential to the children and families they serve, their communities, and our state. The Business Guides were developed and updated, through stakeholder focus groups and feedback, to make the business side of providing early care and education services easier.
The guides are in an easy-to-navigate digital format allowing users to click on hyperlinks to access the most up-to-date information on budgeting, regulatory compliance, and other operational functions of a small business. The guides are “living documents”, which are updated at least annually with new information or resources as they become available. We encourage those accessing the document to always follow the link to ensure they are accessing the most up-to-date version. As they are a compendium of existing resources, the guides will only be in a digital format. You can also access the guides on the Colorado Department of Early Childhood website under the “For Providers” tab by selecting “Support, Resources and Guides”.
What’s new:
- NEW Universal Preschool (UPK) Colorado section: Program requirements, provider application information, and collection of helpful links.
- Updated CCCAP section: Program requirements, application process, and links to Provider Handbooks.
- Updated Head Start Suite of Services section: Program overview, eligibility information, and benefits.
- Human Resources: Health insurance, retirement, and the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program.
- Updated Time-limited Grant opportunities.
- Other business-related topics.
For each topic in the guides, we include key points family child care home and child care center providers should know or consider as small business owners. The topic sections include links to more information and resources if providers are interested in researching a topic in more detail.
Please forward this information to anyone who might be interested in the updated Business Guides for Early Care and Education Providers! If you are interested in a presentation on the guides or have any questions, please contact Marika Padilla at: Marika.Padilla@state.co.us.
These guides were developed pursuant to Colorado Shines Brighter Strategy 5.1.5.
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Coming soon for 2024-25.
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2024-25 UPK YEAR
2023-24 UPK Year
Metrix IQ is the payment vendor for UPK. All providers should have received an email from Metrix IQ asking you to complete a “survey” that is the basis for your payments. Click HERE for a sample email sent to private providers along with the payment dates. If you have any questions about payments, please contact Metrix IQ at coupkpayments@metrixiq.com.
Providers have received communication from MetrixIQ regarding the provider payment process for UPK. To access an overview of the payment process and direction on who to contact, please click this link: Payment Quick Reference.
Providers may reach out to UPK@jointinitiatives.org for specific questions and technical assistance.
On August 1, providers will receive their initial start-up payment based on their accepted matches and enrollment as of July 9. Providers will receive their first two payments based on matches made in BridgeCare before October 15. After that, monthly payments for the remainder of the school year will be based on the number of students who are enrolled and verified, as explained in the payment reference guide (linked above). Please see the payment schedule below.
Payment Date | Includes Enrollments As Of
August 1 | July 9th
September 8 | August 15 and late enrollments from July 10-August 15 (full-month rate)*
October 6 | September 15 and late enrollments from August 16-25 (half-month rate)*
November 8 | October 15 and late enrollments from September 16-25 (half-month rate)*
December 8 | November 15 and late enrollments from September 16-25 (half-month rate)*
January 8 | December 15
February 8 | January 15
March 8 | February 15
April 8 | March 15
May 8 | April 15
*Payments are structured to retroactively pay for students who did not enroll before the previous month’s data was reported. Providers who are published for UPK between July 10 and August 15 will be eligible for a full monthly August payment on the delayed schedule if children are in an accepted or enrolled status.
If you have questions about provider payments, please contact coupkpayments@metrixiq.com.
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New! Visit the new Colorado Department of Early Childhood CCCAP web page! This page has been updated to include new information and links to the recently developed CCCAP/Universal Preschool resources.
Are you a CCCAP (Colorado Child Care Assistance Program) provider and have questions about how CCCAP integrates with UPK? Contact Noreen Landis-Tyson at nglt@mac.com and plan to attend a future town hall where stacking, blending and braiding of funds will be discussed. More to come!
upk for school districts
Early childhood programs at school district locations across our community act as the bridge between preschool and kindergarten and are an essential resource for families preparing to navigate this transition. The information below details the placement of children with and without an IEP, the placement of 3-year-olds, district/AU reports and guidance, FAQs related to special education, and additional resources.
▶ 2024-25 UPK Provider Guide
Coming soon for 2024-25.
CDEC does not manage school district preschool services for three-year-olds ineligible for special education. Families with three-year-olds who do NOT have an IEP will be directed to their district for potential preschool services. Depending on available funding, three-year-olds who meet other eligibility criteria may have access to state funding. Three-year-olds who do not have an IEP will enroll and register directly with the school district and their partners.
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Resources + Rulemaking
UPK ROUNDTABLES
All Roundtable videos for centers, family child care, and school districts are available for viewing on JI’s YouTube channel HERE.
MARCH ROUNDTABLE | Slide Deck HERE
FEBRUARY ROUNDTABLE | Slide Deck HERE
JANUARY ROUNDTABLE | Slide Deck HERE
resources
UPK Newsletters
- UPK Newsletter | 3.19.24
- UPK Newsletter | 3.8.24 IMPORTANT CLARIFICATIONS
- UPK Newsletter | 3.4.24
- UPK Newsletter | 2.28.24
- UPK Colorado FAQs
Curious about the meaning of the statuses in BridgeCare? Here are the definitions of the most commonly used statuses.
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rulemaking + rac updates
DRAFT QUALITY STANDARDS
The Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) has released the Universal Preschool (UPK) Colorado Quality Standards designed to ensure that preschool services are both high quality to prepare children for kindergarten and accessible throughout the state across various provider types and program settings, including school-based, community-based, and home-based settings. The proposed UPK Quality Standards reflect statutory requirements, incorporate findings from comprehensive reviews of 26 national and Colorado-specific standards, and include input and feedback from Families, Providers, School Districts, Early Childhood Councils, and Early Childhood Community Members.
To recap, the Rules Advisory Council (RAC) met on February 8, 2024, and voted in favor of the Department promulgating the proposed Colorado Universal Preschool Program (UPK) Quality Standards rules with suggested revisions from the RAC. These revisions included: 1) removing the ratios and groups sizes from rule section 4.109(A)(2), to align with the ratios and group sizes established in the Child Care Licensing rules; and 2) revising the professional development requirements to more closely align with the number of required hours and competency areas of the Child Care Licensing rules, and amend the frequency of one-time trainings in rule section 4.114. The recommendation for revisions to the professional development requirements were more of a concept rather than proposed rule language.
On March 28, 2024, the Executive Director adopted the proposed Quality Standards rules (Adopted Redline | Adopted Clean) for the Colorado Universal Preschool Program (UPK). The adopted UPK Quality Standards rules will presumably become effective on May 30, 2024.
- Complete Rule Folder
- Quality Standards Crosswalks (previously released in Spring 2023)
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Planning, Info + Input Process
Interested in how the Community Plan was developed? The process included planning sessions, input/info sessions, and a special Town Hall. We are grateful to our early childhood community for investing their time and efforts! To revisit any of the notes, feedback, or recordings, download the Community Planning Summary.