Skills2Compete Colorado Coalition

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Every Coloradan should be able to pursue employment and upward mobility through skills training and education beyond high school.

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If Colorado lawmakers and decision-makers embraced this vision, we would have a thriving economy defined by higher wages, a larger labor force, booming businesses and low unemployment.

Skills2Compete Colorado is a multi-sector coalition that includes representatives from adult education, post-secondary education, workforce development, business and the advocacy arena. Coordinated by Colorado Center on Law and Policy, we serve as the Colorado affiliate of the National Skills Coalition. Skills2Compete Colorado promotes the policy recommendations of the Skills2Compete Advisory Committee.

Our approach

Through outreach, research and advocacy, Skills2Compete promotes policies that bridge the gap between the jobs employers offer now and in the near future and the skills that current job seekers have today. Skills2Compete focuses on skills training from adult basic education through middle-skills jobs.

Our history and progress

In 2010, Skill Build Colorado convened a Skills2Compete Advisory Committee to work with the National Skills Coalition to develop Colorado’s Forgotten Middle-Skill Jobs. Published in October 2011, the report provided the basis for educating policymakers and the public about opportunities in middle-skill jobs and the need to improve the strategic investment of resources for training in these occupations.

Since then, Skills2Compete has expanded its scope to include addressing the systemic and personal barriers to employment many Coloradans face. This includes promoting employment support services, access to adult basic education, oversight of private occupational schools, as well as the integration of basic education, skills training and job-placement entities.

 

  • In 2014, we developed and advocated for a bill that establisheda grant program for adult education providers who partner with postsecondary education and workforce programs. This program helps Colorado achieve its commitment to educating its workforce and helping families achieve self-sufficiency.
  • Together with the Colorado Adult Education Providers Association, our advocacy led the State Board of Education to recognize all three high school equivalency tests, not just the G.E.D. The change gives students more options to earn their high school diploma.
  • Coloradans with barriers to employment and facing a financial emergency while pursuing employment or job training would have access to an emergency support service fund under a bill developed by the coalition.
Skills2Compete Bill Signing
Skills2Compete

Our Meetings

The Colorado S2C Coalition meets every 4th Thursday of the month, 11:30 a.m. 1 p.m. at the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, located at 789 Sherman St. in Denver. All are welcome to attend meetings or listen. If you’d like to be added to our mailing list, please contact Laura Ware at lware@cclponline.org.

HEALTH:
HEALTH FIRST COLORADO (MEDICAID)

To maintain health and well-being, people of all ages need access to quality health care that improves outcomes and reduces costs for the community. Health First Colorado, the state's Medicaid program, is public health insurance for low-income Coloradans who qualify. The program is funded jointly by a federal-state partnership and is administered by the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing.

Benefits of the program include behavioral health, dental services, emergency care, family planning services, hospitalization, laboratory services, maternity care, newborn care, outpatient care, prescription drugs, preventive and wellness services, primary care and rehabilitative services.

In tandem with the Affordable Care Act, Colorado expanded Medicaid eligibility in 2013 - providing hundreds of thousands of adults with incomes less than 133% FPL with health insurance for the first time increasing the health and economic well-being of these Coloradans. Most of the money for newly eligible Medicaid clients has been covered by the federal government, which will gradually decrease its contribution to 90% by 2020.

Other populations eligible for Medicaid include children, who qualify with income up to 142% FPL, pregnant women with household income under 195% FPL, and adults with dependent children with household income under 68% FPL.

Some analyses indicate that Colorado's investment in Medicaid will pay off in the long run by reducing spending on programs for the uninsured.

FOOD SECURITY:
SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP)

Hunger, though often invisible, affects everyone. It impacts people's physical, mental and emotional health and can be a culprit of obesity, depression, acute and chronic illnesses and other preventable medical conditions. Hunger also hinders education and productivity, not only stunting a child's overall well-being and academic achievement, but consuming an adult's ability to be a focused, industrious member of society. Even those who have never worried about having enough food experience the ripple effects of hunger, which seeps into our communities and erodes our state's economy.

Community resources like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as Food Stamps, exist to ensure that families and individuals can purchase groceries, with the average benefit being about $1.40 per meal, per person.

Funding for SNAP comes from the USDA, but the administrative costs are split between local, state, and federal governments. Yet, the lack of investment in a strong, effective SNAP program impedes Colorado's progress in becoming the healthiest state in the nation and providing a better, brighter future for all. Indeed, Colorado ranks 44th in the nation for access to SNAP and lost out on more than $261 million in grocery sales due to a large access gap in SNAP enrollment.

See the Food Assistance (SNAP) Benefit Calculator to get an estimate of your eligibility for food benefits.

FOOD SECURITY:
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION PROGRAM FOR WOMEN, INFANTS AND CHILDREN (WIC)

Every child deserves the nutritional resources needed to get a healthy start on life both inside and outside the mother's womb. In particular, good nutrition and health care is critical for establishing a strong foundation that could affect a child's future physical and mental health, academic achievement and economic productivity. Likewise, the inability to access good nutrition and health care endangers the very integrity of that foundation.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) provides federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition information for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding postpartum women and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.

Research has shown that WIC has played an important role in improving birth outcomes and containing health care costs, resulting in longer pregnancies, fewer infant deaths, a greater likelihood of receiving prenatal care, improved infant-feeding practices, and immunization rates

Financial Security:
Colorado Works

In building a foundation for self-sufficiency, some Colorado families need some extra tools to ensure they can weather challenging financial circumstances and obtain basic resources to help them and their communities reach their potential.

Colorado Works is Colorado's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and provides public assistance to families in need. The Colorado Works program is designed to assist participants in becoming self-sufficient by strengthening the economic and social stability of families. The program provides monthly cash assistance and support services to eligible Colorado families.

The program is primarily funded by a federal block grant to the state. Counties also contribute about 20% of the cost.

EARLY LEARNING:
COLORADO CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (CCCAP)

Child care is a must for working families. Along with ensuring that parents can work or obtain job skills training to improve their families' economic security, studies show that quality child care improves children's academic performance, career development and health outcomes.

Yet despite these proven benefits, low-income families often struggle with the cost of child care. Colorado ranks among the top 10 most expensive states in the country for center-based child care. For families with an infant, full-time enrollment at a child care center cost an average of $15,140 a year-or about three-quarters of the total income of a family of three living at the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).

The Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) provides child care assistance to parents who are working, searching for employment or participating in training, and parents who are enrolled in the Colorado Works Program and need child care services to support their efforts toward self-sufficiency. Most of the money for CCCAP comes from the federal Child Care and Development Fund. Each county can set their own income eligibility limit as long as it is at or above 165% of the federal poverty level and does not exceed 85% of area median income.

Unfortunately, while the need is growing, only an estimated one-quarter of all eligible children in the state are served by CCCAP. Low reimbursement rates have also resulted in fewer providers willing to accept CCCAP subsidies.