MCH Digest

December 2025

Developmental Screening to Referral Annual Snapshot

By: Michele Coates, MA, Early Childhood Systems Specialist, Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN) Section

By: Eileen Auer Bennett, MBA, Executive Director of Assuring Better Child Health & Development (ABCD)

Medical cross with text: In 2024, 71% of children enrolled in Medicaid completed 1 of the 3 recommended developmental screenings. Only 50% of children currently received all 3 recommended developmental screenings.

While Colorado remains in the top tier amongst states for developmental screening rates, significant barriers exist in the process for families from completion of developmental and behavioral screening to receiving an evaluation for early intervention services. The data indicates that only half of children eligible to be screened are receiving screening services.

To more closely assess these challenges, an interagency group of partners agreed that more integrated data system linkages would be of benefit to further support meaningful communication from the time of referral throughout the evaluation process. An internal data dashboard was developed to compile screening and referral data from Colorado's early intervention program, Colorado’s state Medicaid program, and Colorado’s HealthySteps Program, an evidence-based, early childhood integrated behavioral health model embedded in primary care clinics.

House icon with heart inside with text: Across Colorado, approximately 7% of the 0-3 population is referred to early intervention. This number is comparable across most categories of race and ethnicity.

A public facing "Screening to Referral Annual Snapshot" is now available with identified data points from the internal version to highlight system opportunities for further collaboration and codesign of support for families within our shared systems. The goal is to advise community efforts to increase early identification and intervention processes, promote system-wide collaboration for efficient screening and referral processes while identifying and addressing barriers.

Collected Data

The Developmental Screening to Referral Annual Snapshot displays data from Early Intervention Colorado (Colorado Department of Early Childhood), Health Care Policy & Finance (HCPF) and HealthySteps (Assuring Better Child Health & Development, ABCD) to showcase Colorado’s efforts in increasing meaningful access to developmental screening and improved referral outcomes.

Project Goals

The purpose of the Developmental Screening to Referral Annual Snapshot is to tell a shared story, identify gaps and improve systems that support successful developmental screening and referral rates, positive family outcomes and increased access to supports and services.

Comparative analysis will be conducted between referral sources to determine successful strategies and programs in order to develop key recommendations that support system collaboration and change.

Data to Action

The intent in sharing this data is to encourage and promote the actions that stakeholders should take to enhance early identification and intervention processes, promote system-wide collaboration for efficient screening and referral and enhance coordination while identifying and addressing barriers.

Click the infographic to see an enlarged view of "Key action items to achieve our state's objectives related to early childhood development."

Currently, this iteration of the Snapshot only displays static data at the state level from the previous year which helps to both ensure and maintain confidentiality as well as protect personal identifying information especially within the smaller counties.

This project is an interagency partnership that will continue to expand and add data sources based on feedback. If you would like to learn more please feel free to reach out to Michele Coates with questions or comments.

Events

CPHA Health Advocacy & Policy Summit - Roots of Change: Building Health Policy from the Ground Up. February 7. 2026. CSU Spur, 4777 National Western Dr, Denver, CO. Register for the CPHA Summit here .

AMCHP 2026. March 7 - 10, 2025. Washington, DC. Early bird registration for AMCHP is open.

Culture of Data. April 15 - 17, 2026. Submit abstracts through January 9, 2026. Registration for Culture of Data is now open.

Public Health in the Rockies. September 22 - 24, 2026. Save the Date.

LPHA Corner

Pueblo MCH Team partners with Emergency Responders

The Pueblo County MCH program recently hosted an "Engage, Calm, and Distract" presentation for local first responders. The purpose of the training was to better prepare frontline responders for how to navigate children in acute crisis or emergency situations. Mary Ellen Turner and Kevin Braney are Pediatric Disaster Behavioral Health Specialists from CDPHE who served as instructors for the course. In the training, they broke down neurotypical vs. neurodivergent responses based on age, and participants were given a copy of the Pediatric Emotional Distress Response System (PEDRS) quick guides.

To ensure that they had a wide range of first responders at the table, the Pueblo team asked the local Emergency Manager, Josh Johnson, if they could have the course at the Emergency Services Bureau. The ESB routinely sets aside one day per month for joint training with first responders and they wanted to capitalize on that cadence as much as possible. Josh also emailed the county listserv with contacts at our local law enforcement, fire, EMS, disaster and behavioral health organizations and we also distributed the flyers for the class through our public health distribution lists as well.

In the end, there were 21 first responders that attended from five different counties. To objectively measure knowledge of the subject pre to post-presentation, they administered surveys to attendees and compared the baseline results with the responses after the course. Overall, the response to this type of training was incredibly positive and Pueblo/CDPHE was asked to host additional sessions of Engage, Calm, Distract in the near future.

In Pueblo County, the MCH team also facilitates the Child Fatality Prevention/Review Team, and law enforcement and EMS are highly involved in that group as well. This allows for the responder partners to hear the circumstances of cases they have often responded to, as well as the full view of the circumstances leading to the death of that specific child. This ultimately prompts discussion around prevention strategies that can be implemented in the community. The Pueblo team then asks at the end of each meeting which agencies have the capacity to take on which specific prevention strategies.

Amazing work Pueblo team partnering with the frontline responders in your county!

🎄⛄❄️🛷 Happy Holidays from the Local Support Team!

It is with immense gratitude for everything our local partners do in their communities that we wish you a joyful holiday season and a happy new year.

Kaylan

Reid

Sarah Kay

Grants and Other Funding

Office of Gun Violence Prevention Mini-Grants

CDPHE's Office of Gun Violence Prevention is accepting applications for mini-grants that will fund projects to prevent childhood firearm fatalities across Colorado. This funding opportunity is for Local Public Health Agencies and local education providers only.

This initiative is informed by the Childhood Fatality Prevention System data and recommendations. The maximum allocation is $10,000 per organization, and CDPHE plans to award a maximum of $200,000 in total funding. Funding is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Applications are reviewed and awarded on a rolling basis. The program will close on Dec. 30, 2025, or when all funds have been awarded, whichever comes first. The grant is cost-reimbursable only; recipients must cover expenses upfront and submit a request for reimbursement by June 30, 2026.

Learn more and apply for the mini-grant funding opportunity.

Reach out to Lisa Ciazza with questions.

Newsletters

Human Impact Partners News

Colorado Children’s Campaign KidsFlash Blog

Family Matters Newsletter

Public Health Foundation E-News

Our Voice: Colorado’s Early Childhood Newsletter

Maternal Wellness Newsletter

HCP Blast Newsletter

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The Title V Maternal and Child Health Program (MCH) works with statewide partners and local public health agency representatives to improve the health of Coloradans using population-based and infrastructure-building strategies. Our mission is to optimize the health and well-being of mothers and children by employing primary prevention and early intervention public health strategies.

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Colorado Maternal and Child Health Block Grant 6 B04MC45202. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.

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