Parents As Teachers

For Families with children pre-natal to age 5

WHAT DOES PARENTS AS TEACHERS PROVIDE FOR YOUR FAMILY?

Parents as Teachers is a voluntary and free program that provides practical, effective help for families residing within Alamosa, Costilla, Conejos, and Saguache Counties with children prenatal to kindergarten entry. It offers:

• Personal Visits – A certified Parent Educator helps you understand each stage of your child’s development and offers practical tips on ways to encourage learning.

• Group Connections - PAT group connections provide times for parents to get together, to gain new insights and to share experiences, common concerns, and successes.

• Screenings - PAT offers periodic screening of overall development, language, hearing, and vision.

• Referral Network - PAT helps families link with special services or outside agencies, if needed.

If this program sounds like something you would like to participate in, please click the link below for more information and complete the enrollment form!

Employer Based Child Care Grant

Families in Colorado face a number of challenges accessing child care, including long wait lists, limited locations near work or home, or no local licensed child care options. These issues may worsen with increased demand for care as families return to work, population growth, and the implementation of Universal Preschool. This grant will help address these issues and build more child care capacity by providing up to $800,000 per award to support non-child care entities in constructing, remodeling, renovating, or retrofitting a child care center for its employees.

Who should apply?

Any non-child care entity, who is planning to construct, remodel, renovate, or retrofit a child care center on or near its property to provide high-quality, licensed child care to its employees.

What can the funds be used for?

Providers who apply may budget work paid by the CDEC in the following categories:

• Administrative expenses
• These expenses must be incurred during the process of building and opening a child care center; ongoing operational costs will not be covered
• Contractor/consultant expenses
• Construction materials & operating expenses

What is the application process?

Eligible entities can find the link to the application on the State of Colorado Vendor Self Service website. The application will be open for 30 days.

Join the SLV Early Childhood Stakeholders Advisory Group to get involved – our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday February 7^th at 8:00am via Zoom. Contact Sherri Valdez for more information at 719-937-4010. 

We have a rewarding career opportunity and financial supports for you! 

• Do you have a passion for teaching and supporting the healthy development of infants, toddlers, and young children? 
• Are you interested in working from the convenience of your home? 
• Do you want to start your own business?  
• Would you like to teach preschool at YOUR site for the new Universal Preschool (UPK) program? 



The Early Childhood Council of the San Luis Valley will be offering an orientation on how to become a licensed family child care home provider. 

This will take place on Tuesday, February 7th, from 5:00-6:00 pm via Zoom. We will cover the process, the cash incentives, grants, UPK and other key points for licensing. Contact us to register or if you have any questions. 

Please call the Council at 719-937-4010, email Amanda Atencio at [email protected].