COLORADO'S PROGRESS ON THE PRENATAL-TO-3 STATE POLICY ROADMAP
The Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap guides state leaders on the most effective investments to ensure all children thrive from the start. Since the 2020 Roadmap, Colorado newly implemented a paid family and medical leave program and increased the generosity of both the state minimum wage and refundable state earned income tax credit. Colorado is one of 10 states that has implemented all four effective Roadmap policies.
Colorado expanded access to comprehensive screening and connection programs, newly implemented Medicaid coverage for community-based doula services, and took steps to increase access to child care subsidies. The state continued support for evidence-based home visiting programs, Early Intervention services, and policies to reduce administrative burden for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Because of state and federal investments, a parent earning the minimum wage with two children in Colorado has approximately $54,300 in total resources available to them in 2024, up from $32,700 in 2020.
WHAT PROGRESS HAS COLORADO MADE IN IMPLEMENTING EFFECTIVE ROADMAP POLICIES?
WHAT PROGRESS HAS COLORADO MADE IN INCREASING ACCESS TO EFFECTIVE ROADMAP POLICIES AND STRATEGIES?
Visit the United States summary for information on the broader nationwide progress since the 2020 Roadmap toward full and equitable implementation of each of the 12 Roadmap policies and strategies.
HOW DO COLORADO’S POLICY CHOICES IMPACT FAMILY RESOURCES?
State policy choices do not operate in isolation from one another. Instead, they interact to create a system of support for children and families that varies significantly state-by-state. Our Policy Impact Calculator demonstrates this variation and illustrates the impact of policy choices on family resources over time.
In Colorado, a parent earning the minimum wage with two children has $54,330 in total resources available to them in 2024, up from $32,703 in 2020.
- Change in total resources due to state policies: + $21,301
- Change in total resources due to federal policies: + $326
To learn more about the impact that each effective policy and strategy has on the eight prenatal-to-3 policy goals, the choices that states can make to effectively implement them, the progress states have made in the past year toward implementation, and how states compare to each other in their generosity and reach of the policies and strategies, check out the 2024 Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap.
