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Pitkin County to draft testimony on proposed CCAP rule changes that would shift oversight to state agency
Summary
Staff asked the board to authorize a county letter of testimony to the Colorado rulemaking process for CCAP, citing concerns that proposed fiscal-oversight rules would reduce county flexibility, change performance-contract rules and risk mid‑year budget changes that could affect local providers and families.
County staff briefed commissioners on a Colorado rulemaking process that would change fiscal‑oversight rules for the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). Kelly Medina told the board the state is proposing rule changes that, in staff’s view, could move authority away from counties toward the Colorado Department of Early Childhood and introduce ambiguous oversight language and operational guardrails that may conflict with existing statute.
Staff described concrete concerns: the proposed rules could permit the state to change county budgets mid‑year if allocations are not spent as anticipated; they could limit county ability to “buy back” dollars from partners in other counties; and they could complicate provider budgeting and the local childcare workforce by introducing uncertainty during the fiscal year. Kelly Medina said the rule changes could exacerbate family‑facing access problems and workforce instability rather than remedy them.
Commissioners supported drafting a letter of testimony and asked staff to route the draft to the county attorney’s office for legal review before submission (staff said the second hearing is scheduled May 28 and written testimony could be submitted in the coming days). Staff also said they had draft language from other counties to use as a template and would seek board review at the next meeting prior to filing the final testimony.
No formal vote was taken; staff will prepare a draft for legal review and return the draft for commissioner review prior to the May 28 deadline.
