Act 198 of 2021 enacted R.S. 17:407.23(E) and requires the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to coordinate data relative to the early childhood care and education network in order to evaluate the network. This report will assist legislators in evaluating the effectiveness of the network. As a result of this report,…

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is part of the National Preparedness System and supports the National Response Framework. NIMS puts forth a systematic approach to collaborating across disciplines and all levels of government to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from threats and hazards that impact the…

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to demonstrate far-reaching impact on individuals, families, and communities. Emerging research highlights the detrimental impact of the pandemic on perinatal mental health. Warm Connections is a behavioral health program embedded in Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,…

Three primary rounds of COVID relief funding were provided to Colorado between March 2020 and March 2021. These federal funding sources were: (1) the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020; (2) the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act in December 2020; and (3) the American Rescue…

In July 2025, President Trump signed the Republican-led H.R. 1, the "One Big Beautiful Bill" (OBBB) into law. The new law is a sweeping tax and spending package that forgoes trillions in federal revenues to award tax cuts to the wealthy while stripping essential care and protections from women and families. While implementation of the…

Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA; P.L. 89-329, as amended) authorizes the operation of three federal student loan programs: the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) program, the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program, and the Federal Perkins Loan program. While new loans are currently authorized to be made only…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released an update to the nutrition standards schools must meet in the breakfasts and lunches served to more than 30 million children. The last time USDA fully updated school meal standards was in 2012. Research on the impact of those changes found that the nutritional quality of school meals…

Research has shown that male teachers in early childhood settings play a crucial role in providing male role models, offering diverse perspectives, and helping children develop positive gender-role stereotypes. Therefore, it is crucial for Early Head Start programs to increase the representation of male teachers to ensure that all children can…

This guidance is intended to clarify that the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) in 45 C.F.R. Part 1302 Subpart C--Education and Child Development Program Services are required for preschool programs supported with funds under Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA); and provide…

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) is an investment of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences. Its purpose is to provide educators, policymakers, researchers, and the public with a central and trusted source of scientific evidence on what works in education. The WWC's goal is to produce high-quality products that help…

The purpose of this document is to provide timely and useful best practice information to help education agencies understand the different uses and benefits of School Courses for the Exchange of Data (SCED). This guide was developed to provide a brief overview of SCED, highlight the research application and benefits of SCED to users, and…

The federal government has a long history of investing in programs for feeding children, starting with federal aid for school lunch programs in the 1930s. Today, federal child nutrition programs support food served to children in schools and a variety of other settings. This report starts with an overview of child nutrition programs' funding…

The recent passage of H.R. 1 by a partisan Congress chooses billionaires over babies, and puts children in unprecedented peril. This Issue Brief describes some of the many ways that H.R. 1 will hurt children in the U.S. and even around the world in the very near term and in the years to come, including that it: (1) Cuts $1 trillion from Medicaid…

The House has passed a budget reconciliation bill that supporters are referring to as a "one big, beautiful bill." However, the authors of this Issue Brief believe that this budget bill threatens the health and nutrition of millions of children and pushes millions of children into poverty in order to provide tax credits for corporations,…

When Coloradans get their ballots in the mail this fall, they could potentially vote on two measures that would have disastrous consequences for Colorado kids and families if passed. Initiatives 108 and 50 would dramatically limit the resources available for critical services and programs that support children and their families at the state and…