This series aims to unpack why child care costs have become so high for both families and providers and will also explore what it will take to make child care affordable and widely available across the state.
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Learn the basics
Search for care
Work the system
At RB Fast’s new child care center in Arvada, everything is almost ready.
Bright murals are painted on the walls. Heavy fire doors to comply with regulations are installed. Plywood cubbies are being assembled.
Still absent are kids, but that will change quickly once the center opens later this spring. Fast, a veteran child care center owner and consultant, already has a list of families waiting to attend, and more will surely arrive when they hear about the remaining available slots. In fact, the owner of a neighboring child care with more interest than spaces has already been in touch.
“As soon as he found out I was coming, he was calling me asking when he could start sending families to me,” said Fast, who also owns a center in Denver’s Westwood neighborhood.
Child care center operator RB Fast poses for a portrait in the nearly finished Westwood Academy Arvada. (Andy Colwell, Special to The Colorado Sun)That provides a glimpse of how tough it can be for families to find a child care spot in some communities — and, oh, how I wish I understood that when my wife and I were expecting our first child.
Instead, we did what most first-timers do. We planned. We failed. We panicked.
The color-coded spreadsheet of options I created stretched to 33 centers, and almost none of them would have space for us, even though our kid was still six months from being born. (The one center that did have space was a 30-minute drive in the opposite direction from work.)
We were given various waitlist lengths: 12 months, 18 months, 24+ months. For one, I just wrote down a direct quote from the owner: “We have a lot of current families who are expecting, and we do give priority to siblings, so they are taking up all the spots.”
We ended up on eight waitlists, most of which required an application fee, at a total cost of close to $1,000. And still no child care. When I reached out to a friend for advice, she wrote back: “Man, infant care — what a pain in the ass.”
A Colorado Sun seriesThis series aims to unpack why child care costs have become so high for both families and providers and will also explore what it will take to make child care affordable and widely available across the state.
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But now I know it didn’t have to be this way.
There are some things you can learn and do to help navigate the system if not less painfully at least less frantically. And this guide is here to help.
Below we break down the different types of care available, how to search for it, what questions to ask, and what rules exist to help you. Some things have changed since my experience, like the rules around those waitlist fees. We’ll offer some tips from experts like Fast, and we’ll provide links so you can find more information.
No matter what age your child is, finding care can feel like one of your biggest — and perhaps first — tests as a parent. So take a deep breath. This requires persistence and determination, but you can do it. And there are a lot of people ready to help.
Step 1: First things first
Let’s talk about the different types of care.
Child care centers
These are little schools for little humans. They are licensed and inspected by the state. They have state-certified teachers and, typically, separate rooms for kids of different ages.
Each of those rooms has its own ratio of kids to teachers, which explains why infant care is so hard to find but space becomes more plentiful as kids get older:
Infants, ages 6 weeks to at least 12 months: 1 teacher per 5 kids Toddlers, ages 12 months to 36 months: 1 teacher per 5 kids, except if it’s a room only of kids ages 24 months to 36 months, then 1 teacher per 7 kids. Children, ages 3 years to 4 years: 1 teacher per 10 kids Children, ages 4 years to 5 years: 1 teacher per 12 kids Children, ages 5 years and up: 1 teacher per 15 kidsMost child care centers operate with standard business hours, starting in the morning and going into the afternoon, though the exact schedule varies from center to center. Some offer part-time slots — say, three days a week or mornings only — while others offer only full-time care.
RB Fast culls broken crayons — a choking hazard for young children — from a newly opened box as she readies art supplies inside Westwood Academy Arvada. (Andy Colwell, Special to The Colorado Sun)Family child care homes
These are sometimes called home day cares — they are usually operated out of someone’s house. But, despite the more casual setting, they are also licensed and inspected by the state. And they also have their own rules on capacity.
Typically that means family child care homes can have up to six kids with no more than two kids under the age of 2. But more experienced providers can obtain different licenses that allow for more kids. If you are considering this option, feel free to ask the provider what type of license they have and what the requirements are.
Similar to child care centers, family child care homes typically operate on standard schedules.
Nannies and au pairs
These are child care providers who work out of your home. Depending on the specifics of your arrangement, this may be a more expensive option than a licensed provider.
Au pairs are typically from another country and are placed through an agency — they live with you, so you provide room and board, as well as a stipend in addition to agency fees. Nannies typically live outside your home and are paid an hourly wage or salary.
They provide highly flexible care if you work nonstandard hours — for instance, if you need child care overnight — or if a licensed provider isn’t right for you. But they also come with added considerations. Au pairs, for instance, are limited to no more than 45 hours of work per week, and their work visa lasts for typically only a year, though it can be extended.
When hiring a nanny, you become an employer. That means you will likely want to get an official employer identification number and draw up an employment contract (though some nannies will have their own). Also make sure you pay the necessary employer taxes and check whether you’re insured against an accident — if not, you may need to beef up your homeowner’s coverage or look into workers comp insurance. Special nanny payroll services providers can help with navigating all of this.
Not sure you can afford a nanny on your own? Nanny shares are popular options — that’s when two families go in together to hire a nanny to watch both families’ kids. Just be sure you get along well with the other family and set shared ground rules.
Nannies are not licensed in Colorado, so be sure to conduct your own background check and contact references. Ask about what types of kids they have taken care of before — especially if your child has special needs — and what kinds of activities they do with the kids.
Services like Care.com provide directories for nannies in your area, but many families also find providers through Facebook or word of mouth.
Head Start
These programs provide free child care to Colorado’s most vulnerable children from birth to age 5, with an emphasis on serving:
Families living below the federal poverty line. In 2026, this means an annual income below $21,640 for a family of two or $33,000 for a family of four. If you receive other forms of assistance, such as SNAP, that is an indication you may be eligible. Families who are homeless Children living in foster care Children with special needsMost often, this care takes place in child care centers throughout Colorado, but the available slots in any given county are limited.
To learn more, go to the Colorado Department of Early Childhood’s Head Start page. The application process typically involves searching for a center in your county and contacting it.
President Donald Trump’s administration has attempted to block immigrant children in the country without authorization from Head Start programs, but that order has been paused by the courts.
Universal preschool
Also known as UPK in Colorado, this is an early jump on schooling to get kids ready for kindergarten, with the state helping to pick up the tab. It is available both through public school preschool programs and programs at child care centers.
Use this online lookup to find schools participating in Colorado’s universal preschool program.
Children are typically eligible during the school year in which most will turn 5 (i.e., they start as a 4-year-old and end as a 5-year-old). But the exact cutoff date varies by school district.
Use this spreadsheet compiled by the state to look up the birthdate range for UPK eligibility for this school year. You may need to scroll to the right to see the range. You’re looking for the “UPK Eligible Birthday Range” column.
You’ll notice there is also a range given for 3-year-old eligibility. Contact your school district for more information on whether a pre-preschool program is offered and whether you qualify.
The state will pay for up to 15 hours of preschool through the UPK program.
You may also qualify for more hours if your family is low-income (up to 270% of the federal poverty line, so $58,428 per year for a family of two and $89,100 for a family of four) or if your child has other educational disadvantages. Go to the state’s website for a complete list.
Bubbles fill the air as children play outside at Warren Village on April 2 2026, in Denver. (Andy Colwell, Special to The Colorado Sun)Friends and family
Aside from parents, relatives are the most common caretakers for infants in Colorado, according to one survey.
“There are a lot of informal systems,” said Mathangi Subramanian, the director of early childhood policy for the Colorado Children’s Campaign, which advocates for children’s issues and takes a special interest in child care.
Family members, obviously, do not have to be licensed to provide care in Colorado. But there are training programs, both online and in-person, available through the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition. These programs teach about child development, educational curriculum and safety. They can also be a springboard to further work in the child care industry.
Short of that, experts I talked with recommended that anybody providing care for young kids take a first aid and CPR course. These are offered by hospitals, schools, rec centers or other trainers approved by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood.
Also be sure to insist that the care setting is up to your standards. If you have an infant, what is the plan for safe sleep? Are you OK with how your friend or relative handles frustrating situations? Are you on the same page when it comes to health, nutrition, screen time, discipline and other basic parenting questions? Who else will be in the house while your child is there?
Unlicensed day cares
Big red flag.
There are many kind-hearted, good-with-children people in our communities who just want to take care of kids without the hassle of government regulation. But there have also been horrific instances in Colorado when kids were hurt in unlicensed care homes that weren’t following the kinds of rules that licensed providers have to.
As the state writes on its website: “When families select unlicensed, illegal care for their children, they are taking a risk. … These programs have not proven that they provide a healthy and safe environment for children.”The state maintains a searchable database of cease and desist letters sent to unlicensed providers so you can check whether your potential provider is included.
Step 2: Hunt and gather
All right, it’s advice time. What do you need to know to actually find child care?
RB Fast, the child care center owner, said it pays to have friends. At the park, at the gym, on the stroller circuit, in the diaper aisle at Walmart. They all can be sources of information on child care options.
“The more you get connected with your immediate community, the more likely you are to find something that’s going to work well for your family,” she said.
Let’s dig into some common questions. We’re going to be talking here about finding child care in centers or family care homes, since those can be the most difficult to access.
How do I find child care options?
Your home base is going to be a website called Colorado Shines.
The website has a search tool where you can look up child care providers either by proximity to your address or by the name of the program. (Heads up, it seems to work better on a desktop computer than on a phone.)
unitedwaydenver.org/child-care-request/If you prefer, you can also call Colorado Shines’ referral line at 877-338-2273. Or you can fill out an online request form with the referral line, which is operated by Mile High United Way.
A screenshot from the Colorado Shines website. The circle highlights the site’s search function to find child care programs. (via ColoradoShines.com)Once you’ve conducted your search, you’ll get a list of options. (You can also click a “view map of results” button.) For each center, there will be information about its location, what ages it serves, what its hours of operation are and more.
Most centers will also have a quality rating on a scale of one to five. The rating is compiled from assessments of the center’s health and safety practices, its staff training, its learning environment, its business practices, and its communication with families.
“The quality rating process is not just like a stamp; it’s a very thorough process,” Fast said.
How do I pick between centers?
Fast said the best thing parents can do is take a tour of the center, especially during school hours.
“A great website doesn’t necessarily mean a great program,” she said.
A tour will give you a sense of the center’s overall vibe and culture. You can see how teachers are interacting with kids. You can see what learning materials or instruction methods they use. You can better understand how a typical day goes.
“Your child will spend more waking hours in the program, potentially, than they do weekdays at home, right?” she said. “So really just getting a sense of the energy of the space.”
What are warning signs to watch for?
Fast said parents should trust their instincts and pay attention to the basics.
“I think those adult-child interactions are one of the most essential things to pay attention to,” she said. “And then the other thing to pay attention to is cleanliness and orderliness.”
So, watch for how attentive the teachers are to the kids. Are they patient? Use of raised voices would be a red flag to Fast.
Are kids getting their faces wiped after eating? Are they being directed to hand-washing stations? Is the room tidy? Clutter is both a tripping and a potential choking hazard. Is the furniture in good condition or is it raggedy in a way that could cause injury? Are the floors and walls clean? Does it smell clean?
Some things will also be up to your personal preference, like screen time. Do you want a center that uses tablets as part of its instruction methods? Or do you want a screen-free room? Do you want your child to have a more structured curriculum? Or would you prefer they have more freedom to learn on their own timeline?
Fast said it’s also worthwhile to ask about how the center treats its staff — does it offer benefits and paid time off? Centers that don’t can have higher teacher turnover, which may be disruptive to your kid.
How do I find a center’s discipline record?
Back to home base: Colorado Shines.
Search for the center or family child care home you are interested in. Then click the “view details” button at the bottom of its listing. On the next page, scroll to the bottom where you’ll see five circled numbers, 1 through 5.
We’ll give an example for Westwood Academy, which is one of the centers Fast owns.
A screenshot from the Colorado Shines website. The circle highlights where to click to read inspection reports for a given child care facility. (via ColoradoShines.com)If you click each of those numbers, you will see reports that are available in those categories. There will also be information about the different types of reports:
Inspection reports are generally reports on the annual, surprise inspection each facility receives. Those are called “supervisory” reports. Other reports may document changes in ownership or could be an indication the facility has been submitted for discipline. Complaints made against the program are reports done after a parent, staff member or someone else lodged a complaint. If the complaint is described as “founded,” that means inspectors concluded the center violated regulations. Investigations following child abuse/neglect assessments are more serious investigations that come after someone makes an allegation of abuse against a facility. They are listed as “Stage II” investigations because county human services agencies conduct the initial investigation. Again, reports labeled “founded” mean there was enough evidence to support the allegation, while those labeled “unfounded” means there wasn’t. Investigation of injuries reported at the program detail injuries that the center is required to report to the state — basically, anything requiring medical attention. These are often a result of kids being kids: tripping, falling, running into things or each other. But inspectors also look for hazards that may have contributed to the injury, like uneven flooring or inadequate supervision. Actions impacting the status of the program license lists the most serious kinds of enforcement the state can take. This includes placing centers on probation, issuing fines, suspending the center’s license or revoking it. The state also maintains a list of child care centers recently ordered to be shut down.In many of these reports, inspectors may also document violations they spot on the fly when they visit a facility.
What kind of violations should I worry about most?
Trust your gut on what seems most worrying to you. But almost no center is going to have a completely clean record.
Colorado’s child care regulations are voluminous, and seemingly small things can result in violations — missing paperwork documenting a staff member’s training or not raking playground mulch to maintain the required 6 inches of coverage. Other things, like cleaning spray being left out where a kid could get it, can often be corrected immediately.
“What you want to be careful for,” Fast said, “is significant supervision issues like, a child was left on the playground alone, or harsh treatment of children.”
Repeat violations are especially concerning, she said, and frequent preventable injuries are also worth noting. When in doubt, ask the center about your concerns.
When should I start looking for child care?
Fast’s advice is to start early.
“If you want care for your infant, as soon as you are comfortable disclosing that you are expecting, you should start getting on waitlists,” she said.
That exact moment may look different for different parents. Fast said some parents may choose to wait until later in the pregnancy to make sure everything is going well. Others may call as soon as they get a positive test.
Sometimes, Fast said, the pregnancy may end tragically, and families call to remove their names from the waitlist. If that happens, they should know that centers have experience dealing with those situations.
“You’re going to get a very compassionate response,” she said.
What should I know about waitlists?
If you are searching for infant care, you are highly likely to be met with waitlists. This is especially true if you live in a higher-income neighborhood or community, Fast said. It is not uncommon in those areas to have waitlists that are up to two years long.
You should also know that waitlists may not be exactly what they seem.
“There’s no common waitlist culture or structure,” Fast said.
Some may be simple first-on, first-off queues. Others, she said, may be more like wait pools.
“They just have a group of applications, and they’re looking for a child that’s the right age and gender to keep the room balanced,” she said.
Many centers also offer priority to the kids of their staff members and to siblings of kids who are already enrolled. When signing up on a waitlist, ask the provider how it works and if they have projections on how long it will take to get a spot.
Fast recommends keeping a running list or a spreadsheet of different centers with their waitlist lengths and policies just to keep it all straight.
Click here for more tips on navigating waitlists.
Click here to learn more about new rules around waitlist fees.
Preschooler Azriel Evans gets a high five at Little Eagles Child Development Center in southeast Colorado Springs. (Mark Reis, Special to The Sun)Step 3: Work it. Work it.
You’re almost there! Now that you’ve found some options and made some applications, it’s time to work the system to get the resources that are available to you.
This section will have tips on available benefits and financial support, as well as regulations that protect consumers.
Family leave
The very first child care is the care parents provide in the hours, weeks and months after birth.
Most child care centers don’t take children until they are at least 6 weeks old. But state law now guarantees many parents a minimum of 12 weeks of at least partially paid leave through the FAMLI insurance program.
Eligibility: To be eligible, you need to have paid premiums into the FAMLI program, typically out of your paycheck. (Check your paystub. On mine, the premium shows up as “Colorado Family and Medical Leave Insurance.”)
This is a tax that’s assessed automatically as part of state law, so don’t assume you’re ineligible if you weren’t aware of it. However, the law does allow local governments to opt their employees out of the program, so if you work for a local government, ask your HR department.
You also need to have $2,500 in total wages within Colorado during the previous five calendar quarters to qualify. Check the state website for more eligibility questions.
New parents — whether through birth, adoption or foster placement — are eligible for 12 weeks of parental bonding leave. If you experience a complicated pregnancy, you are eligible for an additional four weeks, bringing the total to 16. And, new this year, if your child requires care in a neonatal unit or some other higher level of care, you can receive up to 12 more weeks while that care is ongoing.
This is important: These benefits apply to both mothers and fathers or other partners. And, for bonding leave, benefits just have to be used within 12 months of the child’s birth, adoption or placement. So you can stack them — one parent takes their 12 weeks, then the next takes theirs — to create a longer period of time off for at least one parent. FAMLI also allows for intermittent leave or for working a reduced schedule. You may also be able to use FAMLI in conjunction with FMLA or any family leave plan your employer has to create longer leave.
Payment: FAMLI doesn’t cover your full salary. It works on a sliding scale based on your income, with lower incomes receiving a higher percentage of coverage and higher salaries receiving a lower percentage. Use the program’s benefits calculator to estimate how much you would receive. Your employer may have a policy to supplement FAMLI benefits to get you closer to full coverage, so check with them, too.
Job protection: For people who are eligible, FAMLI offers job protection once you have been with your employer for six months. The law also protects against retaliation for taking FAMLI leave.
Financial assistance
Families with lower incomes may be eligible for subsidies to help pay for child care through the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program. The program is also known as CCAP, an acronym pronounced SEA-CAP.
Not all centers accept CCAP. To find out which ones do, look at their listing on Colorado Shines. Again, we’ll use Fast’s Westwood Academy as an example here.
A screenshot from the Colorado Shines website. The circle highlights where to look to see if a child care center is part of the Colorado Child Care Assistance program. (via ColoradoShines.com)Eligibility varies by county. Use this spreadsheet from the state to look up whether your monthly income fits within the eligibility rules for your county.
You can apply online for CCAP using Colorado Peak, the same portal people use to sign up for Medicaid or SNAP benefits. You can also apply by mail. More information is available under the “How to apply” heading on the state’s website.
Here’s the bummer: A bunch of counties either have CCAP waitlists or enrollment freezes right now, affecting thousands of children. Check this spreadsheet to see if your county is one of them.
“There’s a real problem with our subsidy system,” said Subramanian, the Colorado Children’s Campaign’s early childhood expert. “There’s a real lack of investment and funding.”
Some providers, like Fast, have chosen to offer scholarships to families who are frozen out by the enrollment freezes. If you are eligible for CCAP but your county has a freeze, ask your chosen provider if they offer other kinds of assistance.
Navigating waitlists at centers or day cares
Switching to a different kind of waitlist, let’s talk about how to manage the queue to get into a child care center.
Fast, the center owner, said to ask about waitlist management during your tour. Does the center provide regular updates or is it on you to call to check on your place in line? How often should you check? Fast said, while centers shouldn’t punish inquisitive parents, you don’t want to be so intense that the center gets the impression you would stress the staff if they enrolled your kid.
One other thing to know: A lot of centers operate more or less on a standard school year. If they’re pretty much full, then the main way they create new spaces is when the older kids go off to kindergarten or preschool at the end of the summer. That allows everyone else in the school to move up a room, opening up new spots in the infant room or in older rooms with higher teacher-to-kid ratios.
This could influence the timing of when you come off the waitlist.
New rules on waitlist fees
Some centers may charge a fee to get on the waitlist. These may also be called an application fee or a tuition deposit. Others may not charge them at all.
Starting this year, the rules around them have changed. Remember that nearly $1,000 my wife and I paid to get on waitlists? Under a new state law, we would have been entitled to a refund of most of it.
The law says that if you have not been offered a slot within six months of applying and paying a fee, you can request a refund. The request must be made in writing to the child care center — email is fine.
Note that the requirement is to be offered a slot, not being enrolled. If you are offered a spot and decline, you are not entitled to a refund.
The refund amount is also not 100% of what you paid. Child care providers are allowed to retain up to $25 to cover administrative costs.
Finding care when you can’t find care
If you have called all the options in your neighborhood, and you still can’t find available child care, it’s time to expand the search.
This is when some families — mine included — start investigating nanny shares or other options. Other families expand the search radius. If there’s no care in your immediate community, what about the next one or two over if you’re able to swing the commute?
An unintended consequence of the enrollment freezes in the CCAP program is that families in higher-income neighborhoods may be able to find more choices by looking in lower-income neighborhoods. Fast said her center in Denver operated with a business model that leaned on CCAP enrollment. But now that Denver is on a CCAP freeze, she is looking to recruit families from outside the neighborhood who can pay full price.
“If you’re in a higher-income neighborhood, you’re probably looking at really long waitlists,” she said. “If you’re willing to drive into a lower-income neighborhood, you can probably find a spot if you can pay full tuition.”
Preschoolers draw with chalk at the Bob Sakata Education Campus in Brighton. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)Additional resources
A few more links you may find helpful.
If you want help navigating the universal preschool program … you can contact the Local Coordinating Organization for your county or school district. Use this spreadsheet to find the one for your community.
If you want a list of more questions to ask when looking for child care … use these checklists the state has put together. The checklists cover:
General questions to ask any provider Questions to ask child care centers Questions to ask family child care homes Questions to ask unlicensed providers, such as friends, family or neighborsIf you want more information on child care, as well as child development and parenting resources … visit the state’s Raising Colorado Kids site.
And you’ve made it to the end of the guide! Take another deep breath.
Navigating the child care system is hard for everybody. As Jackie Zubrzycki, the vice president of communications at the Colorado Children’s Campaign, said when we spoke, “Everyone feels like this is their own problem and they’re struggling to piece it together.”
But, in truth, you have a lot of company, no matter who you are or what your situation is. And that means there are a lot of people to lean on for help, support and encouragement.
Feel free to reach out if we missed something: johningold@coloradosun.com.
And best of luck in your search. You’ve got this.
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