Joint Budget Committee

To order. Welcome back, everyone. We will start our day with a hearing with the Department of early childhood. Dr. Roy, would you like to begin? Yes. Good morning, Madam Chair. Good morning. Good morning to the committee. Members of the committee, I'm Dr. Lisa Roy. I'm the Executive director for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood. And I'm fortunate to have with me Deputy Executive Director Stephanie Beasley, Chief Program Officer Mary Alice Cohen and Chief Financial Officer Jeannie Stefanik. Later in the presentation, we'll also be joined by Sarah Dawson, the CCAP Division Director, Child Care Assistance Program, Dr. Floyd Cobb, the Division Director for Community Family Services, and Don o', Dean, the universal preschool delivery Director. We're grateful for the committee's unwavering commitment to early childhood in the state of Colorado. Thank you so much. The department is focused on the sustainability of the following high priority programs and needs to continue serving serving children enrolled in the Colorado Childcare Assistance Program, Early Intervention and the Colorado Universal Preschool Program. The department wants to preserve as much funding to ensure families, children and providers continue to be supported. The department is actively doing its part to stabilize…