AFK is dedicated to making El Paso County the best place to raise a child. The Alliance for Kids will serve as a
vehicle that brings together agencies and individuals to work collaboratively on a seamless system of care for young children
and their families in El Paso County.
Alliance for Kids Council Meeting Minutes
April 6, 2016
2:30 – 4:00 pm at 2340 Robinson St., Room 224/225
Members Present:
Co-Chairs: Noreen Landis-Tyson (CPCD); Jen Filonowich (Ruth Washburn)
Members: Lois Arndt; Colleen Batchelor (The Resource Exchange); Melissa Caron (Early Connections);
Veronica Clayton (Creekside Kids); Nicole Esparza-Aviles (DHS); Mary Estrada (CPCD); Shelley
Ettleman (Ellicott Preschool); Maggie Ginnetti (PPUW); Jacci Gooden (Princeton Academy); Kate Hatten
(Peak Military Care Network); Stacy Holmes (Ruth Washburn); Deana Hunt (PPUW); Evan Kendrick
(PPLD): Linda Knight (District 12); Lynda LaCoste (District 11); Sam Lockhart (Creative Play Centers);
Megan McGrath (AspenPointe); Linda Meredith (CPCD); Tammy Miklebost (SKSF); Diane Price (Early
Connections); Terri Rommel-Ruiz (SafeCare CO); Melanie Rush (Creative Play Centers); Terence Smith
(Creative Kidz College); Tamara Thomas (CKC); Josie Watters (Early Connections), Erma Williams (Little
Tykes Learning Center);
Non-Members: Jennifer Ingerman (CPCD – joined); Renee Sasse (Early Connections); (Maureen Smith
(Creative Kidz College - joined); Justin Williams (Creative Play Centers);
JI/AFK Staff: Kathy Moan, Jackie Florendo, Erica Evans, Kelsey Leva, Bernie McCarron, Tiffiny Pieper,
Emily Bauer, Kelly Hurtado, Cindy Theorin, Angela McKibben (Alliance for Kids – recorder)
Updates – Organizations:
 CCCAP – 216 site applications for funding and coaching support.
 Nicole Esparza-Aviles’ from the Assuring Better Child Health & Development (ABCD) project was
recognized for her work with the ABCD program and the El Paso County Health Department –
training child care centers on developmental screenings to get children identified and into early
intervention services as appropriate.
Consent Agenda:
Diane Price motioned to approve the January Council Minutes, Jacci Gooden seconded the motion and
the Council unanimously voted to approve the consent agenda.
AFK Updates:
 RFP submitted a grant in partnership with The Resource Exchange (TRE) for two full-time
community Mental Health Consultants who will work in Early Care and Education sites throughout
El Paso, Teller and Park counties.
 AFK submitted FY2016-17 budgets to the Colorado Department of Human Services per their
request in March. This included FY2016-17 budgets for: Council, School Readiness Quality
Improvement Project (SRQIP), CCAP Quality Improvement Funds (QIP) and Race to the Top
(RTT) budgets.
 RTT Funds – Council Race to the Top (RTT) funding will continue through June 30, 2017.
 Phyllis Heim has been hired as a Training Assistant to support AFK projects replacing Melissa
McMartin who has accepted a position with University of Colorado Culture of Wellness program.
 Bernie McCarron, Parenting Matters Specialist, has accepted a position with University of
Colorado - Culture of Wellness program.
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AFK is Hiring several new positions at AFK:
o Community Outreach Specialist (New position)
o Director Coach (PT – new position)
o Data Specialist
o Pyramid Plus Approach Coach (New position)
o Quality Improvement Navigator as the present Navigator (Emily Bauer) will move into a
coach position beginning July 1st, 2016.
Kids Count Community Luncheon & Presentation – May 13, 2016 (All Council invited.)
CCR&R: The Office of Early Childhood (OEC) contacted Joint Initiatives (JI) about a willingness to
discuss a contract amendment to include CCR&R as an amendment to the Council Contract. AFK
Coordinator & JI Executive Director will be in dialogue with state along with Pikes Peak United way to
discuss possibilities.
An RFP was recently released by the Office of Early Childhood (OEC) for a state-wide call center for
Resource and Referral; thus, future call center activities will not be included in future CCR&R contract
services. The OEC is no longer contracting with Qualistar for CCR&R. The state is trying to contract
individually with each CCR&R agency, which are housed in city government, an Early Childhood Council
or a community college system where they already have a state contract. PPUW, our local CCR&R, is
the only CCR&R that does not have a state contract. More details will be provided to Council as they are
available.
Legislative Advocacy Policy: A draft of the Legislative Advocacy Policy was shared with Council for
review and a future vote. It outlines the process allowing AFK to support legislation and public policy.
Roles & Responsibilities: “How AFK is Built”: Jen Filonowich (Council Co-Chair) facilitated a
discussion on how the AFK Council /committees & fiscal agent are structured. A diagram showing how
everyone within AFK and under the umbrella of Joint Initiatives works together using the analogy of
building a house.
 JI - the roof - signs every contract entered into by AFK.
 Alliance Council – the house – is the decision-making body for everything that requires.
 AFK Council Members – the bricks - build the system and set the Strategic Priorities.
(Sometimes we are building the house while we are living in it.) Council members have
two hats to wear:
o Setting Strategic Direction – based on Strategic Priorities and the Framework
(Scope of Work)
o Volunteer Role
 Executive Committee (EC) – the windows – providing for the governance of AFK,
including programmatic and fiscal oversight. A Committee Chair from each committee
serves on the EC along with the fiscal agent, past co-chair, current co-chairs and three
members-at-large.
 Committees – the walls – the three committees of Learning & Development, Family
Support & Education, and Health & Well-Being provide the structure of AFK.
 AFK Staff – the mortar – responsible for implementation of the Strategic Priorities outlined
by the Council and Scope of Work, outlined by the Colorado Department of Human
Services – Office of Early Childhood.
Strategic Priorities:
All Early Childhood Councils received a funding extension for one additional year, FY2016-17, allowing
time for AFK to continue the Strategic Priorities process. The goal is to have a plan developed for the
next application period (Winter 2017). AFK Staff will complete the same process of ranking the 13
outcomes at their next staff meeting.
Council Activity: To further funnel the information necessary to reach consensus on the Framework
Outcomes aligning with Strategic Priorities, data of Framework Outcomes was compiled and received an
overall outcome rankings from each of the committees along with a compiled ranking of the top 13
outcomes (top four from each committee and an additional Equity outcome from Learning &
Development). The 13 outcomes were each displayed on a separate sheet of flipchart paper around the
meeting room. Each Council member received four color-coded dots, based on committee, and was
asked to place dots on outcomes they viewed as most important. Individuals could distribute their four
dots in any manner. Following this exercise, members numbered-off into four groups for discussion of
the results (Council Outcomes Results Attachment). The results document also indicates which outcomes
are included in the Scope of Work. The four Outcomes receiving the most dots are referenced in the
highlights below and provided below.
Education, coaching and ongoing training exist for caregivers, teachers and other professionals. (L&D)
SOW
Adults understand and support children’s learning and development, including social and emotional. (L&D)
Learning experiences and environments are high quality, developmentally appropriate and affordable. (L&D)
SOW
Family knowledge and capacity support children’s healthy development and learning. (FS&E)

Group 1 Highlights:
o Glad that education and coaching are top priority
o Surprised the following did not rank higher: “All settings promote mental health and wellbeing through early identification, consultation and treatment. (H&WB)

Group 2 Highlights:
o Three of the top four are adult focused – the better the teachers, the better the education
and environment for kids
o It is not a surprise to see items with behavior concerns come to the top
o It was nice to see that the top four items had diversity from all the different
subcommittees represented
o The top three were items from Learning and Development – not surprising since that is
what AFK is known for. We would like to see this type of work continue when new
priorities are created.
o Words such as “systems”, “collaborating” or “integrative” written in when the new
priorities are created – they are not currently in the verbiage outlined from the Early
Childhood Framework.
o
o
Top three are every broad – all the others that fall behind it could potentially be put into
the work under those categories
The top three are a foundation for the rest of the work – without those as the top 3 the
other work couldn’t get done.

Group 3 Highlights
o The verbiage in many of the outcomes is similar
o Learning & Development representation is higher than other committees
o The outcomes build on one another

Group 4 Highlights
o Misunderstanding of some of the ‘wording’ of the Early Childhood Framework Outcomes
may have affected people’s choices for Outcomes priorities.
o What’s missing? What societal views are there of early childhood community? Do we need
to remind people that we are professionals, have degrees, and receive training. We’re
more than the “childcare lady”.
 Can we add “integrated systems building” into the language when writing the
priorities.
 Do we have a plan or opportunity to think about something beyond what’s come
from our state Framework and are there things we need to think about in our
Strategic Planning or Strategic Direction that are more than that and how can those
things get on the table?

Other Comments:
o Do we have a plan or opportunity to think about something beyond what’s come from our
state Framework and are there things we need to think about in our Strategic Planning or
Strategic Direction that are more than that and how can they get on the table?
o How do we continue to grow our workforce; how do we make sure salaries are growing?
Wrap Up and Next Steps:
The data from April’s Council meeting will be an additional piece of data. The Executive Committee will
discuss next steps at the April Executive Committee discussion. Committees will continue Strategic
Priority discussions at their respective meetings and all members should plan to attend the July Council
meeting to further progress the Strategic Priorities planning process.
Adjourned at 4:00 PM
Next Meeting:
Wednesday, July 6, 2016, 2:30-4:00 PM @ 2330 Robinson Street