COLORADO SPRINGS— About 2,500 families found a Universal Preschool provider in the second round of matching. Almost 25,000 were matched in the first round a few months ago.
The first round revealed a concerning trend— not enough providers for the number of applicants.
The program coordinator for El Paso County, Joint Initiatives for Youth and Families, said since then, about 50 more providers signed up.
"As more information has been shared, and we as the local coordinating organization have been able to answer more questions for providers, they felt comfortable coming on board," said Joint Initiatives for Youth and Families VP of Programs Kelly Hurtado.
I spoke with one of the first preschools to work with the new Universal Preschool matching system.
"Sure, we had of couple of hiccups here and there, but those are typically one-offs, not significant areas of concern, so as the state and our LCO are working to figure this all out as we go, we're just being patient," said Early Connections Learning Center president and CEO Liz Denson.
Denson said they matched with 45 families and still have open seats after the second found. El Paso County has almost 1,300 seats left, with more anticipated.
"Every time we go through the matching process, more and more pieces of the puzzle fall in place, it continues to run more and more smoothly, which is exactly what we would like to see," said Hurtado.
Some preschool providers say they worry about staffing shortages keeping up with demand.
"We are hopeful that we will be making some significant strides in that over the summer and be able to launch in August without any problems, but it is a concern," said Denson.
There are also some concerns about last-minute applications.
"I think it's going to be interesting once the fourth round is over and we go to this rolling basis, how is that going to work for enrollment," said Denson.
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