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Dear Valued Provider,
Thank you for engaging with the Colorado Universal Preschool Program. On a yearly basis, the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) must enter into new agreements with providers that clarify the responsibilities of CDEC and those of providers as they work together to enroll children into the Colorado Universal Preschool Program.
You are receiving this notice today as you have been identified as the designated Authorized Representative for your organization through the Preschool Program Provider Portal. The Authorized Representative may be a CFO, Superintendent, business official, or other leader authorized to sign the Contract. If you are not the Authorized Representative, please respond to this email and identify the individual who should be the organization's Authorized Representative and include that individual as a party to the email response.
The link to a copy of the agreement for your download and review can be found HERE. Please note, this is for review purposes only - CDEC will manage execution of the agreement, please do not submit signed copies of the Contract. The informational slide deck found HERE was designed to provide greater clarity into the components of this year’s Contract.
Please forward this boilerplate agreement to all necessary individuals who need to review and approve the document within your organization. This will allow any needed revisions to the agreement to be incorporated into the finalized version for execution. Additionally, reviewing this document now will allow for a timelier execution of the final agreement.
CDEC has made several revisions to this year's contract to make it easier for providers to understand their responsibilities under the agreement, including revising insurance provisions for clarity. Additionally, CDEC has added a provision that will allow providers that work with the Colorado Shines Quality Rating and Improvement System and attain a rating of three or higher are eligible to have their contract automatically renewed.
An additional change this year is in how providers will submit their required documentation for contracting to CDEC. The form linked here will guide providers through questions that will determine their Colorado Secretary of State registration requirements, insurance requirements, and will act as the system of record for affirmation of acceptance of the terms of the agreement. The submission of this Google form is required for all providers, and will capture all of the items below required for contract execution.
Items CDEC requires from your organization to complete execution:
Current Insurance Coverage – All private providers are required to obtain $1,000,000 of General Liability insurance with the State of Colorado listed as an additional insured. Any provider that pays salary to employees must also obtain Workers' Compensation insurance pursuant to State of Colorado statute. Providers that transport children in vehicles as a component of their business must also possess Automobile Insurance with a minimum limit of $1,000,000 each accident combined single limit. The form linked above will walk the provider through what coverages are required. These documents, as a PDF, must be attached to the form to move forward with the contracting process.
Registered and in good standing with the Colorado Secretary of State - Please ensure your organization is in good standing and current in its registration with the Colorado Secretary of State. Any provider that is not a sole proprietor must register their business with the Colorado Secretary of State. (A sole proprietor is an individual who owns and operates a business alone, assuming full responsibility for its debts, liabilities, and profits.) The above-linked form will guide you through questions to determine your SOS requirements, allowing you to attach a copy of their Colorado Secretary of State registration as a PDF document.
More information about Colorado Secretary of State registration can be found at this link: https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/business/businessHome.html
Affirmation of Acceptance of Contract Terms and Conditions – Before CDEC will enter into a contract with a provider, that provider must affirm that they accept the terms and conditions of the contract as written. We require this affirmation to be supplied before CDEC enters the contract into DocuSign for execution. The above form will have a section for providers to confirm they accept the terms and conditions of the contract.
Once this has been completed, on or before April 1, 2025, CDEC will then begin issuing contracts to providers that have completed their documentation submission and affirmation of acceptance of contract terms. CDEC will then email the contract via DocuSign for signature from the Authorized Representative.
If you are part of an entity that has multiple locations, only one Contract will be sent to the Authorized Representative, and that will include all locations participating in the Colorado Universal Preschool Program. All license numbers for all locations must be supplied on the form linked above.
After the Contract is signed and submitted by the Authorized Representative, the authorized CDEC delegate and CDEC’s controller will also sign the Contract. With these signatures, the Provider is approved to participate and enabled for payment.
Thank you for your partnership with CDEC in making the Colorado Universal Preschool Program a success! Please let us know if you have any questions, and the Department looks forward to executing your contract and partnering with you in the coming year!
Sincerely,
The Colorado Department of Early Childhood
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