Colorado Children's Budget 2013

The "Colorado Children's Budget" presents and analyzes investments and spending trends during the past five state fiscal years on services that benefit children. The "Children's Budget" focuses mainly on state investment and spending, with some analysis of federal investments and spending to provide broader context of state expenditures. This report covers the five-year period of fiscal year (FY) 2009-2010 through (FY) 2013-2014 and focuses on state spending that impacts children in four areas: Child Health, Early Childhood, K-12 Education, and Family and Community Support. This year's "Children's Budget" is reorganized in an attempt to meet the needs of two audiences: those who want a higher-level overview of how state spending impacts Colorado children, and those who want to delve into detailed analysis of the various programs and funding sources that affect kids. The report presents its findings in two parts. In Part I: "The Big Picture" begins with an overview of overall trends and cross-cutting themes; an essay of summary sections for Health, Early Childhood, K-12 Education, and Family and Community Support; and detailed analysis underlying the themes and trends. In Part II: "The Details" contains additional explanatory narrative and detailed program tables that describe state spending on children during the past five years, and ends with the "Methodology," which reviews the methodology used in this report. A budget glossary and index are included. [For the 2012 report, see ED538788.]