The Birth to Eight Roadmap is a citywide collective of nonprofits, governmental agencies and funders
who have united under a new framework to improve the outcomes for Denver’s youngest residents.
The Roadmap establishes common metrics and a unique governance structure that will both facilitate
collaboration around best practices, and backing individual organizations to continue developing and
expanding the services they provide. In this way, Denver will be a city committed to “Support and
empower families living in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty so that young children in these
neighborhoods reach their developmental potential and succeed in school and in life, starting with
early language and literacy.”
We want Denver to be the most literate city in the nation. Research affirms the centrality of literacy to
future success — children who do not read proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more
likely to leave school without a diploma than proficient readers. Yet supporting our youngest learners is
a complex endeavor given the multiple factors that impact language and literacy. We all have a role to
play — it will take sustained partnerships between Denver Public Schools, the City and County of Denver, community partners, funders, parents and caregivers.
The Birth to Eight Roadmap does not seek to create an entirely new set of programs to accomplish its
goals. Instead, it links and builds upon existing work already being done. By bringing child development
providers, government organizations and funders under one umbrella, the Roadmap
To realize this vision, the Roadmap’s framework operates on two key principles:
The Birth to Eight Roadmap recognizes a wide range of work necessary to support Denver’s children and families, from developmental screenings, to professional development for early childhood educators, to aligning programming at cultural institutions around the city. While the depth and breadth of the work brings many unique stakeholders to the table, Roadmap partners share some commonalities.
Partner organizations are community-based providers that are implementing programs that impact
young children and their families, and participate in the collaborative cross-Denver conversations
around improvement of services. Partner organizations agree to the following commitments:
One of the defining features of the Birth to Eight Roadmap is the common goals it establishes for the
collective as a whole, as well as individualize metrics for the targeted neighborhoods. The Roadmap’s
overall goals will be focused in three domains: Individual Child, Family, and Systems. These categories
reflect our overall mission of aligning support structures to ensure all of Denver’s children are reaching
their potential, and all families are empowered allies in that endeavor. While the Data Work Group will
propose the initial targets, all stakeholders will have a voice in ensuring the Roadmap’s goals are both
ambitious and appropriate for the various communities around the city.