HealthySteps Colorado: One Year Building the Foundation for Healthier Rural Communities

One year ago, ABCD launched the Transforming Rural Health Care: A Collaborative Approach to Early Childhood Health and Development project with support from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Our goal remains ambitious: to improve access to integrated behavioral health and early childhood developmental services by expanding the evidence-based HealthySteps® model into rural pediatric primary care practices across Colorado's Eastern Plains and Southwest regions.

Building a statewide rural consortium

Over the past 12 months, we established a statewide Rural Health Care Consortium that now includes 13 members representing 10 organizations, bringing together pediatric providers, Medicaid managed care organizations, researchers, public health leaders, and community partners. Nearly all consortium members live, work, or serve rural Colorado, ensuring that decisions are informed by local expertise and lived experience.

Together, the consortium developed a shared vision, created a team charter, and met regularly to guide the project. Perhaps most importantly, members built relationships across organizations and regions that will continue to strengthen rural health systems well beyond this grant.

Statewide Rural Health Consortium partners engage in a virtual meeting to discuss strategies and initiatives for expanding HealthySteps in Colorado and improving rural healthcare.

Understanding community needs

A major focus of Year 1 was completing a needs assessment to better understand where HealthySteps Colorado can have the greatest impact.

Working alongside consortium members, we:

• Analyzed statewide and regional data on children's health, access to care, and workforce capacity.

• Integrated practice-level insights from Medicaid managed care partners to better understand local pediatric populations.

• Mapped existing relationships, resources, and services across rural communities.

• Gathered perspectives from providers, families, and community partners to identify strengths, challenges, and opportunities for expansion.

• Convened in local communities to build relationships

One lesson quickly became clear: data alone doesn't tell the whole story. Local partners helped us interpret what was happening on the ground, ensuring that decisions reflect the realities of rural communities, not just statewide statistics.

Strengthening partnerships

Throughout the year, our network continued to grow. We welcomed new consortium members with expertise in rural pediatrics, practice-based research, Medicaid systems, and Indian Health services. We also began building relationships with tribal partners, recognizing that meaningful collaboration takes time, trust, and ongoing engagement.

HealthySteps Colorado Rural Health Consortium members gathered for a community visit in Fort Morgan.

In addition, we partnered closely with Valley-Wide Health Systems, another HRSA Rural Health Outreach grantee, to share lessons learned and identify opportunities for collaboration across Colorado.

Looking ahead to Year 2

With a strong foundation now in place, Year 2 marks the transition from planning to implementation.

Together with our consortium, we will:

• Finalize the rural communities selected for HealthySteps Colorado expansion.

• Recruit and onboard pediatric primary care practices.

• Engage families and community members in co-designing local implementation strategies.

• Develop workforce training and technical assistance to support rural providers.

• Continue strengthening partnerships and evaluating what works to create a sustainable model for rural Colorado.

We know that improving early childhood health doesn't happen through one organization alone. It happens when providers, families, community leaders, and health systems come together around a shared vision.

We're grateful to every consortium member, partner, and family who has contributed their time, expertise, and perspective during this first year. Because of their leadership, we're well positioned to bring HealthySteps to more rural communities, and help ensure that every child has the opportunity to grow, develop, and thrive.

We look forward to sharing more as we enter this exciting next phase.

Families: Learn more about where we're expanding HealthySteps, and why these communities were selected (coming soon!)

Healthcare Providers & Partners: Explore the needs assessment that is guiding HealthySteps expansion in Colorado (coming soon!)