The Challenge
The Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) helps low-income families afford child care while parents work, search for employment, or attend school.
Eligible families often did not apply due to lack of awareness, confusion about eligibility, or perceived stigma. Additionally, the application process was seen as complex. The challenge was to increase awareness, reduce perceived barriers, and motivate eligible families to enroll and utilize available benefits.
Our Approach
SE2 approached this work by focusing on reducing barriers and making the CCCAP easier to understand and access for eligible families.
To address confusion around the application process, SE2 developed clear, step-by-step content in both English and Spanish that guided families through how to apply. These materials were designed to simplify complex information, answer common questions, and help families feel more confident navigating the system.
To ensure this information reached those who needed it most, SE2 implemented a targeted social media campaign focused on communities where CCCAP was underutilized. Messaging and placement strategies were tailored to connect with eligible families, increase awareness of the program, and drive action toward application and enrollment.
The Impact
The campaign helped strengthen awareness, engagement, and access to CCCAP, contributing to measurable improvements in both system performance and user action.
Paid media campaigns demonstrated strong performance and clear user intent. Search efforts achieved a click-through rate more than 10x above industry benchmarks, signaling that CCCAP messaging strongly resonated with families actively seeking child care support. Display campaigns drove additional awareness, with opportunities identified to further increase engagement through refreshed creative.
Most notably, conversion tracking showed a 420% increase in site conversions from campaign launch to completion, reflecting a significant lift in families taking action to explore or apply for services.
Earned and organic media further expanded reach without additional spend. Coverage across outlets like Univision Colorado and Educa Radio helped reach both English- and Spanish-speaking audiences statewide. Social amplification extended visibility even further, generating over 59,000 impressions from media coverage, 15,700+ impressions from SE2 content, and an additional 19,000+ impressions through partner sharing.
These engagement gains occurred alongside broader system progress within CCCAP. The program has increased access to high-quality care, with at least half of participating children enrolled in highly rated providers, and a growing network of providers participating statewide. CCCAP providers are now nearly twice as likely to meet high-quality standards compared to the broader provider landscape, reinforcing the program’s role in delivering strong early childhood outcomes.
