MANHATTAN, Kan. — Thanks to a partnership between Kansas Child Care Training Opportunities and the Division of Information Technology at Kansas State University, early childhood professionals in Kansas will have access to a new statewide directory and professional empowerment portal.
The Division of Information Technology provided Kansas Child Care Training Opportunities, or KCCTO — a K-State-sponsored project that provides professional development and technical assistance to early childhood professionals across Kansas — with essential expertise and support in developing internal data systems to build the framework of a statewide early childhood workforce and training management system.
This collaboration has led to the development and launch of Career Advancement and Professional Empowerment, or Cape, which will equip early childhood professionals with a powerful tool for tracking and managing their professional development throughout their careers.
“From the initial design to the near-completion of Cape, the K-State Division of IT has been a cornerstone of this project,” said Patty Peschel, executive director of KCCTO. “Their technical expertise, problem-solving skills and tireless dedication to our mission made it possible to achieve something extraordinary in less than one year. Without them, this milestone would not have been within reach.”
Key features of Cape include personalized profiles, statewide tools and resources, and the ability to view and manage professional growth over time, all on a single, centralized platform.
Built on the Salesforce platform, Cape is uniquely adaptable to meet the specific needs of early childhood professionals in Kansas. Its scalable and customizable design ensures that the system can address current workforce demands while evolving to meet future needs.
“From the start, we knew that KCCTO needed more than just a system — they needed a long-term solution that could evolve with the early childhood workforce,” said Sarah Mattocks, director of enterprise systems in K-State’s Division of Information Technology. “Our team worked closely with KCCTO and state stakeholders to identify partners that could help turn a conceptual vision into a functional, user-friendly platform. Seeing Cape come to life has been incredibly rewarding. It’s a testament to what’s possible when technology and user needs align to create a solution that has a real, lasting impact on a critical workforce.”
Cape had its soft launch with KCCTO in January and is set for its official debut in May 2025. With ongoing support from K-State’s Division of Information Technology, Cape is positioned to remain a dynamic and innovative resource for years to come.
In just 11 short weeks since its soft launch, Cape has already made a significant impact across Kansas, including more than 7,000 training enrollments and more than 4,000 Cape accounts created by users from 99 out of Kansas’ 105 counties.
“KCCTO’s commitment to outreach and engagement across all 105 Kansas counties aligns with and exemplifies the mission of our land-grant promise to drive economic prosperity for all Kansans, said Brad Behnke, dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences. “This commitment to supporting early childhood professionals strengthens communities, empowers the workforce, and ensures better outcomes for children and families across the state.”
The project benefitted from the expertise, collaboration and unwavering commitment of many additional statewide partners and agencies through the All In For Kansas Kids collaboration, including Child Care Aware of Kansas and early childhood state agencies such as the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund, the Kansas Department for Children and Families, the Kansas State Department of Education, and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, which served as the state lead.
