ARTICLE 5 CHILD WELFARE SERVICES

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

ARTICLE 5 Child Welfare Services

Editor's note: This article was numbered as article 4 of chapter 119, C.R.S. 1963. The provisions of this article were repealed and reenacted in 1973, resulting in the addition, relocation, and elimination of sections as well as subject matter. For amendments to this article prior to 1973, consult the Colorado statutory research explanatory note and the table itemizing the replacement volumes and supplements to the original volume of C.R.S. 1973 beginning on page vii in the front of this volume.

26-5-100.2. Legislative declaration.
26-5-101. Definitions.
26-5-102. Provision of child welfare services - system reform goals - out-of- home placements for children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities - rules - definition.
26-5-103. Coordination with other programs.
26-5-103.5. Child welfare allocations committee - organization - advisory duties - funding model - allocations model - definition.
26-5-104. Funding of child welfare services provider contracts - funding mechanism review - fund - report - rules - definitions - repeal.
26-5-105. Reimbursement procedure.
26-5-105.3. Federal waivers.
26-5-105.4. Title IV-E waiver demonstration project - county performance agreements - Title IV-E waiver demonstration project cash fund created - rules - repeal. (Repealed)
26-5-105.5. State department integrated care management program - county performance agreements - authorized - performance incentive cash fund created - repeal.
26-5-105.7. Study of managed care - repeal. (Repealed)
26-5-105.8. Delivery of child welfare services task force - duties - membership - reporting requirements - repeal.
26-5-106. Fraudulent acts. (Repealed)
26-5-107. Limitations of article.
26-5-108. Developmental assessment - rules.
26-5-109. Child welfare training academy established - rules.
26-5-110. Guardianship assistance program - legislative declaration - eligibility - rules.
26-5-111. Statewide child abuse reporting hotline system - legislative declaration - definitions - child abuse hotline steering committee - rules on consistent processes in response to reports and inquiries for information.
26-5-112. Child welfare caseload study - repeal. (Repealed)
26-5-113. Extended services for former foster care youth.
26-5-114. Former foster care youth steering committee - implementation plan - recommendations - report.

■ 26-5-100.2. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly finds and declares that:

(a) Each year, for a variety of reasons, more than three hundred youth, ages eighteen to twenty-one, exit Colorado's foster care system without a permanent home or a stable support network;

(b) These youth do not have the same safety nets, supportive adults, and support networks as do other youth their age;

(c) Many of these youth will face challenges as they search for affordable housing, pursue higher education or training, search for employment, manage tight budgets, take care of their health needs, and much more;

(d) Youth in foster care face not only the typical developmental changes and new experiences that are common to youth their age but also the dramatic change from being under the county's care to being on their own, many without any supportive adults or safety net to help them succeed;

(e) The array of services and supports available to youth while in the foster care system, including housing, food, medical care, and caseworker support, disappear as soon as the youth exits foster care. Additionally, many of these youth are dealing with the long-term consequences of trauma related to the abuse, neglect, removal, and overall lack of resources that they may have experienced.

(f) By leveraging the expertise of youth who have successfully made the transition to adulthood, as well as experts in the field, many states have developed creative approaches to address the needs of these youth;

(g) Colorado can start addressing the needs of youth by allowing counties to use existing child welfare money to provide continued supportive services for youth who exit the foster care system; and

(h) Although existing child welfare money may enable the state to provide services to some youth, it is insufficient to address all the need, nor is it available consistently across the state.

(2) Therefore, the general assembly determines that by coupling the short-term approach of using existing child welfare money with the creation of a steering committee tasked with developing a long-term implementation plan for services for a successful adulthood for youth who were formerly in the state's foster care system, the state can better meet the needs of youth who are making the transition from the foster care system to successful adulthood.

Source: L. 2018: Entire section added, (HB 18-1319), ch. 217, p. 1388, § 1, effective May 18.

■ 26-5-101. Definitions. As used in this article 5, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Capped allocation" means a capped amount of funds distributed to counties or a group of counties for the purpose of providing all or a portion of the child welfare services as defined in subsection (3) of this section.

(1.5) "Caseload" means the number of children who are eligible for child welfare services that are defined in subsection (3) of this section and who are currently receiving such child welfare services on a regular basis from a county.

(2) "Child welfare allocations committee" means a committee that is organized and authorized pursuant to the provisions of section 26-5-103.5.

(3) "Child welfare services" means the provision of necessary shelter, sustenance, and guidance to or for children who are or who, if such services are not provided, are likely to become neglected or dependent, as defined in section 19-3-102. "Child welfare services" includes but is not limited to:

(a) Child protection;

(b) Risk assessment;

(c) Permanency planning;

(d) Treatment planning;

(e) Case management;

(f) Core services, as defined in rules promulgated by the state department, as authorized in sections 26-5-102 and 26-5.5-104;

(g) Adoption and subsidized adoption;

(h) Emergency shelter;

(i) Out-of-home placement, including foster care;

(j) Utilization review;

(k) Early intervention and prevention;

(l) Youth-in-conflict functions;

(m) Administration and support functions;

(n) Services described in section 19-3-208;

(o) (I) Provision of verifiable documents to youth who plan to emancipate from foster care.

(II) Verifiable documents shall include, but need not be limited to, a certified copy of the youth's birth certificate and a social security card. The cost of providing the verifiable documents shall not be borne by the youth.

(p) Foster care prevention services, as defined in section 26-5.4-102 (1).

(q) Services that address abuse, neglect, and youth-in-conflict issues for runaway, homeless, and unaccompanied youth, as defined in rules promulgated by the state department pursuant to sections 26-5-102 and 26-5.7-105.

(4) "County" means a county or a city and county or any two or more counties.

(4.1) "County department" means a county department of human or social services.

(4.5) "Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018" means Titles IV-B and IV-E of the federal "Social Security Act", as amended.

(4.7) "Former foster care youth" means a youth at least eighteen years of age but younger than twenty-one years of age who was formerly in the legal custody or legal authority of a county department and who was placed in a certified or noncertified kinship care placement, as defined in section 26-6-102 (21); a certified or licensed facility; or a foster care home, as defined in section 26-6-102 (14) and certified pursuant to article 6 of this title 26.

(5) "Governing body" means the board of county commissioners of a county or the city council and mayor of a city and county.

(5.5) "Services for a successful adulthood" means supportive services that help former foster care youth achieve self-sufficiency. "Services for a successful adulthood" may include, but is not limited to, assistance with education, employment, financial management, housing, mental health care, and substance abuse prevention. "Services for a successful adulthood" does not include out-of-home placement, as described in section 26-5-102 (2)(i).

(5.8) "Steering committee" means the former foster care youth steering committee established pursuant to section 26-5-114.

(6) "Targeted allocation" means a fixed amount of funds from a capped allocation to a group of counties that is designated for a specific county within that group of counties.

Source: L. 73: R&RE, p. 1195, § 3. C.R.S. 1963: § 119-4-1. L. 78: (1) amended, p. 367, § 14, effective July 1. L. 86: (1) amended, p. 794, § 15, effective July 1. L. 87: (1) amended, p. 821, § 39, effective October 1. L. 96: (1) amended, p. 1696, § 40, effective January 1, 1997. L. 97: Entire section amended, p. 1426, § 1, effective June 3. L. 98: (1) and (2) amended and (1.5) added, p. 780, § 2, effective May 22. L. 2008: (3) amended, p. 10, § 1, effective August 5. L. 2009: (3)(m) and (3)(n) amended and (3)(o) added, (SB 09-104), ch. 218, p. 983, § 1, effective August 5. L. 2018: IP amended and (4.5) added, (SB 18-254), ch. 216, p. 1374, § 3, effective May 18; IP amended and (4.1), (4.7), (5.5), and (5.8) added, (HB 18-1319), ch. 217, p. 1389, § 2, effective May 18. L. 2019: IP(3) and (3)(n) amended and (3)(p) added, (HB 19-1308), ch. 256, p. 2461, § 9, effective August 2. L. 2020: (3)(q) added, (SB 20-106), ch. 128, p. 552, § 1, effective September 14.

■ 26-5-102. Provision of child welfare services - system reform goals - out-of-home placements for children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities - rules - definition. (1) (a) The state department shall adopt rules to establish a program of child welfare services, administered by the state department or supervised by the state department and administered by the county departments, and, where applicable, in accordance with the...