Human Services Social Services - Digest of Bills

Digest of Bills - 2004

HUMAN SERVICES - SOCIAL SERVICES

S.B. 04-14 Colorado works program - county reserve account - retention of balance. Beginning in state fiscal year 2004-05, allows a county to retain, at the end of each state fiscal year, the balance of county block grant funds remaining in the county's reserve account rather than the county remitting a portion of the account balance to the long-term works reserve fund.

APPROVED by Governor April 8, 2004
EFFECTIVE July 1, 2004

S.B. 04-17 Colorado works - alien eligibility requirements. In order to comply with federal law:

● Modifies the definition of "qualified alien" under the Colorado works program; and

● Changes the eligibility requirement that a qualified alien live in the United States for over 5 years to a requirement that the qualified alien be in a qualified alien status for a period of 5 years.

APPROVED by Governor May 27, 2004
EFFECTIVE May 27, 2004

S.B. 04-35 County board of social services - public assistance and welfare duties - commissioner duties - simultaneous meetings. Repeals the provision that requires a county or district board of social services ("county board") to perform its public assistance and welfare duties, responsibilities, and activities separate and apart from the board of county commissioner's duties and responsibilities. Specifies that the county board may hold a meeting to address the public assistance and welfare duties, responsibilities, and activities of the county or district department of social services ("county department") in conjunction with a meeting of the board of county commissioners. Requires the county board to act in accordance with rules adopted by the state board of human services when addressing public assistance and welfare duties, responsibilities, and activities of the county department.

APPROVED by Governor April 8, 2004
EFFECTIVE August 4, 2004
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date, see page vi of this digest.

H.B. 04-1029 Colorado works program - vocational education. Requires the department of human services ("department") to notify each county, within 30 days after the beginning of the state fiscal year, of the department's projection regarding the county's adjusted work participation rate for that state fiscal year.

Authorizes each county to place Colorado works participants ("participants") in vocational education for longer than 12 months in order to meet critical skills shortages in the labor market under specified conditions. Authorizes the department to suspend a county's ability to place participants in vocational education for longer than 12 months if the department certifies that allowing vocational education to count toward a participant's required work activities would affect the state's ability to meet federal work participation rates.

APPROVED by Governor March 9, 2004
EFFECTIVE March 9, 2004

H.B. 04-1030 Colorado works program - evaluation - appropriation. Modifies the evaluation component of the Colorado works program and continues the evaluation for 5 years.

Appropriates $500,000 from federal temporary assistance for needy families block grant funds to the department of human services for the implementation of the act.

APPROVED by Governor May 21, 2004
EFFECTIVE July 1, 2004

H.B. 04-1047 Child care assistance - county child support enforcement - requirement of recipient cooperation. Authorizes a county to require a person who receives child care assistance pursuant to the "Colorado Child Care Assistance Program Act", but who is not otherwise a recipient of public assistance, to apply for child support establishment, modification, and enforcement services related to support obligations owed by absent parents to their children and to cooperate with the delegate child support enforcement unit. Allows an exception for a person with good cause for not applying to receive these services.

APPROVED by Governor March 17, 2004
EFFECTIVE March 17, 2004

H.B. 04-1049 Colorado child care assistance program - Colorado works program - assistance for transitioning families. Subject to available appropriations, requires a county to provide child care assistance for a family transitioning off the Colorado works program ("program") due to employment or training without requiring the family to apply for low-income child care, unless:

● The family is leaving the program due to a violation of program requirements;

● The county does not include training as an eligible activity for low-income child care;

● The family is leaving the program due to employment and will be at an income level that exceeds the county-adopted income eligibility limit for the county's child care assistance program; or

● The county in which the family resides has a waiting list for the county's child care assistance program.

APPROVED by Governor April 5, 2004
EFFECTIVE August 4, 2004
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date, see page vi of this digest.

H.B. 04-1107 Office of homeless youth services - transfer - department of human services - appropriation. Transfers the office of homeless youth services and all powers, duties, and functions of such office from the department of public health and environment to the department of human services by a type 2 transfer.

For the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2004, increases the appropriation to the department of human services for mental health and alcohol and drug abuse services, supportive housing and homeless program by 1.0 FTE.

APPROVED by Governor May 21, 2004
EFFECTIVE May 21, 2004

H.B. 04-1118 At-risk adults - false reporting of mistreatment or self-neglect - penalty. Makes it a class 3 misdemeanor for a person to willfully make a false report of mistreatment or self-neglect of an at-risk adult to a county department of social services or local law enforcement agency. Specifies that a person who willfully makes a false report of mistreatment or self-neglect is liable for damages proximately caused by the false report.

APPROVED by Governor April 5, 2004
EFFECTIVE July 1, 2004

H.B. 04-1271 Placement of children - out-of-home - dedicated family homes - pilot program - private moneys. Subject to available appropriations, requires the department of human services ("state department") to license dedicated family homes and to designate no more than 10 county departments of social services ("county departments") and child placement agencies ("CPAs") to recruit, train, monitor, and investigate house parents to operate dedicated family homes. Clarifies that county departments and CPAs participate in the pilot program only on a voluntary basis.

Specifies that private moneys received are to be used to reserve a bed or beds in a specified dedicated family home to which a child and his or her siblings may return until each child attains the age of 18. Subject to available appropriations, allows the state department to allocate private moneys for specified house parent inducements. Allows the state department to seek the acquisition or construction of property, facilities, or structures to be operated as dedicated family homes.

Directs the state department to submit a report on the effectiveness of dedicated family homes to the house and senate health, environment, welfare, and institutions committees no later than December 31, 2007. Repeals the program July 1, 2008. Defines "dedicated family home". Prohibits a house parent from operating a dedicated family home if the house parent has been convicted of certain offenses.

APPROVED by Governor April 21, 2004
EFFECTIVE August 4, 2004
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date, see page vi of this digest.

H.B. 04-1277 Early childhood and school readiness commission - continued study - membership - duties - report - funding - repeal - appropriation. Changes the name of the child care commission to the early childhood and school readiness commission ("commission"). Requires the commission to perform additional duties related to school readiness. Expands the membership of the commission from 15 to 17 members, and makes modifications to current membership requirements. Requires the commission to report to the general assembly on or before November 1, 2005, and again on or before July 1, 2007, concerning the matters studied by the commission and any recommendations to the general assembly.

Authorizes the state department of human services ("state department") to accept grants, gifts, and donations for the purposes associated with implementing the act, creates the early childhood and school readiness cash fund ("cash fund"), and makes the moneys in the cash fund subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly to the state department and to the legislative council for the direct and indirect costs associated with implementation. Authorizes the state department to enter into a contract for staff assistance if the commission receives gifts, grants, and donations sufficient to fund the staff assistance. Requires compensation for commission members who are members of the general assembly to be approved by the chair of the legislative council and paid by vouchers and warrants. Specifies that if the cash fund does not contain moneys sufficient to pay the members of the commission for each fiscal year from fiscal year 2004-05 to fiscal year 2006-07 by December 1 of the start of each such fiscal year, the act shall be repealed. Extends the repeal date of the commission from July 1, 2004, to July 1, 2007, unless repeal is required prior to July 1, 2007 due to insufficient funds to compensate members of the commission.

Appropriates $26,100 from the early childhood and school readiness cash fund to the state department for allocation to the division of child care for implementation of the act for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2004. Appropriates $600 from the early childhood and school readiness cash fund to the legislative council for implementation of the act for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2004.

APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2004
EFFECTIVE June 4, 2004

H.B. 04-1414 FY 2004-05 budget reduction bill - Title IV-E reimbursement cash fund - creation - state department allocation to counties - authorized uses - report - appropriation. States that for fiscal year 2003-04 and each fiscal year thereafter, after the amount set aside from federal revenues earned by the state to fully fund Title IV-E eligible services and costs of the administrative review unit, previously known as the state foster care review program, has been distributed to each county, the remaining moneys shall be transmitted to the state treasurer, for credit to the newly created excess federal Title IV-E reimbursements cash fund ("fund"). Makes the moneys in the fund subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly to the department of human services ("state department") to help defray the cost of performing administrative functions related to obtaining federal reimbursement moneys available under the Title IV-E program. In addition, authorizes the state department to allocate the moneys in the fund to counties for the provision of assistance, child care assistance, social services, and child welfare services. Specifies that moneys in the fund may be invested by the state treasurer, and that all interest and income derived from the investment and deposit of moneys in the fund shall be credited to the fund. Further specifies that any unencumbered and unexpended moneys remaining in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall remain in the fund and shall not be credited or transferred or revert to the general fund or any other fund.

For fiscal year 2004-05, and in subsequent years if so specified by the general assembly, requires the counties to expend the moneys appropriated by the general assembly in a manner that will be applied toward the state's maintenance of historic effort pursuant to the federal "Social Security Act", as amended. On or before October 1, 2004, and on or before each October 1 thereafter, requires the state department to report the following to the joint budget committee of the general assembly: The amount of federal revenues earned by the state in the previous fiscal year pursuant to Title IV-E of the federal "Social Security Act", as amended; the amount of the earnings that were expended, including information concerning the purposes of the expenditures; and the amount of this money that was credited to the fund.

For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2004, appropriates $1,600,000 to the state department to help defray counties' costs of performing administrative functions related to obtaining federal reimbursement moneys available under the Title IV-E program from the fund. Appropriates $2,500,000 to the state department for allocation to the counties for provision of assistance, child care assistance, social services, and child welfare services for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2004. Adjusts appropriations made to the state department for distribution to counties in the general appropriation act for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2004.

APPROVED by Governor May 21, 2004
EFFECTIVE May 21, 2004