§ 26-5.5-102 — Legislative declaration

Colorado § 26-5.5-102

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 26: Human
• Art.: Family Preservation

Text

(1) The general assembly finds and
declares that:

(a) Maintaining a family structure to the greatest degree possible is one of
the fundamental goals that all state agencies must observe, and the state's
intervention in family dynamics should not exceed that which is necessary to rectify
the cause for intervention;

(b) Out-of-home placement is often the most expensive and disruptive
method of providing services to troubled families;

(c) It is becoming increasingly difficult to attract foster parents for the
number of children placed out of the home;

(d) The principle of appropriate state intervention is a cornerstone of family
preservation services. Such services, when properly targeted and administered,
provide states with an opportunity to initiate the systemic reform of children, youth,
and families public services by providing services that are family-focused,
outcome-driven, and cost-efficient.

(e) Family preservation programs implemented in other states, such as the
homebuilder's model in the state of Washington, have resulted in improved
family-functioning rates. Placement prevention rates of up to eighty-eight percent
have been reported in some of the thirty-one states that have initiated some form of
a family preservation program.

(f) A statewide family preservation program may be financed to provide
intensive services for families where a child is at risk of an out-of-home placement
based on criteria established by the state board of human services and to provide
phased-in services aimed at reunifying families where a child has been placed out
of the home, where appropriate, by tapping into other available federal funds or
through moneys realized from cost avoidance in prevention of placement;

(g) On the basis of the foregoing, it is appropriate to enact the provisions of
this article providing for the implementation of a statewide family preservation
program that provides for immediate intensive services for at-risk families and
phased-in services aimed at reunifying families, where appropriate, when the
targeted families for intensive or reunification services have been served.

(2) It is the general assembly's intent that the implementation and financing
of the statewide family preservation program be consistent with applicable federal
mandates, including any federal financial participation requirements, and that the
implementation of the program not place this state at risk of losing federal funds
received by the state for children, youth, and families services prior to the
enactment of this article.

Legislative History

Source: L. 93: Entire article R&RE, p. 2006, � 1, effective July 1. L. 94: (1)(f) amended, p. 1055, � 6, effective May 4. L. 97: (1)(f) amended, p. 1024, � 46, effective August 6.