(1) As used in
this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) Host home means a private home that volunteers to host youth in need
of temporary placement that is associated with a host home program with the
purpose of providing a safe, temporary, and welcoming space to allow the youth
time to repair the youth's relationship with the youth's parent or legal guardian or
make decisions regarding other long-term housing options with the support of a
host home operator.
(b) Host home program or program means a program that provides
support to a host home and meets the requirements of subsection (3) of this
section.
(b.5) Organization means a child placement agency, a county or district
department of human or social services, or a homeless youth shelter.
(c) Youth means an individual who is under twenty-three years of age.
(2) The state department shall oversee the operations of the host home
programs.
(3) To operate a host home program, an organization must:
(a) Be a tax exempt organization for youth not in the care of the county
department;
(b) Recruit and screen individuals interested in operating a host home in the
program, including performing criminal history record checks pursuant to
subsection (5) of this section on the interested individuals and all individuals
residing in the home who are eighteen years of age or older, and perform a physical
inspection of the home;
(c) Provide case management services to youth in the program;
(d) Provide a minimum of sixty days of aftercare, as defined in 45 CFR 1351.1,
for a youth who leaves a host home;
(e) Provide mandatory reporter and confidentiality training to host home
operators; and
(f) Maintain accurate and up-to-date records documenting the following for
each host home operating under the program:
(I) The address of the host home;
(II) The name of the individual operating the host home and all other
individuals residing in the home;
(III) A copy of the determination by the department of human services as to
whether the individual meets criteria or does not meet criteria for certification to
operate a host home in response to the fingerprint-based criminal history record
check conducted pursuant to subsection (5) of this section for the individual
operating the host home and all other individuals residing in the home who are
eighteen years of age or older;
(IV) A copy of the host home's completed physical home inspection;
(V) A copy of the host home's property or rental insurance and automobile
insurance; and
(VI) Any other information required by the state department.
(4) To operate a host home, an individual must:
(a) Maintain property or rental insurance and automobile insurance covering
the property and vehicles used in providing host home services;
(b) Undergo a criminal history record check in compliance with subsection
(5) of this section; and
(c) Comply with any other requirements set by the state department.
(5) (a) Before an individual may operate a host home pursuant to this section,
the individual must undergo fingerprinting performed by a local law enforcement
agency or third party approved by the Colorado bureau of investigation. The
individual must pay the costs associated with the fingerprint-based criminal history
record check.
(b) After taking the individual's fingerprints, the local law enforcement
agency or third party approved by the Colorado bureau of investigation shall submit
the complete set of the individual's fingerprints to the Colorado bureau of
investigation for the purpose of conducting a fingerprint-based criminal history
record check.
(c) If a third party approved by the Colorado bureau of investigation
conducts the fingerprinting, the individual's fingerprints may be captured
electronically using Colorado bureau of investigation-approved livescan equipment.
The third party approved by the Colorado bureau of investigation must not keep the
individual's information collected for the purpose of conducting a fingerprint-based
criminal history record check for more than thirty days, unless otherwise requested
by the individual.
(d) The Colorado bureau of investigation shall use the individual's
fingerprints to conduct a criminal history record check using the Colorado bureau
of investigation's records. The Colorado bureau of investigation must send the
individual's fingerprints to the federal bureau of investigation for the purpose of
conducting a federal fingerprint-based criminal history record check. The Colorado
bureau of investigation, individual, state department, and entity conducting the
fingerprinting must comply with the federal bureau of investigation's requirements
to conduct a fingerprint-based criminal history record check.
(e) The Colorado bureau of investigation shall return the results of its
fingerprint-based criminal history record check to the state department and the
state department is authorized to receive the results of the federal bureau of
investigation's fingerprint-based criminal history record check. The state
department must use the information from the fingerprint-based criminal history
record check to investigate and determine whether an individual is qualified to
operate a host home pursuant to this section.
(f) If the results of an individual's fingerprint-based criminal history record
check performed pursuant to this subsection (5) reveal a record of arrests without a
disposition, the organization operating a host home program must require the
individual to submit to a name-based judicial record check, as defined in section 22-2-119.3.
(6) (a) If a youth is under eleven years of age and seeks admission to a host
home, the host home must obtain written consent from a parent or legal guardian of
the youth authorizing the youth's temporary residence in the host home. If written
consent is received, the youth may reside in a host home for up to twenty-one days.
(b) Youth eleven years of age or older but under eighteen years of age
admitted to a host home may reside in the host home for up to twenty-one days
pursuant to section 26-5.7-105.
(c) If a youth under fifteen years of age is admitted to a host home, the
program director or host home operator must notify the county department within
seventy-two hours after the youth's admission.
(d) For youth eighteen years of age or older but under twenty-three years of
age, the youth may remain in a host home beyond the twenty-one-day period if
consent is provided to the host home by the youth. Documentation verifying the
youth's consent must be updated every six months thereafter.
(e) If a youth eleven years of age or older but under twenty-three years of
age has resided in a host home for twenty-one days, the program director or host
home operator must refer the youth to the county department for additional
services.
(f) Host home operators shall comply with the notification requirements
specified in section 26-5.7-106.
(7) On or before December 1, 2024, and each December 1 thereafter, if a
program receives local, state, or federal funding, the program must enter the
following information into the homeless management information system and share
the information with the office of homeless youth services:
(a) The number of youth served by the program; and
(b) Upon leaving a host home, whether each participating youth returned to
live with the youth's parent or legal guardian, ran away, reached twenty-three years
of age, or became a dependent of the state.
(8) A licensed foster care home approved as a host home shall not accept a
youth for placement pursuant to this section if there are any foster children
currently placed in that home.
(9) Nothing in this section applies to host homes providing residential
services to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
(10) The state department shall promulgate rules as necessary to implement
this section.