HB 26-1376

House Bill 26-1376 updates how Colorado manages extra federal money received for child welfare services. It changes the name of a fund and allows the state to use this money more flexibly to support children who might need foster care or related services. This bill affects children in the foster care system and those at risk of entering it, as well as the agencies that provide these services. Since the bill has been signed into law, Colorado can now allocate funds according to the new guidelines to better serve vulnerable children.

Official Summary

Joint Budget Committee. Current law creates the excess federal Title IV-E reimbursements cash fund (cash fund), which includes federal revenue in excess of the amount required to reimburse certain eligible foster care, prevention, and permanency services. The bill renames the fund and updates the permissible uses of the money in the cash fund to align with current federal requirements, which permit the state to apply savings associated with federal funding increases to a range of child welfare services. The bill specifically authorizes the use of cash fund money for services to support a positive permanency outcome for a child or youth who might otherwise enter or reenter foster care.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

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