To: Board of County Commissioners
Through: Dan Makelky, Director, Human Services
Prepared By:
prepared
Jessica Williamsen, Child & Adult Protection Services (CAPS) Division Manager, Human Services
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Subject:
title
Approval of the SFY 2025-2026 Core Services Program Plan
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Purpose and Request:
recommended action
The County Department of Human Services is statutorily required to have their Board of County Commissioners review and sign the Core Services Program Plan in order to receive funding for such services from the Colorado Department of Human Services. The County Director and the Placement Alternatives Commission are also required to sign the plan.
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Alignment with Strategic Plan: Good Governance - Deliver mandated and essential services with excellence.
Background and Discussion: Each county department of human services within Colorado is required to assure access to services for children and their families, who are at risk of out-of-home placement, or to prevent continued involvement with the child welfare system, or to serve former foster youth. Such services shall include, but are not limited to, assessment, intervention, treatment, supervision, and shelter. Those services, as contracted by each county, shall be outlined in the Core Services Plan, a three-year plan which must be submitted to the state department of human services, and re-submitted annually for budgetary or programmatic changes that are necessary to enhance service delivery or otherwise deemed necessary to accomplish the goals of the plan.
Each county is required to have an established Placement Alternatives Commission (PAC) to hold periodic meetings to evaluate these services and be afforded the opportunity to identify any recommended changes to such services, as well as assess the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of the services. The commission shall consist of a physician/licensed health professional, an attorney, law enforcement agency, court, probation, the county department of human services, mental health clinic, county public health agency, representative from a school district specializing in special education, community centered board, residential child care facility and a private nonprofit agency providing nonresidential services for children and families, a representative specializing in occupational training or employment programs, a foster parent, and one or more representatives of the lay community. Our PAC is combined with our Collaborative Management Program (CMP) as allowed statutorily.
The Board of County Commissioners is required to review and approve the plan prior to submission of the plan to the state department. Once submitted to the state department, the state department is required to reimburse county departments of human services for 80% of the expenditures. The Board confirmed adding this to the consent agenda for approval at their meeting on August 11, 2025.
Alternatives: N/A
Fiscal Impact: Core Services programs are state funded and the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services, Division of Child and Adult Protection Services, receives an annual allocation sufficient to support the program. The Core Services Allocation for 2025-2026 is $6,726,751 which includes 100% state funding of $2,307,032 and 80% state funding of $4,419,719. The county share is $883,944, which comes from property tax for Human Services. The Core Services Program Plan as written totals $6,748,506 which is $21,755 more than the allocation provides. This allocation will be closely monitored to ensure we spend within our allotted amount. There is also a close-out process at the end of the state fiscal year which would allow for surplus distribution from other counties who have underspent their allocations.
Alignment with Strategic Implementation Strategies: N/A
Concurrence: Michael Valentine, Deputy County Attorney, Human Services; Todd Weaver, Finance Director