Colorado Department of Human Services

Colorado youth who have transitioned out of foster care can re-enter the system if they wish to access services expanded under a new state law.

Work is underway to test a national foster and adoptive parent training model that will be free for systems to use by 2022. The National Training and Development Curriculum for Foster and Adoptive Parents (NTDC) announced last month that seven states have been selected to participate in a pilot project to test its new training curriculum.

  Colorado is testing a new approach to providing services to struggling families in an effort to address the intergenerational cycle of poverty, incarceration and foster care. Two Generation (2Gen) is a new initiative by the state recognizing that children and their parents are best served by recognizing the needs of the entire family unit.

In July, the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) Division of Youth Services (DYS) launched a pilot program to provide adjudicated youth trauma-responsive, therapeutic care in a home-like environment. The Aspen Pilot is being tested at Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center thanks to Colorado lawmakers providing $333,000 in funding through Colorado House Bill 17-1329.

Next week, Colorado Department of Human Services (DHS) officials will continue the annual tradition of touring the state to gather feedback and suggestions about the child welfare system. DHS Executive Director Reggie Bicha and other DHS officials will attend each of the six planned stops on the fifth annual Summer Planning Tour.

Late last month, Minna Castillo Cohen took the helm as director of Colorado’s Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF), an agency that oversees child welfare, youth services and domestic violence for the state.