Colorado § 19-7-314.5 - Colorado fostering success voucher program - established - eligibility - administration - availability, standards, and services.

§ 19-7-314.5. Colorado fostering success voucher program - established - eligibility - administration - availability, standards, and services.

(1) The Colorado fostering success voucher program is established in the state department. The purpose of the voucher program is to provide vouchers to voucher recipients and provide developmentally appropriate case management for voucher recipients who are eligible for the voucher program.

(2) (a) To be eligible to provide services through the voucher program, a case management agency must:

(I) Be a current recipient of a grant from the foster youth successful transition to adulthood grant program created in section 19-7-314; or

(II) Be currently operating a program through funding received pursuant to the federal "John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood", 42 U.S.C. 677 (a).

(b) To be eligible for services through the voucher program, a voucher recipient must:

(I) Be at least eighteen years of age or older but less than twenty-six years of age;

(II) Have prior foster care or kinship care involvement in at least one of the following ways:

(A) Have been in foster care, as defined in section 19-1-103, on or after the youth's fourteenth birthday;

(B) Have been in noncertified kinship care, as defined in section 19-1-103, on or after the youth's fourteenth birthday and have been adjudicated dependent and neglected pursuant to article 3 of this title 19; or

(C) Have turned eighteen years of age when the youth was a named child or youth in a dependency and neglect case pursuant to article 3 of this title 19;

(III) Be currently experiencing homelessness or be at imminent risk of homelessness and have voluntarily agreed to participate in services offered and provided by a case management agency;

(IV) Reside in Colorado; and

(V) Have income that does not exceed a level determined by the state department of local affairs policies and procedures pursuant to subsection (3) of this section.

(3) The state department of human services and the state department of local affairs shall develop a joint implementation plan that delegates administrative responsibilities as follows:

(a) The state department of local affairs is responsible for the issuance of voucher payments to landlords, the maintenance of annual income verification, and the review of policies developed by the state department of human services to ensure compliance with all applicable fair housing laws;

(b) The state department of human services is responsible for establishing case management standards, the allocation of vouchers to eligible recipients, and the oversight of voucher selection plans; and

(c) Case management agencies are responsible for case management activities and services for voucher recipients.

(4) Availability, standards, and services for the Colorado fostering success voucher program include, but are not limited to, the following requirements:

(a) A voucher may be used at a dwelling that meets housing quality standards policies and procedures established by the state department of local affairs;

(b) The amount of financial assistance for each voucher must align with standards established by the state department of local affairs but may be increased on an individual basis if housing is not available in the county served by the case management agency that meets the cost standards. The state department of human services shall approve any variance from the standards set annually by the state department of local affairs.

(c) A youth who receives a voucher is required to contribute to the cost of housing, but that amount must not be more than thirty percent of the youth's income;

(d) A youth who receives a voucher is required to participate in case management services provided by the case management agency;

(e) A case management agency shall make case management available, as funding permits, to youth receiving federal housing choice vouchers and who are otherwise eligible for a voucher;

(f) A case management agency shall meet the minimum case management standards established by the state department of human services;

(g) A youth with prior adjudications in the juvenile court is eligible for a voucher; and

(h) A case management agency shall make reasonable efforts to engage a youth in case management activities and to support the youth into coming into compliance with voucher requirements prior to terminating the voucher or case management services.

Source: L. 2023: Entire section added, (SB 23-082), ch. 346, p. 2075, § 3, effective June 5.