Colorado § 25-4-2209 - Culturally relevant and affirming health-care training - health-care providers - grants - definitions.

§ 25-4-2209. Culturally relevant and affirming health-care training - health-care providers - grants - definitions.

(1) As used in this section:

(a) "Priority populations" means people experiencing homelessness; people involved with the criminal justice system; Black people, indigenous people, and people of color; American Indians and Alaska natives; veterans; people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning; people of disproportionately affected sexual orientations and gender identities; people who have AIDS or HIV; older adults; children and families; and people with disabilities, including people who are deaf and hard of hearing, people who are blind and deafblind, people with brain injuries, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, people with other co-occurring disabilities; and other populations as deemed appropriate by the behavioral health administration.

(b) "Program" means the culturally relevant and affirming health-care training grant program created in subsection (2) of this section.

(c) "Provider" means an individual licensed, certified, or registered pursuant to title 12 to provide health-care services and an individual certified or licensed as an emergency medical service provider by the department. "Provider" does not include a veterinarian.

(d) "Regulator" has the same meaning as set forth in section 12-20-102 (14).

(2) (a) On or before January 1, 2023, the office shall create a culturally relevant and affirming health-care training grant program to provide money to nonprofit entities and statewide associations of health-care providers to develop new, culturally responsive training programs to benefit priority populations.

(b) The director of the office shall contract with a third-party administrator to administer the program. The third-party administrator shall:

(I) Issue a grant application for nonprofit entities and statewide associations of health-care providers who wish to participate in the program to develop culturally relevant and affirming health-care training for providers; and

(II) Submit the list of the qualified applicants for the program to the commission for approval.

(3) In order to be qualified to participate in the program, the nonprofit entity and statewide associations of health-care providers must be able to provide culturally relevant and affirming health-care training that:

(a) Teaches providers how to provide effective, equitable, understandable, safe, quality, and respectful care and services that are responsive to diverse cultural health beliefs and practices, preferred languages, health literacy, and other communication needs;

(b) Equips providers with the knowledge, skills, and awareness to best serve all patients, regardless of cultural or language background; and

(c) Focuses on:

(I) Culturally responsive and clinically competent care for priority populations; and

(II) Intersectionality, respectful care, implicit biases, and sexual orientation and gender identity data collection.

(4) While creating the list of qualified entities to conduct the culturally relevant and affirming health-care training, the director of the office shall consider the ability of each qualified entity to address the needs of priority populations through its training program.

(5) The commission shall review the list of qualified entities that apply for participation in the grant program, select entities to participate in the grant program, and provide a list of the selected entities to the office.

(6) (a) The office shall provide a list of qualified entities that are selected by the commission, a description of the training offered, and information regarding the grant program to the regulator of each provider.

(b) Each qualified entity that is selected by the commission to provide training is encouraged to work with regulators in each health-care profession to ensure that each provider who completes the training receives continuing education credit where applicable.

(7) For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the general assembly shall appropriate nine hundred thousand dollars from the general fund to the department for allocation to the office for the purposes of this section, including payment for a third-party administrator. Any unexpended money remaining at the end of the 2022-23 state fiscal year:

(a) Does not revert to the general fund or any other fund;

(b) May be used by the department in subsequent state fiscal years without further appropriation; and

(c) Shall not be used for any other purpose other than the purposes set forth in this section.

Source: L. 2022: Entire section added, (HB 22-1267), ch. 443, p. 3121, § 1, effective August 10. L. 2023: (1)(a) amended, (HB 23-1236), ch. 206, p. 1053, § 10, effective May 16.

PART 23

COLORADO IMMUNIZATION FUND