Colorado § 25.5-10-206 - Authorized long-term services and supports - conditions of funding - purchase of services and supports - adult protective services data system check - boards of county commissioners - appropriation.

§ 25.5-10-206. Authorized long-term services and supports - conditions of funding - purchase of services and supports - adult protective services data system check - boards of county commissioners - appropriation.

(1) Subject to annual appropriations by the general assembly, the state department shall provide or purchase, pursuant to subsection (4) of this section, authorized long-term services and supports from case management agencies or service agencies for persons who have been determined to be eligible for such long-term services and supports pursuant to section 25.5-6-1704 and as specified in the eligible person's individualized plan. Those long-term services and supports may include, but need not be limited to, the following:

(a) Family support services, including an array of supportive services provided to the person receiving services and the person's family, that enable the family to maintain the person in the family home, thereby preventing or delaying the need for out-of-home placement that is unwanted by the person or the family, pursuant to section 25.5-10-301;

(b) Case management services;

(c) Respite care services, including temporary care of a person with an intellectual and developmental disability to offer relief to the person's family or caregiver or to allow the family or caregiver to deal with emergency situations or to engage in personal, social, or routine activities and tasks that otherwise may be neglected, postponed, or curtailed due to the demands of supporting a person who has an intellectual and developmental disability;

(d) Day services and supports that offer opportunities for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities to experience and actively participate in valued adult roles in the community. These services and supports will enable persons receiving services to access and participate in community activities, such as work, recreation, higher education, and senior citizen activities. Day services may also include the administration of nutrition or fluids through gastrostomy tubes, if administered by a person authorized pursuant to section 25.5-10-204 (2)(j) and supervised by a licensed nurse or physician.

(e) Residential services and supports, including an array of training, learning, experiential, and support activities provided in living alternatives designed to meet the individual needs and preferences of persons receiving services and may include the administration of nutrition or fluids through gastrostomy tubes, if administered by a person authorized pursuant to section 25.5-10-204 (2)(j) and supervised by a licensed nurse or physician; and

(f) Ancillary services, including activities that are secondary but integral to the provision of the services and supports specified in this subsection (1).

(2) Service agencies and case management agencies receiving funds pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall comply with all of the provisions of this article 10 and the rules promulgated thereunder.

(3) Case management services must be purchased from the case management agency, except as otherwise provided in subsection (4) of this section.

(4) (a) The state department may purchase long-term services and supports directly from service agencies and case management services from case management agencies if:

(I) Required by the federal requirements for the state to qualify for federal funds under Title XIX of the federal "Social Security Act", as amended, including programs authorized pursuant to part 4 of article 6 of this title; or

(II) The executive director has determined that a long-term service or support provided or purchased by a case management agency does not meet established standards and the continuation of purchase of the long-term service or support through the case management agency is not in the best interests of the persons receiving services.

(b) (I) The state department shall only purchase long-term services and supports directly from those case management agencies or service agencies that meet established standards.

(II) The standards referenced in subsection (4)(b)(I) of this section must include a requirement that, on and after January 1, 2019, prior to employment, the name of a person who will be providing direct care, as defined in section 26-3.1-101 (3.5), to an at-risk adult, as defined in section 26-3.1-101 (1.5), as well as any other required identifying information, is submitted to the department of human services for a check of the Colorado adult protective services data system pursuant to section 26-3.1-111, to determine if the person is substantiated in a case of mistreatment of an at-risk adult.

(c) The state department may purchase services and supports, including service and support coordination, from a family caregiver if the executive director has determined that the provision of a service or support by a family caregiver in the family home would provide the person receiving the service or support with the least restrictive environment.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the provision of services and supports, including case management services, directly by the department of human services through regional centers, for persons receiving services in regional centers.

(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the provision of services and supports, including case management services, directly by the state department.

(5) Governmental units, including but not limited to counties, municipalities, school districts, health service districts, and state institutions of higher education, are authorized at their own expense to furnish money, materials, or long-term services and supports to persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, or to purchase long-term services and supports for such persons through designated case management agencies or service agencies, so long as no conditions or requirements imposed as a result of the provision or purchase conflict with the provisions of this article 10 or the rules promulgated thereunder.

(6) Boards of county commissioners may levy up to one mill for the purpose of purchasing services and supports for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. To the extent authorized by federal law, and subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly, and pursuant to rules established by the state board, a county may transfer the revenue raised pursuant to the mill levy to the state department to receive matching federal funds to provide medicaid-approved waiver services to persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

(7) (a) Each year the general assembly shall appropriate moneys to the state department to provide or purchase services and supports for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities pursuant to this section. Unless specifically provided otherwise, services and supports shall be purchased on the basis of state funding less any federal or cash funds received for general operating expenses from any other state or federal source, less funds available to a person receiving residential services or supports after such person receives an allowance for personal needs or for meeting other obligations imposed by federal or state law, and less the required local school district funds specified in paragraph (b) of this subsection (7). The yearly appropriation, when combined with all other sources of funds, shall in no case exceed one hundred percent of the approved program costs as determined by the general assembly.

(b) Each school district shall pay to the case management agency purchasing programs attended by a student with an intellectual and developmental disability, who is domiciled in the school district and may be counted in the district's pupil enrollment, an amount at least equal to the district's per pupil revenues as determined pursuant to the "Public School Finance Act of 2025", article 54 of title 22. This subsection (7) applies to students who are less than twenty-two years of age.

Source: L. 2013: Entire article added with relocations, (HB 13-1314), ch. 323, p. 1754, § 1, effective March 1, 2014. L. 2017: (4)(b) amended, (HB 17-1284), ch. 272, p. 1505, § 12, effective May 31; IP(1), (2), (3), IP(4)(a), (4)(b), and (5) amended, (HB 17-1343), ch. 320, p. 1723, § 3, effective June 5. L. 2021: IP(1), (2), (3), IP(4)(a), (4)(a)(II), (4)(b)(I), (5), and (7)(b) amended, (HB 21-1187), ch. 83, p. 339, § 41, effective July 1, 2024. L. 2024: (7)(b) amended, (HB 24-1448), ch. 236, p. 1537, § 60, effective May 23.

Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 27-10.5-104 as it existed prior to 2013.

(2) Amendments to subsection (4)(b) by HB 17-1284 and HB 17-1343 were harmonized.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. The following annotations include cases decided under a former provision similar to this section.

School board lacks standing to challenge the constitutionality of this section because, as a political subdivision of the state whose duty it is to carry out the educational policies of the state, the school district and officers thereof cannot question the constitutionality of a statute fixing their duties. Denver Ass'n for Retarded Children v. Sch. Dist. No. 1, 188 Colo. 310, 535 P.2d 200 (1975).

Kindergarten included in school district's "regular school program". Where the defendant school board conceded that they maintain a free kindergarten for children who are five years of age and, but for the mental retardation or serious handicap of the children being educated through the board, they would attend the district's free kindergarten, such kindergarten is included in the school district's "regular school program" as that phrase is used in this section. Denver Ass'n for Retarded Children v. Sch. Dist. No. 1, 188 Colo. 310, 535 P.2d 200 (1975).

Mandamus proper remedy. Subsection (7)(b) clearly requires that the "school district shall provide to the community incorporated board" a sum of money determined by a stated formula; therefore, the clear right of a school board to demand performance, and the clear legal duty on a school district to act, makes this a proper case for disposition by mandamus. Denver Ass'n for Retarded Children v. Sch. Dist. No. 1, 188 Colo. 310, 535 P.2d 200 (1975).

Superintendent not proper party defendant in mandamus action. Since under § 22-32-107 the official duty of paying over the amounts in question as required by this section was that of the treasurer, as authorized by the board of education, and not that of the superintendent, the superintendent was not a proper party defendant in a mandamus action to require such payment. Denver Ass'n for Retarded Children v. Sch. Dist. No. 1, 188 Colo. 310, 535 P.2d 200 (1975).

Amounts payable under section not subject to prejudgment interest. Since the amounts to be paid under this section arise neither out of contract nor out of a fiduciary relationship, the plaintiffs were not entitled to prejudgment interest. Denver Ass'n for Retarded Children v. Sch. Dist. No. 1, 188 Colo. 310, 535 P.2d 200 (1975).

Applied in Adams County Cmty. Center for Retarded & Seriously Handicapped, Inc. v. State Dept. of Insts., 197 Colo. 448, 594 P.2d 1046 (1979).