Colorado § 26-1-107 - State board of human services - reimbursement for expenses - rules.

§ 26-1-107. State board of human services - reimbursement for expenses - rules.

(1) (a) There is created in the department of human services the state board of human services, referred to in this section as the "state board". The state board is a type 1 entity, as defined in section 24-1-105. The state board consists of nine members appointed by the governor, with the consent of the senate, for terms of four years. The members appointed to the board must be residents of the state of Colorado. The governor may remove a member of the board for misconduct, incompetence, or neglect of duty.

(b) The board consists of:

(I) One member who is a person with a disability, as defined in section 24-34-301, a family member of a person with a disability, or a member of an advocacy group for persons with disabilities;

(II) (A) Three members who serve as county commissioners of one of the state's counties.

(B) If a board member who is concurrently serving as a county commissioner ceases to serve as a county commissioner, the member's seat on the state board shall be deemed vacant, and the governor shall appoint a new county commissioner to fill the vacancy.

(C) A county commissioner, in the commissioner's role as a board member, shall not vote on any matter coming before the state board that affects the commissioner's county in a manner different from other counties.

(II.5) (A) One member who is a person with lived experience with behavioral health disorders, a family member of a person with behavioral health disorders, a member of an advocacy group for persons experiencing behavioral health disorders, or a physician or a member of one of the licensed mental health professions.

(B) A physician or a member of one of the licensed mental health professions, in their role as a board member, shall not vote on any matter coming before the board that affects their employer or private practice in a manner different from other employers or private practices of the same professions.

(III) Four members who are from the public at large.

(2) No recipient of a pension under the Colorado old age pension statutes shall be eligible for appointment to the state board.

(3) The members of the state board may receive reimbursement for actual traveling expenses.

(4) The state board shall act only by resolution adopted at a duly called meeting of the state board, and no individual member of the state board shall exercise administrative authority with respect to the state department.

(5) (a) "Board rules" are rules promulgated by the state board governing:

(I) Program scope and content;

(II) Requirements, obligations, and rights of clients and recipients;

(III) Non-executive director rules concerning vendors, providers, and other persons affected by acts of the state department.

(b) The state board shall have authority to adopt "board rules" for programs administered and services provided by the state department as set forth in this title and in title 27, C.R.S.

(c) Any rules adopted by the executive director to implement the provisions of this title 26 or title 27, prior to March 25, 2009, whose content meets the definition of "board rules" shall continue to be effective until revised, amended, or repealed by the state board.

(d) Whenever a statutory grant of rule-making authority in this title or in title 27, C.R.S., refers to the state department or the department of human services, it shall mean the state department acting through either the state board or the executive director or both. When exercising rule-making authority under this title or title 27, C.R.S., the state department, either acting through the state board or the executive director, shall establish rules consistent with the powers and the distinction between "board rules" as set forth in this section and "executive director rules" as set forth in section 26-1-108.

(6) The state board shall:

(a) Adopt board rules;

(b) Hold hearings relating to the formulation and revision of the policies of the state department;

(c) Advise the executive director as to any matters that the executive director may bring before the state board;

(d) Meet as is necessary to adjust the minimum award for old age pensions for changes in the cost of living pursuant to section 26-2-114 (1); except that the state board shall meet for such a purpose whenever the monthly index of consumer prices, prepared by the bureau of labor statistics of the United States department of labor, increases or decreases by an amount warranting an increase or decrease over the previous adjustment and the United States social security administration increases benefits similarly adjusted for changes in the cost of living. Such a meeting shall be held within twenty days of the publication of the monthly index which first exceeds the previous level by said amount.

(e) Adopt rules and regulations for the purpose of establishing guidelines for the placement of children from locations outside of Colorado into this state for foster care or adoption pursuant to section 19-5-203 or 26-6-905 or the terms of the "Interstate Compact on Placement of Children" as set forth in part 18 of article 60 of title 24;

(f) Adopt rules governing the operations of the statewide adoption resource registry as described in section 26-1-111 (4);

(g) Adopt rules concerning programs related to behavioral, mental health, or substance use disorders and intellectual and developmental disabilities. To the extent that rules are promulgated by the state board of human services for programs or providers that receive either medicaid only or both medicaid and non-medicaid funding, the rules must be developed in cooperation with the department of health care policy and financing and must not conflict with state statutes or federal statutes or regulations.

(h) Adopt rules concerning standards for the level of training, education, and experience that a psychiatrist or psychologist must be qualified in order to perform competency evaluations in criminal cases pursuant to section 16-8-106 and article 8.5 of title 16, and standards for conducting and reporting competency evaluations in criminal cases.

(7) When federal statute or regulation requires, as a condition for the receipt of federal participation in any state department administered or supervised public assistance or welfare program, that specific forms of income to recipients and applicants or other persons whose income would otherwise be considered to be disregarded, such income shall be disregarded and the rules of the state board shall include provisions to effect such requirements.

(8) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect any specific statutory provision granting rule-making authority in relation to a specific program to the state board.

(9) and (9.5) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2006, p. 1986, § 10, effective July 1, 2006.)

(10) The state board shall fix minimum standards and qualifications for county department personnel based upon training and experience deemed necessary to fulfill the requirements and responsibilities for each position and establish salary schedules based upon prevailing wages for comparable work within each county or district or region where such data is available and is collected and compiled in a manner approved by the state personnel director. The rules issued by the state board shall be binding upon the several county departments. At any public hearing relating to a proposed rule making, interested persons shall have the right to present their data, views, or arguments orally. Proposed rules of the state board shall be subject to the provisions of section 24-4-103, C.R.S.

Source: L. 73: R&RE, p. 1162, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 119-1-6. L. 93: Entire section amended, p. 1108, § 22, effective July 1, 1994. L. 94: (9) amended, p. 1560, § 8, effective July 1; (10) added, p. 2611, § 13, effective July 1. L. 97: (5), (7), and (10) amended, p. 1219, § 2, effective July 1; (6) amended, p. 1183, § 2, effective July 1. L. 2003: (9.5) added, p. 2585, § 6, effective July 1. L. 2006: (6)(g), (7), (9), and (9.5) amended, p. 1986, § 10, effective July 1. L. 2007: (6)(h) added, p. 41, § 2, effective March 8. L. 2008: (6)(h) amended, p. 1859, § 18, effective July 1. L. 2009: (5) amended, (SB 09-044), ch. 57, p. 204, § 3, effective March 25; (1)(a) amended, (HB 09-1281), ch. 399, p. 2154, § 5, effective August 5. L. 2011: (1)(a) amended, (SB 11-183), ch. 132, p. 466, § 3, effective August 10. L. 2017: (6)(g) amended, (SB 17-242), ch. 263, p. 1331, § 212, effective May 25. L. 2018: (1)(a) amended, (HB 18-1364), ch. 351, p. 2082, § 8, effective July 1. L. 2022: (1) and (5)(c) amended, (SB 22-013), ch. 2, p. 64, § 88, effective February 25; (1)(b)(II.5) added and (1)(b)(III) amended, (HB 22-1278), ch. 222, p. 1517, § 79, effective July 1; (6)(e) amended, (HB 22-1295), ch. 123, p. 850, § 81, effective July 1; (1)(a) amended, (SB 22-162), ch. 469, p. 3376, § 68, effective August 10. L. 2023: (3) amended, (HB 23-210), ch. 251, p. 1430, § 6, effective May 24; (1)(b)(I) amended, (HB 23-1296), ch. 269, p. 1601, § 10, effective May 25. L. 2026: (6)(h) amended, (SB 26-149), ch. 142, p. 797, § 50, effective May 21.

Editor's note: Amendments to subsection (1) by SB 22-013 and SB 22-162 were harmonized.

Cross references: (1) For the legislative declaration contained in the 1993 act amending this section, see section 1 of chapter 230, Session Laws of Colorado 1993. For the legislative declaration contained in the 1994 act enacting subsection (10), see section 1 of chapter 345, Session Laws of Colorado 1994. For the legislative declaration contained in the 2008 act amending subsection (6)(h), see section 1 of chapter 389, Session Laws of Colorado 2008. For the legislative declaration in SB 17-242, see section 1 of chapter 263, Session Laws of Colorado 2017.

(2) For the short title (the "Debbie Haskins 'Administrative Organization Act of 1968' Modernization Act") in SB 22-162, see section 1 of chapter 469, Session Laws of Colorado 2022.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. The following annotations include cases decided prior to the 1994 amendment of this section.

Section does not compel state board to adopt wage schedule submitted by a county for its social service employees. Evert v. Ouren, 37 Colo. App. 402, 549 P.2d 791 (1976).

Or to provide salaries identical to prevailing rate. This section does not require that the state board provide salaries in every respect identical with those prevalent in a particular area. Evert v. Ouren, 37 Colo. App. 402, 549 P.2d 791 (1976).

Section merely establishes a standard for the state board to follow in setting the salaries of social services employees, directing the state board to consider prevailing wages within each respective region as an initial or starting point for calculation. Evert v. Ouren, 37 Colo. App. 402, 549 P.2d 791 (1976).

It leaves to the state board the task of preparing wage schedules, and does not empower a county to do anything more than submit suitable data for the state board's consideration. Evert v. Ouren, 37 Colo. App. 402, 549 P.2d 791 (1976).

The state board is entrusted with the ultimate responsibility for the conduct of the fiscal affairs of the social services system. Evert v. Ouren, 37 Colo. App. 402, 549 P.2d 791 (1976).

Discretion of board. This section grants to the state board a considerable degree of discretion in determining wage schedules for employees of the social services system. Evert v. Ouren, 37 Colo. App. 402, 549 P.2d 791 (1976).

Factor in establishing wage schedules. If appropriations for the funds for the wages of county social services employees are insufficient in a given year, it is fully within the discretion accorded the state board in subsection (2) to consider this as a factor in establishing wage schedules. Evert v. Ouren, 37 Colo. App. 402, 549 P.2d 791 (1976).

County board is arm of state. The county board of social services is set up as a subordinate agency or arm of the state. It is bound by, inter alia, the fiscal and personnel rules set up by the state board of social services. Martin v. District Court, 191 Colo. 107, 550 P.2d 864 (1976).

County board is without standing to challenge action of state board. In the absence of an express statutory right, the county board lacks standing or any other legal authority to obtain judicial review of an action of the merit system council. Martin v. District Court, 191 Colo. 107, 550 P.2d 864 (1976).

Right to judicial review limited. The right to judicial review of the final administrative actions of the state board of social services is limited to those parties to the proceeding before the administrative agency whose rights, privileges, or duties, as distinct from those of the state, are adversely affected by the decision. Bd. of County Comm'rs v. State Bd. of Soc. Servs., 186 Colo. 435, 528 P.2d 244 (1974).

Applied in Dempsey v. City & County of Denver, 649 P.2d 726 (Colo. App. 1982).