Colorado § 26-11-203 - Duties of the state office.

§ 26-11-203. Duties of the state office.

(1) In addition to such other duties and functions as the executive director may allocate to the state office, the state office shall have the following duties and functions:

(a) To be the leader concerning aging issues on behalf of all older Coloradans while acting in coordination with other state departments and agencies, as appropriate;

(b) To carry out a wide range of functions related to advocacy, planning, coordination, interagency collaboration, information sharing, and monitoring and evaluating to develop and enhance a comprehensive and coordinated state- and community-based system to assist older Coloradans to lead independent, meaningful, and dignified lives in the residential settings of their own choice;

(c) To develop and administer a state plan on aging, which includes input from area agencies on aging developed in accordance with federal guidelines, with additional content to the plan to be determined collaboratively between the state office, the commission, and the technical advisory committee convened in the state office pursuant to subsection (1)(k) of this section. The additional content to the plan reflects the comprehensive impacts and planning associated with Colorado's demographics.

(d) To establish a process that encourages local, regional, and statewide participation in the development stages of the state plan on aging, which shall be coordinated with the area agencies on aging, the commission established pursuant to part 1 of this article 11, and other persons or entities involved in programs for older persons;

(e) To assist public and nonprofit private agencies and the for-profit sector in planning and developing programs to facilitate a statewide network of comprehensive, coordinated services and opportunities for older Coloradans, giving priority to those agencies, programs, services, and activities that support independent living, prepare Coloradans for their later years, and empower older Coloradans to be self-reliant and independent, which includes fostering public-private partnerships when appropriate;

(f) To study those aspects of the problems of aging necessary to accomplish the purpose of state policy through such activities as conducting research, computing statistics, evaluating emerging technologies and innovations, holding hearings, and drafting policy recommendations;

(g) To maintain a clearinghouse of information related to the interests and needs of older Coloradans and act as a referral service for the dissemination of the information;

(h) To assess the need for services to be provided to the older population within the state and determine the extent to which the state's service delivery system serves that population, with particular emphasis on older Coloradans with the greatest economic and social needs, as well as empowering older Coloradans to plan for the needs of increased life expectancy;

(i) To encourage and support the involvement of volunteers and seek ways to utilize the private sector to capitalize on the opportunities to support older Coloradans and their families;

(j) To designate area agencies on aging to assist the state office in carrying out its functions in specified geographic areas within the state;

(k) To convene and coordinate a technical advisory committee comprised of key state department representatives, including but not limited to the department of human services, department of labor and employment, department of higher education, department of health care policy and financing, department of transportation, department of public health and environment, and department of local affairs, to direct the implementation of recommendations and strategies provided in the strategic action plan on aging developed pursuant to section 24-32-3406, as that section existed prior to June 30, 2022, and recommendations the commission makes as set forth in section 26-11-105; and

(l) To coordinate with the technical advisory committee and commission to develop, maintain, and make publicly available on the state department's website a collection of available data sets; metrics specific to the implementation of strategies in alignment with the strategic action plan on aging developed pursuant to section 24-32-3406, as that section existed prior to June 30, 2022, and the lifelong Colorado initiative created pursuant to section 26-11-302; and other recommendations that the commission makes as set forth in section 26-11-105.

Source: L. 85: Entire part added, p. 976, § 3, effective May 29. L. 2022: Entire section amended, (HB 22-1035), ch. 38, p. 202, § 7, effective March 24; (1)(k) and (1)(l) amended, (HB 22-1209), ch. 95, p. 455, § 6, effective April 12.