Colorado § 26-2-725 - Outreach and engagement plan - family voice participation.

§ 26-2-725. Outreach and engagement plan - family voice participation.

(1) No later than September 30, 2022, the state department shall develop an outreach and engagement plan to promote access to the Colorado works program for eligible persons.

(2) The state department shall partner with counties and nonprofit organizations when developing and implementing the outreach and engagement plan and shall incorporate feedback from current and former participants to ensure participants are influential stakeholders in the process.

(3) At a minimum, the outreach and engagement plan must include specific strategies for:

(a) Outreach to monolingual, non-English-speaking communities and families, including a linguistically diverse website and translation of other materials that include information about the works program in the seven most common languages spoken in each county of the state;

(b) Developing culturally appropriate messaging;

(c) Sharing information about the services and supports available and participants' rights and responsibilities under the works program;

(d) How to appeal if redetermination is denied;

(e) Confidentiality protections for applicants and participants; and

(f) Outreach through a variety of settings, including but not limited to social media, schools, child care centers, food banks, libraries, federally qualified health centers, home visiting programs, mobile home parks, head start and early head start centers, and mobile sites.

(4) The state department shall:

(a) Require that county staff working with applicants and participants receive comprehensive training regarding the works program. The training must include trauma-informed approaches to interacting with participants, consistency in communicating information about child care access and assistance, the alignment of a participant's work requirements with child care access and family medical needs, the full scope of options for the participant to meet work and education requirements in alignment with the participant's goals, and the availability of support services for families.

(b) Develop toolkits, manuals, and other materials for county staff, applicants, and participants that include information about child care access and assistance, the alignment of a participant's work requirements with child care access, the full scope of options for the participant to meet work and education requirements in alignment with the participant's goals, and the availability of support services for families;

(c) Partner with counties, nonprofit organizations, and participants to develop culturally and linguistically appropriate messaging and ensure that applicants and participants have access to sufficient supports and communication in the seven most common languages spoken in each county of the state, or, in the instance of a monolingual speaker of a language other than the seven most common languages, use best efforts to provide supports and communication in the language spoken by the individual;

(d) Ensure adequate and meaningful representation by, feedback from, or engagement with current and former participants when making decisions and recommendations regarding the works program, including during any rule-making or regulatory process and other policy changes that impact recipients. To the extent possible, the state department shall ensure that participants involved pursuant to this subsection (4)(d) are diverse with regard to race, ethnicity, age, ability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and geography and that participant feedback has a genuine opportunity to influence substantial changes to the works program. The state department may utilize any established councils at the state and local level that have current and former participants represented or appointed to comply with the requirements of this subsection (4)(d). To the extent possible, the state department shall consider reimbursing participants involved pursuant to this subsection (4)(d) for travel expenses and attendant and dependent care.

(5) Beginning January 2023, and each January thereafter, the state department shall include information on the implementation of the requirements in this section in its report to the house of representatives health and human services committee and the senate health and human services committee, or their successor committees, as part of its "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" presentation required by section 2-7-203.

(6) The state department may review and consider information technology solutions for the implementation of this section.

Source: L. 2022: Entire section added, (HB 22-1259), ch. 348, p. 2489, § 12, effective June 3. L. 2026: (5) amended, (SB 26-169), ch. 311, p. 1811, § 51, effective August 12.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 22-1259, see section 1 of chapter 348, Session Laws of Colorado 2022.