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Child Welfare Action Committee

Child Welfare Action Committe Documents & Reports

Executive Order B006_08 establishing the Child Welfare Action Committee

On April 16, 2008, Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. issued an Executive Order creating the Governor's Child Welfare Action Committee. The charge of the Executive Order was to provide recommendations to improve Colorado's child welfare system. The mission of the Governor's Child Welfare Action Committee is to provide recommendations to the Governor on improving the Colorado child welfare system. The ultimate goal is to reduce the neglect, injury and fatality rates for Colorado's children. The Executive Order charged the Committee to make policy, budgetary and legislative recommendations.

Child Welfare Action Committee Members 2008

Because the protection of children is the responsibility of many parties including parents, relatives, neighbors, foster parents, schools, law enforcement, courts, providers and many organizations within our communities, the members of the Governor's Child Welfare Action committee were selected based on their knowledge, geography, experience, diversity and energy required to successfully address the challenges of the child welfare system.

Subcommittee Membership

The Committee convened four subcommittees to address the scope of work outlined in the Executive Order. As the Committee's work continues, the scope and priority of subcommittee work may change. The initial four subcommittees providing recommendations to the Committee included:

Administrative Structure
Child and Family Outcomes
Cultural Competency
Training

The subcommittees reviewed data, heard expert testimony and considered incentives, benefits, efficacy and cost of many of the issues identified in the Executive Order.

10/15/10 Final Report on the Child Welfare Action Commitee and the Centralized Call Center for Child Abuse Neglect Referrals

Discusses Child Welfare Actions Committee Recommendations 14 and 29.

6/9/2010 Final Report of the Child Welfare Action Committee

The Final Report of the Governor's Child Welfare Action Committee was presented to Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. on Wednesday, June 9, 2010. The report contained six recommendations from the Co-Occurring Issues Subcommittee. The Governor accepted all six recommendations and has asked the Colorado Department of Human Services to finalize implementation plans for the recommendations. He also expressed his appreciation to the Committee for their desire to look at the intersections of behavioral health, mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence as they relate to children and families.

9/28/2009 Second Interim Report

The Second Interim Report of the Governor's Child Welfare Action Committee was presented to Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. on September 28, 2009. Sixteen recommendations are presented to the Governor for consideration in this report. The recommendations represent increasing transparency and accountability for both the State and county departments, providing consistency in child maltreatment investigations and improving public access to services and resources in the child welfare system. This document represents the second interim report, as required by Executive Order, of the policy, budgetary and legislative recommendations that have been adopted by the committee.

9/24/2009 Colorado Child Welfare Organizational Structure and Capacity Analysis Project Report

This report presents the results of the Colorado Child Welfare Organizational Structure and Capacity Analysis, conducted under contract with the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS). The Action Committee's sub-committee on administrative structure commissioned this report. The analysis was conducted by Policy Studies, Inc. (PSI) and American Humane to determine the efficacy of child welfare services provided to children and families, and to evaluate and provide recommendations related to the state/county service delivery structure, staffing, policy, and service delivery processes. This assessment focused on the following items:

The structure of the child welfare system
The handling of levels of risk, complexity, and intensity of cases
The various geographic and demographic characteristics of counties

2/19/2009 Organizational Assessment and Recommendations for Improvements

This report presents the results from the organizational assessment of the Colorado Division of Child Welfare Services (Division) conducted under contract with the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS). The organizational assessment was conducted by Policy Studies Inc. (PSI) and American Humane to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the Division and to provide a series of recommendations for organizational improvements that will enhance the utilization of existing resources and identify areas of new potential resource needs. The assessment focused on the Division’s organizational structure as it relates to
the following items:

Meeting the Division’s legislative and regulatory requirements;
The intersection of the Division’s purpose, mission and vision with legislative and regulatory requirements; and
Determining if the Division functions sufficiently well to meet the above objectives through articulated and understood expectations and performance standards.

10/31/2008 Final Interim Report

This document represents an interim report, as required by executive Order, of the policy, budgetary and legislative recommendations that have been adopted by the Child Welfare Action Committee. The committee identified values and principles to guide them in their decision making process. The goals of the committee were articulated in the Executive Order. The Committee focused upon making recommendations for the October 2008 Interim Report that will immediately improve the child welfare system in Colorado and infuse a sense of urgency in assuring the well-being of children.

Revised: 04/18/2011