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Recommendations
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Colorado Works Evaluation: Third Annual Report, Part II (11/01/01)
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The Department of Human Services should continue to work with counties to conduct in-depth assessments of individuals nearing the time limit and ensure that the assessments are conducted in a timely and consistent fashion. These assessments should identify factors that constrain the ability of recipients to become self-sufficient and indicate specific services beyond cash assistance that would benefit recipients. The assessments should also provide the Department with adequate information to allow it to determine if a benefit extension is warranted.
DHHS should work with counties to identify and implement practices that can facilitate increased participation in the Food Stamp program among low-income households, including those of former Colorado Works recipients.
The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, in consultation with the Department of Human Services, should work with counties to assess whether additional outreach about Transitional Medicaid assistance should be targeted to Colorado Works leavers. If determined to be necessary, the agencies should develop additional outreach programs to increase awareness of post-program Medicaid assistance among under-enrolled Colorado Works leavers.
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Colorado Works Evaluation: Third Annual Report, Part I (08/01/01)
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The Department of Human Services should work with counties to develop policies and procedures to refer State Diversion recipients to appropriate job development and retention programs, including those offered by county Departments of Human Services, Workforce Development Boards, and local community-based organizations.
DHHS and Health Care Policy and Financing should work with counties to review their policies and practices for enrolling State Diversion recipients into Medicaid and revise them, as needed, to ensure that all new State Diversion applicants are also considered for Medicaid eligibility.
DHHS should work with counties to develop policies and procedures for referring up-front and post-program County Diversion recipients to appropriate job development and retention programs, including those offered by county Departments of Human Services, Workforce Development Boards, and local community-based organizations.
DHHS should work with counties to: a) improve their assessment processes to identify Colorado Works recipients who could benefit from placement in GED preparation classes or other basic education activities; and b) to improve case managers’ utilization of assessment information to assist recipients with work activity choices.
DHHS should work with counties to determine whether additional Colorado Works recipients can be appropriately referred to and placed in occupational skills training programs (vocational educational training work activities).
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Colorado Works Evaluation: Fifth Annual Report (11/01/03)
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- The Department should work with the county departments of human and social services to identify training opportunities for appropriate Colorado Works practitioners and outside service providers who have contact with Colorado Works participants in recognizing and identifying mental health and substance abuse problems.
- The Department should continue to work with the county departments of human and social services to encourage regional and statewide collaboration to leverage resources and coordinate services.
- The Department should provide support to the county departments of human and social services in their efforts to assist Colorado Works participants with the most severe disabilities to apply for SSI, by helping to establish working relationships with SSA and facilitating these relationships as needed.
- The Department, in collaboration with the county departments of human and social services, should document the effectiveness of serving Colorado Works participants with co-occurring disorders using an integrated service approach. The Department should provide information about the effectiveness of these programs to the counties.
- The Department should work with the county departments of social and human services to modify data collection and reporting requirements to ensure data (including cost data) related to screening, assessment, and referral for mental health, substance abuse, or dual diagnosis services to Colorado Works participants are routinely compiled and reported.
- The Department should enhance its efforts to maximize Earned Income Tax Credit participation among Colorado Works participants and other low-income individuals by evaluating the effectiveness of various outreach methods and by continuing to partner with the counties and other entities to encourage and assist Colorado Works participants and others in filing income tax returns and claiming the EITC.
- The Department should provide training to all Colorado Works staff, including case managers, on the importance of tax filing for low income populations, including information on claiming the EITC. Sessions on tax filing and the EITC should be included in the Department's annual Professional Development Academy.
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Colorado Works Evaluation: Fourth Annual Report: Part I: TANF and Colorado Works Expenditures, Caseload Trends, and TANF-funded Child Welfare Activities (11/01/02)
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- Ensure procedures are in place to allow county program staff to readily identify dual-system cases. In particular, the Department should:
- generate monthly status reports identifying children with open Child Welfare and Colorado Works cases (including new and ongoing cases);
- distribute status reports on a monthly basis to county program managers in both the Child Welfare and Colorado Works programs.
- Ensure that the Child Welfare and Colorado Works programs share client information appropriately for the purposes of identifying client needs, developing coordinated service plans, coordinating case management activities, and facilitating joint services discharge or transfer processes. To eliminate
confidentiality obstacles, the Department should issue rules that mandate the use of its confidentiality policy and forms as outlined in the CDHS reference manual entitled: Sharing Customer Information through a Common Consent Procedure.
- Improve coordination between the Child Welfare and Colorado Works programs and eliminate conflicting client requirements by:
- Requiring counties to specify in their County Plans formal procedures to ensure that Colorado Works case managers and Child Welfare case workers effectively collaborate in case management and service planning for dual-system clients, including development and modification of Colorado Works Individual Responsibility Contracts for dual-system clients;
- Requiring counties to specify in their County Plans how they will train new and existing Child Welfare and Colorado Works staff regarding the basic eligibility criteria, services available, and referral procedures for both programs;
- Disseminating to County program managers in both written form and in staff trainings current best practices for Child Welfare and Colorado Works program collaboration, including those identified in this report.
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Colorado Works Evaluation: Fourth Annual Report: Part II: Child Care Assistance to Colorado Works and Other Low Income Families (11/01/02)
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- Ensure counties provide child care assistance consistent with legislative intent and departmental policy by addressing prioritization afforded to transitioning Colorado Works recipients, families with income below 130 percent of the federal poverty level, participants in education and training programs, and other eligible low-income families. This should be achieved by:
- promulgating rules that clarify which participant groups should receive priority for child care assistance
- proposing statutory changes as needed
- Consider adjusting the parental fee schedule for child care assistance to require all families with more than one child in care to pay an additional fee that would range from $5 to $40, depending on family income.
- Ensure that counties do not require an LICC application from transitioning Colorado Works recipients by clarifying eligibility rules for LICC (CCR 3.904.1, A3). This rule should be amended to state that counties shall not require applications for transitioning Colorado Works recipients.
- Streamline the transition from Colorado Works to LICC by changing current rules regarding CCCAP and Colorado Works immunization record requirements. The rule change should reduce transitioning parents’ administrative responsibilities, while complying with federal immunization regulations. This should be achieved by:
- allowing school enrollment to serve as sufficient proof of current immunization for school-age children receiving LICC assistance;
- requiring counties to collect immunization records for all children under school age at entry to Colorado Works;
- requiring that immunization records are current, as defined by Department of Public Health and Environment guidelines, and eliminating the requirement that records be current within 60 days for those transitioning to LICC from Colorado Works.
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