Child Welfare Action Committee's Second Report To Governor Ritter

Press Release

The Child Welfare Action Committee has delivered its second Interim Report to Gov. Bill Ritter, making more than a dozen recommendations on how to strengthen state and county child-protection services throughout Colorado.

Gov. Ritter established the Committee by Executive Order in April 2008 following the deaths of 13 children who'd had prior contact with the child welfare system.

The Governor charged the Committee with crafting recommendations to better protect the state's most vulnerable residents from abuse and neglect. The Committee issued a first Interim Report earlier this year, and the second Interim Report contains 16 additional recommendations.

The report recommends establishing a centralized call system for reporting suspected abuse and neglect; the creation of a child advocate office; requiring counties to provide feedback to mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect; and stricter timeframes for providing services to families who move to different jurisdictions.

The report also recommends that the state move to a hybrid organizational model, allowing for regionalization of 53 counties to streamline and improve services. This model would require greater accountability of the state's largest counties with a focus on improved outcomes for children and families in Colorado. The Committee based this recommendation on an organizational study done by Policy Studies Inc. that concluded the current 64-county system is inefficient and fragmented.

The entire report can be accessed here: click on Second Interim Report Sep 09.

"The Committee put a great deal of thoughtful analysis into how we can improve child welfare services to children and their families, and I look forward to the rest of our work to improve the safety, well-being and permanency of at-risk children in Colorado," said Colorado Department of Human Services Executive Director, Karen L. Beye, who chairs the Committee.

Gov. Ritter will review the recommendations in the coming weeks. He thanked the Committee and the stakeholders who have participated in the recommendation process for the past year and a half.

"Our No. 1 focus must be on protecting Colorado's children," Gov. Ritter said. "The status quo was failing, but thanks to the work of the Committee, we are beginning to make important changes, including the upcoming launch of the state's first Child Welfare Training Academy. As I review these latest recommendations, I look forward to continuing the open and collaborative process that has defined the Committee's work since its inception."

The Committee's final report is due to the Governor by Dec. 31, 2009.

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