2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 26 - HUMAN SERVICES CODE (§§ 26-1-101 — 26-24-101) › Article 2 - Public Assistance (§§ 26-2-101 — 26-2-1104) › Part 7 - COLORADO WORKS PROGRAM (§§ 26-2-701 — 26-2-726) › Section 26-2-703 - [Effective 8/7/2024] Definitions

As used in this part 7, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1)
Repealed.
(2)
"Assistance" means any ongoing assistance payment or short-term assistance payment as those terms are described in section
26-2-706.6
.
(2.5)
"Assistance unit" means those family members who are participants in the Colorado works program and who are receiving cash assistance.
(3)
"Basic cash assistance grant" means cash assistance provided to a participant in the Colorado works program pursuant to section
26-2-709
.
(3.5)
(a)
"Cash assistance" means cash, payments, vouchers, and other forms of benefits designed to meet a family's ongoing basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, utilities, household goods, personal care items, and general incidental expenses. "Cash assistance" includes such benefits even when they are:
(I)
Provided in the form of payments by a TANF agency, or other agency on its behalf, to individual participants; and
(II)
Conditioned on participation in a work activity or community service.
(b)
Except as otherwise excluded in paragraph (c) of this subsection (3.5), "cash assistance" also includes supportive services provided to families who are not employed such as transportation and child care.
(c)
"Cash assistance" does not include:
(I)
Nonrecurrent, short-term benefits that:
(A)
Are designed to address a specific crisis situation or episode of need;
(B)
Are not intended to meet recurrent or ongoing needs; and
(C)
Will not extend beyond four months;
(II)
Work subsidies such as payments to employers or third parties to help cover the costs of employee wages, benefits, supervision, and training;
(III)
Supportive services such as child care and transportation provided to families who are employed;
(IV)
Refundable earned income tax credits;
(V)
Contributions to, and distributions from, individual development accounts;
(VI)
Services such as counseling, case management, peer support, child care information and referral, transitional services, job retention, job advancement, and other employment-related services that do not provide basic income support; and
(VII)
Transportation benefits provided under a job access or reverse commute project to an individual who is not otherwise receiving assistance.
(4)
"Colorado child care assistance program" means the state program of child care assistance implemented pursuant to the provisions of part 1 of article
4
of title
26.5
and rules of the executive director of the department of early childhood.
(5)
"Colorado works program" or "works program" means the program of public assistance created in this part 7.
(5.5)
"Controlled substance" means a substance, a drug, or an immediate precursor included in schedules I to V of part 2 of article
18
of title
18
, and any "alcohol beverage" as defined in section
44-3-103 (2)
.
(5.7)
"Countable income" means the receipt by an individual of a gain or benefit in cash or in kind during a calendar month that is used to determine eligibility and the benefit amount for the Colorado works program as specified by the state board.
(6)
"County" means a county or a city and county.
(7)
"County block grant" means a block grant provided to a county pursuant to the provisions of section
26-2-712
.
(8)
"County department" means:
(a)
A county department of human or social services or health and human services of a county or a city and county; or
(b)
Any combination of a county department of human or social services that are approved by the state department to implement a county block grant jointly pursuant to the provisions of section
26-2-718
.
(8.5)
"Deficit reduction omnibus reconciliation act" means the federal "Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005", Pub.L. 109-171, as amended.
(9)
"Dependent child" means a person who resides with a parent or a specified caretaker and who is under the age of eighteen years or, if the person is a full-time student at a secondary school or vocational or technical equivalent and is reasonably expected to complete the school or vocational or technical equivalent before attaining the age of nineteen years, is under nineteen years.
(9.5)
"Disqualified or excluded person" means a person who would otherwise be a member of an assistance unit but who is rendered ineligible to participate due to program prohibitions.
(10)
"Federal law" means the personal responsibility and work opportunity reconciliation act, the deficit reduction omnibus reconciliation act, and any federal regulations adopted for the implementation of either act.
(10.2)
"Guardian" means a person appointed by court order to be the guardian of another person.
(10.5)
"Income" means any cash, payments, wages, in-kind receipts, inheritance, gifts, prizes, rents, dividends, interest, and other gain or benefit in cash or in kind received by members of an assistance unit.
(11)
"Indian tribe" means a federally recognized Indian tribe with part or all of its reservation located in the state of Colorado.
(12)
"Individual responsibility contract" or "IRC" means the contract entered into by the participant and the county department pursuant to section
26-2-708
.
(13)
Repealed.
(13.5)
"Noncustodial parent", as defined in
45 CFR 260.30
, means a person who:
(a)
Is the parent of a minor child; and
(b)
Lives in Colorado; and
(c)
Does not live in the same household as the minor child.
(13.7)
"Ongoing assistance" means any cash grant, benefit, service, or other form of temporary assistance designed to meet an eligible family's ongoing needs.
(14)
"Parent" means either a biological parent or a parent by adoption.
(15)
"Participant" means an individual who receives any assistance or who participates in a specific component of the Colorado works program.
(16)
"Performance contract" means the performance-based contract executed by the state department and the board of county commissioners of each county or the boards of county commissioners of a group of counties pursuant to section
26-2-715
.
(17)
"Personal responsibility and work opportunity reconciliation act" means the federal "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996", Pub.L. 104-193, as amended.
(17.5)
"Program prohibitions" means a circumstance that, pursuant to this part 7 or federal law, renders an individual unable to participate in the Colorado works program.
(17.7)
"Qualified alien" means a qualified alien as defined by rule of the state board in conformance with the personal responsibility and work opportunity reconciliation act.
(17.8)
"Receipt" or "receipt of income" means the date on which income is actually received by or becomes legally available to a member of an assistance unit.
(18)
"Reservation" means the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation and the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in Colorado.
(18.2)
"Short-term assistance" means a nonrecurrent, short-term benefit that is designed to deal with a specific crisis situation or episode of need, is not intended to meet recurrent or ongoing needs, and does not extend beyond four months.
(18.3)
"Specified caretaker" means:
(a)
A person who exercises responsibility for a dependent child and who is:
(I)
A relative by blood, marriage, or adoption who is within the fifth degree of kinship to the dependent child; or
(II)
Appointed by the court to be the guardian or the legal custodian of the dependent child; or
(b)
A person who exercises responsibility for a dependent child within the person's home if there is no person described in paragraph (a) of this subsection (18.3).
(18.5)
"Targeted spending level" means the amount of county funds that a county shall appropriate pursuant to the provisions of section
26-1-122
for the purpose of defraying the county's maintenance of effort requirement for the works program.
(19)
"Temporary assistance for needy families" or "TANF" means the program of block grants from the federal government to the states to implement assistance programs pursuant to federal law.
(20)
"Tribal member" means an enrolled member of either the Ute Mountain Ute or Southern Ute Indian tribes.
(21)
"Work activities" shall have the same definition as is provided in federal law. The state board shall promulgate rules as necessary to further define "work activities" in accordance with the definition provided in federal law. Participants shall be considered to be engaged in work if they are participating in work activities as described in the federal law or if they are participating in other work activities designed to lead to self-sufficiency as determined by the county and as outlined in their IRC.
(22)
"Work participation rate" means the percentage of participants who are involved in work activities as required statewide under federal law.
(23)
"Works allocation committee" means the committee created pursuant to section
26-2-714 (6)
.
Amended by 2024 Ch. 155,§ 18, eff. 8/7/2024.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 123, § 93, eff. 7/1/2022.
Amended by 2018 Ch. 152, § 15, eff. 10/1/2018.
Amended by 2014 Ch. 259, § 9, eff. 5/22/2014.
L. 97: Entire part added, p. 1195, § 1, effective June 3. L. 98: (18.5) and (23) added, p. 1192, § 1, effective June 1. L. 99: (5.5) added, p. 1361, § 5, effective June 3; (2.5), (9.5), and (17.5) added, p. 48, § 1, effective July 1; (3.5) added, p. 31, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2000: (3.5) amended, p. 24, § 1, effective March 10. L. 2001: (13.5) added, p. 723, § 6, effective May 31. L. 2003: (5.7), (10.5), (17.7), (17.8), and (18.3) added, p. 799, § 1, effective August 6. L. 2004: (17.7) amended, p. 1086, § 1, effective May 27. L. 2008: (3), (8), (10), (17), (17.5), (17.7), (19), (21), and (22) amended and (8.5), (13.7), and (18.2) added, p. 1950, § 2, effective 1/1/2009. L. 2009: (13.5) amended, (SB 09 -100), ch. 192, p. 837, § 1, effective April 30. L. 2010: (1) and (13) repealed, (HB 10 - 10 43), ch. 92, p. 316, § 12, effective April 15; (2), (9), and (18.3) amended and (10.2) added, (SB 10 -068), ch. 160, p. 548, § 2, effective 1/1/2011. L. 2014: (4) amended, (HB 14-1317), ch. 259, p. 1041, § 9, effective May 22. L. 2018: (5.5) amended, (HB 18-1025), ch. 152, p. 1080, § 15, effective October 1.
2024 Ch. 155, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.