2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 25 - PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT (§§ 25-1-101 — 25-59-106) › ADMINISTRATION (§§ 25-1-101 — 25-1.5-701) › Article 1 - ADMINISTRATION (§§ 25-1-101 — 25-1-1511) › Part 1 - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT (§§ 25-1-101 — 25-1-138) › Section 25-1-137 - Task force to reduce youth violence, suicide, and delinquency risk factors - creation - membership - reporting - definitions

(1)
On or before December 31, 2023, the department shall convene a task force to establish shared goals, objectives, and guidelines for governmental agencies and community-based agencies to achieve maximum impact in reducing youth violence, suicide, and delinquency risk factors for target communities with the highest rates of youth violence, suicide, or delinquency risk factors.
(2)
The purpose of the task force is to bring together diverse groups and perspectives from governmental agencies and community-based organizations to:
(a)
Identify three target communities in the state where disproportionately high levels of youth violence, suicide, and delinquency risk factors exist. The target communities may include any zip code or contiguous zip codes with the top three to five rates of youth violence, suicide, or delinquency risk factors, including, but not limited to, school performance, average education level, income level, employment levels, crime statistics, and housing and food insecurity. The three target communities selected pursuant to this subsection (2)(a) must represent, to the extent practicable, geographic and urban and rural diversity.
(b)
Beginning July 1, 2025, and for a minimum of three years thereafter, establish clear and shared goals, objectives, and guidelines to prioritize, align, and pool agency resources, including new and state grant money, to guide intervention, prevention, and tracking statistics to achieve the maximum impact on reducing youth violence, suicide, and delinquency risk factors; and
(c)
Beginning July 1, 2025, and for a minimum of three years thereafter, establish clear and shared goals, objectives, and guidelines to prioritize the distribution of new grant money across multiple governmental agencies to guide intervention, prevention, and tracking statistics to achieve the maximum impact on reducing youth violence, suicide, and delinquency risk factors. This includes creating:
(I)
A process for streamlining state grant applications across agencies that does not violate federal laws, rules, or guidelines for federal dollars as it pertains to state grant-making among agencies;
(II)
A common application form to the extent possible without violating federal laws, rules, or guidelines and that is practical and accessible for grantees to use;
(III)
A clearinghouse of resources for applicants; and
(IV)
A job description for a full-time employee support for the five agencies of the task force to provide technical support and assistance to grant applicants who may lack the organizational capacity to complete competitive and complete applications.
(3)
(a)
The task force consists of the following members, at a minimum:
(I)
Two representatives from the department of public health and environment. One representative must have experience in substance use and be appointed by the executive director. The other representative must be from the office of gun violence prevention and be appointed by the director of the office of gun violence prevention.
(II)
A representative from the department of early childhood, appointed by the executive director of the department of early childhood;
(III)
Two representatives from the office of children, youth, and families in the division of child welfare in the department of human services;
(IV)
Three representatives from the department of education, one with expertise in workforce development, one with expertise in post-secondary pathways, and one who represents rural K-12 communities or has rural K-12 expertise, all appointed by the commissioner of education;
(V)
Two representatives from the behavioral health administration in the department of human services and appointed by the behavioral health commissioner. One representative must have experience in substance use and drug prevention and one representative must have experience with mental health issues.
(VI)
Two representatives from the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety, appointed by the executive director of the department of public safety; and
(VII)
Five representatives from community-based organizations, as well as current agency grantees, working in the target communities, as identified by the task force pursuant to subsection (2)(a) of this section, and appointed by the task force. Two of the representatives from community-based organizations must be ones that focus on individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities or severe mental or behavioral health disorders.
(b)
The task force must also either:
(I)
Include a nonvoting member who is a person with experience in, or represents an organization with experience in, delivery of actionable data information and analysis and data readiness; or
(II)
Allow for presentations on actionable data information and analysis and data readiness.
(4)
For insights into grant alignment practices, the task force shall consult with the following agencies:
(a)
The department of personnel and administration; and
(b)
The department of higher education.
(5)
After the task force identifies the target communities pursuant to subsection (2)(a) of this section, the task force shall consult with local governmental entities that include, but are not limited to, city and county government officials; local law enforcement and district attorneys; local education providers; local and regional public health administrators; and any local community-based organizations that have received state-level grants in the areas of youth suicide, violence prevention and intervention, and reducing youth risk factors.
(6)
The task force must have an employee to support work of the task force.
(7)
The members of the task force shall serve on a voluntary basis without compensation, except for the representatives from nongovernmental agencies, who may receive a per diem stipend. All members are entitled to compensation for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of the task force members' duties.
(8)
(a)
The task force shall present its preliminary findings, goals, objectives, and guidelines to the judiciary committees of the house of representatives and the senate and to the public and behavioral health and human services committee of the house of representatives and the health and human services committee of the senate, or any successor committees, during the department's "SMART Act" hearings held in January 2024. The 2024 "SMART Act" report must include further descriptions of how the task force identified which target communities to prioritize, including whether or if certain factors were weighted or assessed. The task force shall report a timeline with specific deliverables, including when target communities will be defined, when data sources will be identified, and when data sharing agreements will be conformed.
(b)
In January 2025, the task force shall present its final report that establishes clear and shared goals, objectives, and guidelines to prioritize, align, and pool agency resources, including new and existing grant money, that would guide intervention, prevention, and tracking statistics to achieve the maximum impact on reducing youth violence, suicide, and delinquency risk factors in priority communities. The task force shall include in its report how it will display and track data towards the efficacy of the strategies and goals; how the task force will collect future data from streamlined grant applications, such as reflected in annual reports, as narrative or data tables; and how or if the task force will reassess factors and data on an ongoing basis. The task force shall make its presentation to the judiciary committees of the house of representatives and the senate and to the public and behavioral health and human services committee of the house of representatives and the health and human services committee of the senate, or any successor committees, during the department's "SMART Act" hearings held in January 2025.
(9)
As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a)
"Community-based organization" means a person, private nonprofit agency, corporation, association, or other nongovernmental agency.
(b)
"Governmental unit" means any county, city and county, city, town, district attorney's office, or school district.
(c)
"Target communities" means the communities identified by the task force as part of the task force's duties pursuant to subsection (2)(a) of this section.
(d)
"Task force" means the task force created in subsection (1) of this section to establish shared goals, objectives, and guidelines for entities to utilize in prioritizing new and existing grant money to ensure achieving a maximum impact in reducing youth violence, suicide, and delinquency risk factors for target communities with the highest rates of youth violence, suicide, or delinquency risk factors.
Added by 2023 Ch. 433,§ 1, eff. 6/7/2023.