Through engaging with these interim committees, Illuminate Colorado is ensuring that policy makers have the information they need to write effective legislation that has strong potential to strengthen families and communities across the state.  

Policy can support and strengthen families impacted by substance use.

The Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Study Committee is working to respond to challenges associated with substance use disorders in Colorado by identifying gaps in prevention, intervention, harm reduction and treatment—and identify possible legislative solutions. Illuminate is engaging with the Committee to ensure policymakers understand and consider the unique challenges faced by families impacted by substance use.

All families need access to high-quality, affordable child care in order to thrive.

Woodard described the unique challenges caregivers experience in accessing child care while receiving substance use treatment and support, and how programs, such as Illuminating Child Care—which provides free childcare for families while caregivers receive recovery services—can reduce barriers to care. 

Ensuring that potentially harmful substances are not accessible to children is one way to increase safety in the home.

When speaking with the Committee, Woodard explained the need for increased public awareness of safe storage practices through consumer messaging and training for children, families, and family-serving professionals.

In Colorado, there is a high need for recovery support services for caregivers impacted by substance use disorders.

Woodard shared how Circle of Parents in Recovery, a program supported by Illuminate Colorado, provides a free, confidential, and supportive space where caregivers can share and learn with their peers in recovery.

Child welfare system involvement is preventable through policy solutions.

The Child Welfare System Interim Committee is working to identify and address issues within the child welfare system in Colorado. Illuminate is excited to engage with the Committee to highlight the role of prevention and proactive, upstream policy solutions to prevent and reduce child welfare system involvement.

Woodard presented to the committee a necessary foundation of information needed to understand how to strengthen families and prevent child maltreatment.

She began by introducing how the five research-informed Protective Factors help families to deal effectively with stressful events, reducing the risk for child maltreatment. Policy plays a role in promoting the five Protective Factors by increasing the resources, connections, and supports available to communities that help families thrive.

Next, Woodard shared some concrete strategies that Illuminate Colorado has employed to strengthen families and prevent child maltreatment. 

• • • • Through programs such as Circle of Parents and Family Connects that provide support outside of the child welfare system, Illuminate has actively invested in family well-being infrastructure that promotes protective factors for all Colorado families.
      • Through encouraging warm connections and proactive referrals, Illuminate has also worked to ensure that family-serving professionals have the resources they need to connect families with supportive services when they are experiencing increased stress, such as food or housing insecurity.
      • Colorado Connected, a campaign supported by Illuminate, is actively working to empower parents to ask for support, offer support to one another, and normalize supportive parenting networks to create strong families.

Illuminate Colorado will continue to advocate for policy that strengthens families and prevents child maltreatment.

As both committees solidify bill concepts and prepare for the upcoming legislative session, Illuminate will continue to engage with the interim committees to share expertise and recommendations to advocate for policy that strengthens families and prevents child maltreatment. 

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We at Illuminate Colorado are grateful to our partners for their collaboration, leadership, and dedication to advocating for legislation that strengthens families and prevents child maltreatment.

Highlights from the 2023 session included:

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• Colorado banned use of corporal punishment in licensed child care settings, public schools, and group facilities. As one of Prevent Child Abuse America’s 2023 state policy priorities, eliminating the use of corporal punishment in schools, such as spanking and paddling, is an important step to shifting culture surrounding discipline and promoting positive responses and discipline strategies for children. HB23-1191 seeks to promote healthy child development and positive, evidence-based discipline approaches by eliminating use of corporal punishment in child care settings, public schools, and group facilities.

• Legislators in Colorado focused on building sustainable funding and increasing access to vital healthcare for youth, pregnant people, and new parents who receive Medicaid through SB23-002, SB23-174, SB23-288, and HB23-1300. These bills will increase access to community health services, doulas during pregnancy and postpartum periods, and youth behavioral health services without a diagnosis, and will establish continuous eligibility for children ages 0-3. These bills aim to utilize evidence-based measures to reduce gaps in care and increase equity in the healthcare system for underserved communities that experience increased health risks due to social determinants of health, including racism and poverty.

• Several bills sought to increase economic supports for families through Colorado’s tax code, including HB23-1006, HB23-1112, and HB23-1311. These bills will result in additional income for low-income families through increased awareness of vital tax credits, increased access to larger amounts in tax credits, and a ballot measure that, if passed, would result in a flat TABOR rebate for all Coloradans who file taxes.

• Legislators also addressed concerns within the child welfare system, and passed several bills that clarify and enhance processes to increase kin placement and reduce family separation. HB23-1024 and HB23-1043 are two bills that will increase relative and kin involvement when a child is removed from home. In response to concerns that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) may be overturned later this year by the U.S. Supreme Court in a judgment on Haaland v. Brackeen, legislators developed SB23-211, which further implements ICWA and its related federal regulations into Colorado statute, in partnership with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe.

In doing so, these bills aim to increase participation of tenants in these processes and create additional opportunities for families to remain housed.

• In addition to addressing child welfare through legislation, the Legislative Council approved a request to form the Child Welfare System Interim Study Committee. The committee is tasked with studying various topics, including prevention services, intervention services, system processes, social determinants of child welfare system involvement, and more. The committee will consist of 11 members of the legislature and may introduce 5 bills in the 2024 legislative session to address issues studied. We at Illuminate Colorado were grateful to be included in the list of agencies that may provide assistance and information to the Committee and are excited to lend our expertise to this process.

What’s next?

• Advocate for family strengthening and policies that build protective factors to prevent child maltreatment through policy implementation activities.
• Provide support and expertise to the newly formed Child Welfare System Interim Study Committee.
• Provide support and expertise to the Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Study Committee.
• Continue to identify family strengthening policy needs and challenges through the coalitions Illuminate convenes. Join us! 
• Advocate for federal legislation that promotes and invests in programs that strengthen families, including advocating for the reintroduction and advancement of the FASD Respect Act.
• Advocate for ballot measures that strengthen families, including Proposition EE resulting from HB23-1290, which would retain funding for Universal Pre-K.
• Advocate for legislation that did not pass this legislative session, including policy that promotes economic security and substance free spaces.
• Continue to collaborate with our partners in prevention and the Colorado General Assembly to advocate for future state legislation that promotes Illuminate Colorado’s policy priorities and mission to strengthen families, organizations and communities to prevent child maltreatment.

Visit the full 2023 Legislative Session Recap to learn more about all the bills impacting family well-being that passed this session and what is next for Illuminate’s policy work.

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Two of Illuminate’s priority bills have already been signed by Governor Polis.

HB23-1006 will require employers to notify employees of the availability of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) to increase awareness of these crucial economic supports. In addition, Illuminate was invited to witness the Governor’s signing of HB23-1191, which prohibits corporal punishment in public schools, licensed child care settings, and group facilities.

Left to right: Illuminate Deputy Director Jillian Fabricius, Representative Regina English, and Illuminate Policy Manager Lex Loutzenhiser.

Many bills that Illuminate supports have passed the House and Senate and are awaiting the Governor’s signature.

HB23-1187 would expand access to alternative sentencing options for pregnant and postpartum people, increasing access to medical and behavioral healthcare and reducing family separation. 

SB23-002 would enable Colorado Medicaid to reimburse community health workers services, which are integral to enhancing equity and access to healthcare. 

SB23-211 would adopt the Indian Child Welfare Act and related federal regulations into Colorado state law, strengthening tribal engagement in the child welfare system when indigenous children are removed from their home due to abuse or neglect.

HB23-1091 would continue the Child Care Contribution Tax Credit, which incentivizes individual investment in early childhood care and education.

HB23-1300 would require Colorado to seek federal approval to offer continuous eligibility for Colorado children ages 0-3 without annual redeterminations if they are initially eligible for Medicaid, reducing administrative burdens and gaps in coverage for young children.

We’re still watching several bills that are scheduled or waiting to be scheduled in committees or on the floor this week.

HB23-1112 would increase the amount families can receive through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC), enhancing families’ financial wellbeing. 

HB23-1120 would require landlords to engage in mandatory mediation before filing an eviction against a tenant who receives cash assistance, including Colorado Works (TANF) program participants, increasing equitability and accessibility in eviction processes for low-income families.

SB23-288 would strengthen the process for Colorado to begin reimbursing doula services through Medicaid to expand access to these supportive and culturally responsive services for pregnant people and postpartum parents.

Use the Illuminate Colorado Bill Tracker to stay up to date on the progression of bills that we are tracking through May 9th, the final day of Colorado’s legislative session.

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