We are just over the halfway point of the 2019 Legislative Session, with a lot of excitement to come.
Thus far, passed bills:
- clean up statutory provisions related to the Office of Respondent Parent Counsel (HB19-1104),
- fix the school transportation language from last year (SB19-039),
- extend court jurisdiction in allocations of parental rights/responsibilities and probate proceedings for vulnerable youth (HB19-1042), and
- expand child hearsay in certain cases (SB19-071).
The OCR successfully testified against a bill that would permit discrimination against the LGBTQ community in foster care and adoption (HB19-1140). The OCR is also currently working on bills:
- reducing barriers for foster children getting driver’s licenses (HB19-203);
- providing behavioral health supports for high-risk families, including substance abuse treatment and child care (HB19-1193);
- updating and clarifying the permanency provisions in Colorado Revised Statues 19-3-702 and 19-3-703 (HB19-1219);
- aligning Colorado Revised Statute 19-1-126 with the recent ICWA regulations (HB19-1232);
- addressing juvenile justice reform (SB19-108); and
- an adoption subsidy bill responding to the Child Protection Ombudsman report released last year (SB19-178).
With less than half of the session remaining, we still expect a handful of additional bills to be introduced, including a bill to separate the OCR and CASA, in response to OCR’s recent audit and to ensure CASA’s independence and integrity.
As always, please contact Ashley Chase at ashleychase@coloradochildrep.org if you have questions about the OCR’s legislative work.