[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6375590,"mediaKeyId","2141134-8840f653f0aeb6ef9b9997ebe7639b5b","parentId",2141134,"title","Child Protection Ombudsman highlights youth outreach, Timothy Montoya task force and mandated‑reporting recommendations","audioSeconds",572,"startMs",778000,"endMs",1350000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2141134-8840f653f0aeb6ef9b9997ebe7639b5b&start=778&end=1350","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2141134-8840f653f0aeb6ef9b9997ebe7639b5b/thumbnail_778000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6375590/Colorado/Child-Protection-Ombudsman-highlights-youth-outreach-Timothy-Montoya-task-force-and-mandatedreporting-recommendations","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6375590-160a0e0c97f369045c853eb8703e22f2/orig.mp4?Expires=1771202669&Signature=kWiXTz1y8ZDRvoOECdESJxTmZd2VqHalg1OjoCQ-xcqpqw1-GsO5pn32N-tCyxUoQjJszDO6jbJJQZ6wLwlluaoMDdLG3ABg385Hc-rnZXEs8Kb-35F-3YicPiw2srb1~7aJjP1JsELAZzcTdsFuT2grN3WeuiRrGDuwV01qpJ-YZygxjgfEjX7UuTURX-f1Wc9Njb6rCIV63Kw8sjdSS9PAfJYEGXFp45Zhz1DgXyhmKrZnpQtxe9OSHvl77T7QfOyKYfhp4~Zdt1tlETvvuttnuA7TXFvYGHKyIYJd3PUv0o0bOhtrb71RGsP4SHr4Jz35K8dB58~rpDYaAk8yog__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Joint Health","date","2025-01-21T00:00:00Z","article","Colorado’s Child Protection Ombudsman told the Joint Health Committee the office increased caseloads and has used citizen complaints to drive system recommendations, including two task forces that produced proposals for legislative action.

Stephanie Via Forte, Colorado’s child protection ombudsman, and Deputy Ombudsman Jordan Stefan described the office’s mandate and recent work. Via Forte said the office handled “approximately 1,250” calls in the current year and that caseloads have risen roughly 12% over the last several years, primarily since the COVID‑19 pandemic. The office, created by statute in 2010 and made independent and housed in the Judicial Department in 2016, takes confidential calls from citizens about experiences with the state’s child protection system and uses alternative dispute‑resolution approaches to connect callers with agencies or recommended fixes.

Via Forte described three SMART Act goals for the year: expanding youth outreach, strengthening services and data collection, and translating casework into systemic recommendations. She said the office formed a youth collective—about a dozen young people who served as advisors—and held focus groups to learn how to reach youth who are in out‑of‑home placements.

Nut graf: The ombudsman’s office presented operational growth, consumer outreach efforts and task‑force work intended to produce legislative recommendations affecting runaway youth and mandated reporter law; the office emphasized translating individual complaints into systemic change.

On systemic work, Via Forte described the Timothy Montoya task force, created after a child ran from a residential care facility and later was hit by a car; the task force report (issued October 2024) recommends a continuum of care to prevent and respond to youth who run from placements and to provide aftercare when youths return. She also said a separate mandated‑reporting review released January 1 revised recommendations intended to clarify who must report suspected abuse and how reporting should occur; she said Colorado’s mandated‑reporting law had not been substantially changed in more than 30 years.

She noted continuing work on an audit of the state’s child risk and safety assessment tool, and multi‑agency work on case‑worker falsification issues — an 18‑month effort to ensure staff who falsify records cannot move between jurisdictions undetected and that impacted families receive appropriate notice and remedies.

Ending: The ombudsman invited questions and pledged follow‑up on discrete data requests; she said the office intends to continue converting individual complaints into measurable recommendations for system reform.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Joint Health [Jan 21, 2025]","oneSentenceSummary","Colorado's Child Protection Ombudsman reported a rise in case intake, described youth outreach and advisory work, and previewed task force reports recommending a continuum of care for youth who run from placements and clearer mandatory‑reporting law updates.","taxTitle","Joint Health, Session-Based Committees, Committees, Legislative, Colorado","taxId",78578,"location","Colorado","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6375595,"State Auditor flags unimplemented Medicaid and CHIP audit recommendations; committee urged to follow up",474,87000,561000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2141134-8840f653f0aeb6ef9b9997ebe7639b5b&start=87&end=561","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2141134-8840f653f0aeb6ef9b9997ebe7639b5b/thumbnail_87000.jpg","/articles/6375595/Colorado/State-Auditor-flags-unimplemented-Medicaid-and-CHIP-audit-recommendations-committee-urged-to-follow-up","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6375595-f124dd6ef5d593f3729d5eb519c90010/orig.mp4?Expires=1771202669&Signature=Y-W6zz0YWZfHvtORja~R33xRwxsqZgpbYLbZAvzjEUfZOcKM4TNSpt-gWMGPSGKVcbIRaPvC5LIY8wpCjbcwHkG-XN7iePEARe3r3vGYR3Ae7a8HGCdrFhU3WCeACxaQDAEpCkd7-Gz63wLGkb-SjOH-fNLmyalh0SJjmTEAGYpClYHslmwdVNgl6k0iLN0BOQDUe7R9azPXq6RO4pM3vdgjndpBjc-cQkZ2FJzd9qDSKurPDXhwQ3-ocQp-XkdLrfQogEZeVJTnFDmUwaPDBiDQrF75QpkMZBTAtjPLhiKEwxw4NfIHhBFxRZE2z~rIXijGXVIWUuvjxTS18EbD0Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Colorado Office of the State Auditor updated the Joint Health Committee on agency responses to audit recommendations and highlighted outstanding issues at the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF).

Auditor Marissa Edwards, a deputy state auditor, told the committee the office publishes an annual SMART Act report tracking audit recommendations that remain unimplemented by agencies. Edwards said the Department of Human Services and Connect for Health Colorado had implemented all recommendations in the five‑year window covered by the report, while “the Department of Public Health and Environment has only one recommendation that it still needs to implement.”

The auditor’s presentation focused on HCPF, which the office reported still had eight recommendations to implement. Monica Power, an audit manager, said four of those eight recommendations are classified as high priority and described them as material weaknesses stemming from the department’s eligibility processes for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Power said the deficiencies related to HCPF’s documentation of eligibility, detection of duplicate Social Security numbers and policies to monitor and address those discrepancies. The recommendations originated in statewide financial audits issued between 2017 and 2021.

Power told the committee that HCPF had delayed implementing some items because the federal COVID‑19 public health emergency required states to maintain enrollment for beneficiaries through May 2023; eligibility work resumed only more recently. The auditor said HCPF’s updated implementation timetable (received as of June) indicates plans to finish the remaining work by late 2024 and early 2025 and urged legislators to question the department when it appears before the committee.

Committee members asked whether failure to implement the recommendations could put federal funding at risk. Power said noncompliance with federal Medicaid and CHIP requirements “could” lead the federal government to recover funds or withhold future payments. Edwards said questions about the status of federal corrective actions and any potential clawbacks are best answered by HCPF, which must engage in federal corrective processes.

Nut graf: The auditor’s update placed the auditor’s highest emphasis on eligibility weaknesses at HCPF that affect federal program compliance; the committee was advised to press the department for current implementation dates when it testifies.

The audit team recommended follow‑up with HCPF and provided the committee with the longer implementation report and agency‑level appendices. Committee members were given the auditor’s summary table showing 110 recommendations still outstanding across state agencies as of June (from more than 1,400 total recommendations made in audits during the period). The auditor said agencies overall have done a “very good job” implementing recommendations but urged scrutiny where material weaknesses remain.

Ending: The auditor closed by offering to provide individual audit reports and contacting agencies that will appear at later hearings so legislators can pursue timely follow up on the open high‑priority items.","Office of the State Auditor told the Joint Health Committee that most agencies implemented audit recommendations but Health Care Policy and Financing still had eight open recommendations — four classified as material weaknesses affecting Medicaid and CHIP eligibility documentation.","actionData","errors"]

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Child Protection Ombudsman highlights youth outreach, Timothy Montoya task force and mandated‑reporting recommendations

State Auditor flags unimplemented Medicaid and CHIP audit recommendations; committee urged to follow up