Colorado House adopts bill requiring standardized placement transition plans for children in out-of-home care

Colorado’s House of Representatives on April 7 adopted House Bill 10‑97, a measure directing the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) to develop a standardized placement transition plan template and requiring county departments of human services to create individualized transition plans whenever a child moves between out‑of‑home placements.

Supporters, including Representative Bri Gilchrist, framed the bill as a child‑centered effort to reduce trauma when a child changes placements and to increase the use of kinship placements. “By having smoother transitions, there’s two goals. One is to lessen the transition trauma associated with that, but also the goal is to lessen the number of transitions,” Representative Foley said on the House floor.

The bill requires pre‑transition and…