Committee advances bill requiring runaway-response plans and rapid guardian notification for youth in residential care

The House Health and Human Services Committee unanimously advanced Senate Bill 151 on a favorable recommendation to the Committee of the Whole, after testimony from family members, the Child Protection Ombudsman and service providers about youth who run away from residential treatment and other out-of-home placements.

SB 151 would require every residential childcare facility in Colorado to adopt a written, trauma-informed policy that explains how staff will respond when a youth attempts to run or leaves care. Facilities would be required to give a copy of that policy to parents or guardians at admission, notify a parent or guardian within four hours when a youth is missing from care, and allow the Child Protection Ombudsman to inventory facility practices related to runaways.

Elizabeth Montoya, whose child Timmy died after running away from a residential placement, and other parents described gaps in records and inconsistent notification practices that, they said, delayed searches and complicated reunification. "Had such a policy been in place, I would have been better equipped to make a decision on the best placement for him," Montoya told the committee. The Child Protection Ombudsman, Stephanie Villafuerte, said Colorado lacks consistent data on children who run and that roughly 270 children were recorded in 2022 as running from foster care or residential treatment.

Supporters including the Ombudsman and child-welfare providers urged the committee to pass the bill as an initial, low-cost step to reduce risk and begin data collection; they said more comprehensive work on risk assessment tools, prevention programs and aftercare remains necessary but may require appropriations.

"For the past 24 minutes, the Timothy Montoya Task Force met and convened to address these issues," Ombudsman Villafuerte said in prepared testimony; "the findings were sobering: our state has no coordinated response to youth who run from care." (Note: quote excerpted from transcript.)

Residential providers generally supported the measure's limited, non-prescriptive requirements; witnesses and committee members discussed concerns about whether a single statewide standard could accommodate facilities that serve different populations and acuities. The committee also discussed a recent trend of residential-provider closures; witnesses said roughly 20 facilities have closed in recent years, and members flagged financial viability and shifting demand as drivers.

The committee adopted a motion to advance SB 151 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation; recorded roll-call votes were unanimous. Sponsors and members urged further work to implement additional task-force recommendations that were not included in the bill because of fiscal constraints. The bill's next step is the Committee of the Whole for further floor consideration.