Committee adopts minimum transition-plan requirement for foster placements, sends bill to appropriations

Lawmakers on the House Health & Human Services Committee voted to require an individualized placement transition plan for children moving between foster placements and advanced the bill to the Committee on Appropriations.

Representative Leslie Gilchrist, the bill sponsor, said the bill responds to accounts from foster parents, children and caseworkers that some placement moves occur with little or no planning, causing avoidable trauma. She cited state child-welfare data reported by the Department of Human Services showing thousands of placement transitions in 2024 and noted a National Institutes of Health study finding the average foster youth experiences eight placement transitions.

The bill requires the Colorado Department of Human Services to provide a template counties may use for individualized transition plans. Sponsors and staff said the measure was amended to be less…